Doctor Faustus Text

Doctor Faustus | Scene VI

Scene VI

Enter FAUSTUS and MEPHISTOPHILIS.

FAUSTUS.
When I behold the heavens, then I repent,
And curse thee, wicked Mephistophilis,
Because thou hast deprived me of those joys.
MEPHIST.
Why, Faustus,
Thinkest thou Heaven is such a glorious thing?(5)
I tell thee, 'tis not half so fair as thou,
Or any man that breathes on earth.
FAUSTUS.
How prov'st thou that?
MEPHIST.
'Twas made for man, therefore is man more
excellent.(10)
FAUSTUS.
If it were made for man, 'twas made for me;
I will renounce this magic and repent.

Enter Good Angel and Evil Angel.

GOOD ANGEL.
Faustus, repent; yet God will pity thee.
EVIL ANGEL.
Thou art a spirit; God can not pity thee.
FAUSTUS.
Who buzzeth in mine ears I am a spirit?(15)
Be I a devil, yet God may pity me;
Ay, God will pity me if I repent.
EVIL ANGEL.
Ay, but Faustus never shall repent.

[Exeunt Angels.]

FAUSTUS.
My heart's so hardened, I cannot repent.
Scarce can I name salvation, faith, or heaven,(20)
But fearful echoes thunder in mine ears
“Faustus, thou art damned!” Then swords, and
knives,
Poison, gun, halters, and envenomed steel
Are laid before me to despatch myself,(25)
And long ere this I should have slain myself,
Had not sweet pleasure conquered deep despair.
Have not I made blind Homer sing to me
Of Alexander's love and Oenon's death?
And hath not he that built the walls of Thebes(30)
With ravishing sound of his melodious harp,
Made music with my Mephistophilis?
Why should I die then, or basely despair?
I am resolved: Faustus shall ne'er repent.—
Come, Mephistophilis, let us dispute again,(35)
And argue of divine astrology.
Tell me, are there many heavens above the moon?
Are all celestial bodies but one globe,
As is the substance of this centric earth?
MEPHIST.
As are the elements, such are the spheres,(40)
Mutually folded in each other's orb,
And, Faustus,
All jointly move upon one axletree,
Whose terminine is termed the world's wide pole;
Nor are the names of Saturn, Mars, or Jupiter(45)
Feigned, but are erring stars.
FAUSTUS.
But tell me, have they all one motion
both, situ et tempore?
MEPHIST.
All jointly move from east to west in twenty-
four hours upon the poles of the world; but differ in(50)
their motion upon the poles of the zodiac.
FAUSTUS.
Tush!
These slender trifles Wagner can decide;
Hath Mephistophilis no greater skill?
Who knows not the double motion of the planets?(55)
The first is finished in a natural day;
The second thus: as Saturn in thirty years; Jupiter in
twelve; Mars in four; the Sun, Venus, and Mercury in
a year; the Moon in twenty-eight days. Tush, these are
freshmen's suppositions. But, tell me, hath every sphere a(60)
dominion or intelligentia?
MEPHIST.
Ay.
FAUSTUS.
How many heavens, or spheres, are there?
MEPHIST.
Nine: the seven planets, the firmament, and the
empyreal heaven.(65)
FAUSTUS.
Well, resolve me in this question: Why have we
not conjunctions, oppositions, aspects, eclipses, all at one
time, but in some years we have more, in some less?
MEPHIST.
Per inœqualem motum respectu totius.
FAUSTUS.
Well, I am answered. Tell me who made the(70)
world?
MEPHIST.
I will not.
FAUSTUS.
Sweet Mephistophilis, tell me.
MEPHIST.
Move me not, for I will not tell thee.
FAUSTUS.
Villain, have I not bound thee to tell me any(75)
thing?
MEPHIST.
Ay, that is not against our kingdom; but this is.
Think thou on hell, Faustus, for thou art damned.
FAUSTUS.
Think, Faustus, upon God that made the world.
MEPHIST.
Remember this.(80)

[Exit.]

FAUSTUS.
Ay, go, accursed spirit, to ugly hell.
'tis thou hast damned distressed Faustus' soul.
Is't not too late?

Re-enter Good Angel and Evil Angel.

EVIL ANGEL.
Too late.
GOOD ANGEL.
Never too late, if Faustus can repent.(85)
EVIL ANGEL.
If thou repent, devils shall tear thee in
pieces.
GOOD ANGEL.
Repent, and they shall never raze thy
skin.

[Exeunt Angels.]

FAUSTUS.
Ah, Christ, my Saviour,(90)
Seek to save distressed Faustus' soul!

Enter LUCIFER, BELZEBUB, and MEPHISTOPHILIS.

LUCIFER.
Christ cannot save thy soul, for he is just;
There's none but I have interest in the same.
FAUSTUS.
O, who art thou that look'st so terrible?
LUCIFER.
I am Lucifer,(95)
And this is my companion-prince in hell.
FAUSTUS.
O, Faustus, they are come to fetch away thy
soul!
LUCIFER.
We come to tell thee thou dost injure us;
Thou talk'st of Christ, contrary to thy promise:(100)
Thou shouldst not think of God: think of the devil,
And of his dam too.
FAUSTUS.
Nor will I henceforth: pardon me in this,
And Faustus vows never to look to Heaven,
Never to name God, or to pray to him,(105)
To burn his Scriptures, slay his ministers,
And make my spirits pull his churches down.
LUCIFER.
Do so, and we will highly gratify thee. Faustus, we
are come from hell to show thee some pastime: sit down,
and thou shalt see all the Seven Deadly Sins appear in(110)
their proper shapes.
FAUSTUS.
That sight will be as pleasing unto me,
As Paradise was to Adam, the first day
Of his creation.
LUCIFER.
Talk not of Paradise nor creation, but mark this(115)
show: talk of the Devil, and nothing else: come away!

Enter the Seven Deadly Sins.

Now, Faustus, examine them of their several names and
dispositions.
FAUSTUS.
What art thou—the first?
PRIDE.
I am Pride. I disdain to have any parents. I am like(120)
to Ovid's flea: I can creep into every corner of a wench;
sometimes, like a periwig, I sit upon her brow; or like
a fan of feathers, I kiss her lips; indeed I do—what do I
not? But, fie, what a scent is here! I'll not speak another
word, except the ground were perfumed, and covered(125)
with cloth of arras.
FAUSTUS.
What art thou—the second?
COVETOUSNESS.
I am Covetousness, begotten of an old
churl in an old leathern bag; and, might I have my wish
I would desire that this house and all the people in it(130)
were turned to gold, that I might lock you up in my good
chest. O, my sweet gold!
  • to reject or disown
  • saved from the penalty of sin
  • made poisonous
  • the most acclaimed writer in ancient Greece; The Iliad (the tale of the Trojan War) and The Odyssey (the travels of Odysseus) are attributed to him. Legend has it that he was blind.
  • another name for Paris, the son of Priam and Hecuba in Greek mythology; his obsession with Helen started the Trojan War.
  • According to mythology, she was a nymph with healing powers and the first wife of Paris. After Paris left her for Helen, he was wounded during the Trojan War, and he died when Oenon refused to heal him. She then committed suicide.
  • In Greek mythology, Amphion, the son of Zeus and Antiope, built a wall around Thebes by charming the stones.
  • axle; rod
  • boundary
  • pretended
  • situ et tempore—in place and time
  • guesses or opinions
  • intelligentia—intelligence
  • the sky or the heavens
  • relating to the sky or heavens
  • the positions of two celestial bodies when they share the same longitude
  • the positions of two celestial bodies that are opposite each other
  • configurations of celestial bodies in relation to each other, thought to influence human affairs
  • Per inœqualem motum respectu totius—Because of unequal motion in respect to the whole.
  • from this point forward
  • to reward
  • to despise or scorn
  • tapestry
  • extreme greed for wealth
  • born of (usually referring to the father); created or produced
  • a crude and ill-tempered person of low birth; peasant
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