Act 5 + Faustus Epilogue Quotes' Analysis

Question 1

what role does the Old Man play in the final act?

Answer 1

stock character representing wisdom, conventions of a morality play that Marlowe subverts by having Faustus reject him + potentially a foil for Faustus who will never reach that age

Question 2

break heart, drop blood, and mingle it with tears

Answer 2

audience would interpret blood as representing Christ’s love, subverted by Faustus using it to reaffirm his deal with Lucifer, blood represents chance of redemption

Question 3

with greatest torments that hell affords

Answer 3

Faustus previously did not believe in Hell, so suggests an acceptance of his fate and Christian teachings

Question 4

Mephistopheles gives him a dagger

Answer 4

hoping Faustus will kill himself and therefore be damned, suicide seen as the worst sin to commit

Question 5

how does the Old Man’s death link to morality plays?

Answer 5

represents the death of Faustus’ chance for redemption, finality of damnation/ downfall, symbolic of Lutheran ideas and beliefs

Question 6

her lips suck forth my soul

Answer 6

proves Faustus’ damnation as it conveys how corrupted his desires have become, pursuit and value for base desires, level of debauchery and foolishness, hollow nature of necromancy as he devalues his soul, ironic as his soul belongs to Lucifer

Question 7

for heaven be in these lips

Answer 7

damning himself, takes joy in being blasphemous

Question 8

I will combat with weak Menelaus

Answer 8

lack of self-awareness, trying to present himself as a brave warrior despite it being set up multiple times that he is not

Question 9

as in this furnace God shall try my faith

Answer 9

unlike Faustus’ fickle nature, the Old Man has strong, firm faith in God

Question 10

what context can be linked to despair/ suicide?

Answer 10

despair means the inability to believe in God’s power to forgive sin, complete loss of hope which was the greatest of all sins for Renaissance theologians

Question 11

tis but a surfeit

Answer 11

structural parallel to the chorus, reference to gluttony, excess, over-indulgence

Question 12

O, he stays my tongue

Answer 12

imagining that the devils are controlling him, not taking responsibility

Question 13

O, I’ll leap up to my God. Who pulls me down?

Answer 13

short, sharp utterances reflects inevitability, urgency, and hurried nature

Question 14

clock strikes eleven

Answer 14

symbolic of the penultimate hour/ time of his life

Question 15

stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven

Answer 15

Faustus’ desperation to stop time has made him become illogical

Question 16

mountains and hills, come, come and fall on me, and hide me from the heavy wrath of God

Answer 16

coming up with impossible ideas that defy the laws of nature because he knows his fate is sealed

Question 17

offence can never be pardoned… nothing can resolve me

Answer 17

fatalism, Calvinistic

Question 18

this soul should fly from me and I be changed unto some brutish beast

Answer 18

lowering himself in the Great Chain of Being, shows how desperate he is

Question 19

curse be the parents that endangered me… curse Lucifer, that hath deprived thee of the joys of heaven

Answer 19

Faustus unable to take personal responsibility for his actions

Question 20

let Faustus live in hell a thousand years, a hundred thousand, and at last be saved

Answer 20

mirroring of Faustus’ first soliloquy where he faces inner conflict shows a lack of growth, has not learned about the consequences of his actions, highlights hubris

Question 21

thunder and lightning

Answer 21

use of sound/ imagery builds tension

Question 22

I’ll burn my books

Answer 22

furthers desperation, willingness to sacrifice what is most important to him (the cause of his plight)

Question 23

ah, Mephistopheles

Answer 23

calling out for him and not getting a response shows how much their relationship has changed

Question 24

cut is the branch that might have grown full straight

Answer 24

metaphorical language emphasises his wasted potential

Question 25

what is the significance of the epilogue being spoken by a chorus?

Answer 25

structural mirroring of the prologue, focusing on the lesson of the morality play, directing the audience to reflect

Question 26

burned is Apollo’s laurel bough

Answer 26

classical influence, indicative of the destruction of indulgence/ reverence/ frivolity

Question 27

whose deepness doth entice such forward wits to practise more than heavenly power permits

Answer 27

main message of the morality play to not overstep/ overreach, rhyming couplet