Faustus Context

Question 1

Wittenburg and The Protestant Reformation

Answer 1

Faustus went to Wittenburg, where Martin Luther also attended. Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door of the church, criticising the corruption of the Catholic Church. This was one of the key events of the Protestant Reformation- moving from Catholicism to Protestantism. By linking Faustus to Martin Luther it presents the character as a radical individual.

Question 2

The Renaissance

Answer 2

Meaning re-birth. An era of intellectual discovery and questioning of medieval principles. Faustus rejects old authority figures as he pursues more knowledge.

Question 3

Dr John Dee

Answer 3

A well respected scholar and the royal advisor and the court astronomer of Elizabeth I who left n a quest for more powerful knowledge in the realms of magic and the supernatural

Question 4

Morality Play

Answer 4

Good and evil angels are stock characters which are a typical convention of morality plays.

Question 5

James I

Answer 5

He was concerned about practicing of necromancy, so he published a pamphlet called Dameonologie. This era is also sometimes referred to as the ‘satanic panic’ as thousands of people were executed for supposedly practicing witchcraft.

Question 6

Anti-Catholic Agenda

Answer 6

After battling Catholic Spain in 1588, they were very much seen as the enemy. Mass was also outlawed in Jacobean England. Faustus also summons Mephistopheles in Latin- which was the language used in mass, so Marlowe perhaps suggests there is something devlish about the Catholic faith.

Question 7

Calvinism & Lutheranism

Answer 7

Two strands of Protestantism-
Calvinists- soul was predestined at birth to either be saved or damned.
Lutheranists- fate of soul was determined by actions on Earth and relationship with God.

Question 8

Grammar schools

Answer 8

There are mnay references to the classical world, and these links are perhaps shaped by Marlowe’s education as he attended a grammar school, and the curriculum was based off this.

Question 9

Indulgences

Answer 9

Papal court scene- Marlowe mocks the pope and Catholic church as being greedy and corrupt, as the church was very questionable including their selling of Indulgences, which were monetary gifts made to the church in exchange for forgiveness from sin.

Question 10

Despair in Christian Doctrine

Answer 10

Despair is considered a very serious sin in traditional forms of Christianity as it is a loss of faith in God’s forgiveness.