Doctor Faustus The Supernatural Quotes Page 4

Oh so Faustus's powers do have limits: he isn't able to conjure the real Alexander and Darius—just their shadows. So then what's the point of giving the gift of conjuring to these guys if their figures can't be questioned or even touched? Is the point just to delight and entertain? Is that really worth handing over your soul?

Faustus is being quite the suck-up here, brownnosing the Emperor by claiming that everything he does is for his delight. We know that Faustus's giving Benvolio horns is as much for petty vengeance as for anything else. But even if it is just to amuse the emperor, is that an honorable reason to humiliate someone?

It's interesting that Faustus characterizes himself as "limited" to twenty-four years of life, especially when the argument he wants to make is really about how powerful he is. Maybe Faustus is finally realizing just how much his pact with the devil is going to cost him.