2 h 17 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What would you give for limitless power—and what would you do once it was yours?
John Faustus has mastered every subject at Wittenberg, yet knowledge leaves him restless. With help from Valdes and Cornelius, he turns to magic for powers no university can offer. In Christopher Marlowe’s blank-verse play, a scholar’s hunger leads him toward a bargain with Lucifer: his soul for twenty-four years of service.
Mephistophilis serves Faustus, but speaks plainly of hell’s pain. The Good Angel urges him away from magic; the Bad Angel promises wealth and honour. From the bargain signed in blood to invisible pranks at the Pope’s feast, high poetry meets low comedy, and thrilling ambition becomes hard to separate from waste.
What you’ll discover
- A restless, brilliant mind Meet a scholar who finds every subject too small and reaches beyond ordinary human limits.
- A bargain in blood Watch desire take the shape of a contract that puts Faustus’s soul at stake.
- Voices pulling both ways Hear rival angels press Faustus toward mercy or the pleasures of magic.
- Wonders beside foolish pranks Follow extraordinary power into comic scenes that expose the gap between ambition and its use.
- Verse with force Discover the rolling music of Marlowe’s blank verse, where grand desires meet plain warnings.
Who will love it
For readers who love drama, big questions about ambition and belief, and verse that sounds good aloud. It also suits students of Shakespeare's age.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A brilliant scholar outgrows every subject
- Magic offers what books never could
- A bargain signed in blood
- Wonders, pranks and the waste of power
- What the play is really about
- How the play is built and spoken
Who’s who
- Doctor FaustusA learned scholar at Wittenberg, bored by ordinary knowledge and hungry for limitless power, who turns to magic.
- MephistophilisA devil who serves Faustus under the pact, speaks plainly of hell's pain, and watches his master's choices closely.
- LuciferThe prince of devils, who holds the contract and uses spectacle and fear to keep Faustus loyal.
- Good AngelA spirit who urges Faustus to turn from magic, think of heaven and remember that mercy is still possible.
- Bad AngelA spirit who urges Faustus on toward wealth, honour and the pleasures of magic.
- WagnerFaustus's servant, who copies his master's dealings with spirits in a smaller and comic way.
- Valdes and CorneliusTwo friends skilled in the black arts who teach Faustus how to conjure spirits.
- The Old ManA devout old man who urges Faustus to repent and stands for the way back that remains open.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 2 h 17 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
by Christopher Marlowe · 1604
In his study at Wittenberg, Faustus reaches for power no university can give and puts his soul at stake.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A brilliant scholar outgrows every subject
The play opens with a Chorus that tells us who Faustus is. He is born to humble parents in Germany, but he rises at Wittenberg until he is made a doctor of divinity. The Chorus warns that his learning swells into pride, and the image used is of a boy flying too near the sun.
When we meet Faustus, he is alone in his study, running through the branches of knowledge like a man choosing a career. Logic, he says, only teaches argument. Medicine can heal bodies, but it cannot raise the dead or make anyone immortal. Law is petty and concerns small disputes over money. Divinity seems dull to him because he reads in it only that all people sin and must die.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Doctor Faustus about?
It is about a scholar at Wittenberg who grows bored with ordinary learning and makes a pact with the devil for twenty four years of power. The play follows what he does with that power and what it costs him.
Who is Mephistophilis in Doctor Faustus?
Mephistophilis is the devil who serves Faustus under the contract. He is not a simple villain. He speaks honestly about the pain of losing heaven and warns Faustus about what he is choosing.
Is Doctor Faustus based on a true story?
It is based on a German legend about a learned magician, told in a popular prose book that was translated into English. Marlowe wrote the play around the early 1590s. Its events are legend, not recorded history.
The author
Christopher Marlowe
1564–1593 · English playwright and poet
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator born in Canterbury in 1564. He studied at Cambridge and later lived in London. He wrote plays in the late 1580s and early 1590s, including Doctor Faustus and The Jew of Malta. He died in Deptford in 1593.
More by Christopher Marlowe
All 2 books
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
FreeOur mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in poetry and plays
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
