Chapter Scene Summaries of Dr Faustus - Study Guide by Christopher Marlowe

Scene 6

Time passes and Faustus is now famous. Two ostlers, Robin and Rafe, plan to use one of the doctor’s book of spells to seduce a kitchen woman and get free drink.

Chorus 2

Wagner describes how Faustus is proceeding in his study of black magic. He tells us that the doctor has ridden in a chariot pulled by dragons to the top of Mount Olympus, the home of the Ancient Greek gods. Faustus will next try out his new powers at a papal feast in Rome.

Scene 7

Mephastophilis informs Faustus about the layout of Rome. He makes Faustus invisible and when the Pope enters with the Cardinal of Lorraine and attendant friars, the doctor plays tricks on them, disrupting the feast. Some friars curse Faustus, causing him to set off fireworks and beat them.

Scene 8

Robin and Rafe use the book of magic to steal a silver goblet. They accidentally call up Mephastophilis, and he transforms them into an ape and a dog for having brought him all the way from Constantinople.

Chorus 3

Faustus returns home to Wittenberg and immerses himself in his old friendships and entertainments. His skill is noticible, and he is summoned to the court of Emperor Charles V.

Scene 9

The Emperor tells Faustus that he may practise magic safely in his court, and the doctor is humble towards him. He gives a magic show, invoking devils in the image of Alexander the Great and Alexander’s Queen. A knight is sceptical, and leaves the stage, but everyone else believes the show to be genuine. Faustus asks for the knight to be sent for, and when he appears we see that the doctor has caused horns to sprout from his head. The Emperor and his court leave, and Faustus tells Mephastophilis that his twenty- four years of power are nearly over. He will spend the close of his life in Wittenberg.

Scene 10

Faustus proceeds to play tricks on a horse-trader. He turns a bundle of hay into a horse and sells it to a horse-courser for forty dollars, warning him not to ride the horse into water. The man accidentally insults Faustus by suggesting that he would do well as a horse-doctor. This prompts him to doubt his identity.

The horse-courser returns soaking wet and tells us that the horse turned into hay when rode into a pond. He tries to wake the sleeping Faustus to get a refund, shouting and pulling on his leg. This comes off in his hand and Mephastophilis lets him escape as long as he pays a further forty dollars. When he leaves we find out that the detachable leg was a trick. At the end Wagner appears with news of an invitation from the Duke of Vanholt.

Scene 11

Faustus is in the middle of entertaining the court of Vanholt. The pregnant Duchess craves grapes, and despite it being the middle of winter Faustus provides her with a bunch from the other side of the world. He is promised a reward and they depart to continue the conversation elsewhere.

Chorus 4