Doctor Faustus

Doctor Faustus - Prologue

In the prologue of Doctor Faustus the chorus introduces the play by announcing that what you are about to hear is no tale of warfare romance in a king's court or heroic deeds but instead audiences will witness the story of Faustus a common man from a regular small town called Rhodes in Germany. Growing up Faustus went to live with relatives in Vinton berth attended the University and studied theology. He excelled in his studies and soon earned his degree along with earning his title of doctor .However pride and ambition led him down the path of black magic and like the mythological figure Icarus who soared too near to the hot Sun on wings of wax and feathers. So too did Faustus go too far testing fate in his own eternal soul against his pursuit of limitless knowledge. The chorus then introduces Doctor Faustus in the present who now sits in his study poring over books of black magic. The prologue introduces Doctor Faustus establishes his personal history and makes it clear from the get-go that he's doomed by pride and ambition. Again Marlowe draws on the tradition of Greek mythology comparing Faustus's downfall to that of the boy Icarus whose father Daedalus makes him a pair of wings from feathers and wax but warned Icarus not to fly too close to the Sun lest the heat melt the wax .Forgetting his father's wise warning Icarus recklessly flies higher and higher and when the wax melts, the feathers scatter and Icarus falls to his death. similarly Faustus too will fly high and be destroyed for it. Renaissance era humanists stressed the individual's potential for self-direction, goodness and rational existence without divine oversight. the chorus states that Faustus in his self-conceit will turn away from heavenly matters of theology to focus upon cursed necromancy. This pursuit involves speaking with the dead in order to predict the future.