prologue

Question 1

not marching now in fields of trasimene
nor sporting in the dalliance of love
nor in the pomp of proud audacious deeds.

Answer 1

the anaphoric repetition of negators emphasizes Faustus’s everyman status, he is not a brave soldier and not a great romancer. This is all emphatic of the fact that he is not noble and is ordinary.

Question 2

now is he born his parents base of stock

Answer 2

this suggests that Faustus is of low social ranks and Faustus ‘the everyman’ comes from a humble beginning and this point is thoroughly reiterated.

Question 3

of riper years of witenberg he went
the fruitful plot of scholarism graced
excelling all whose sweet delight disputes

Answer 3

semantic filed of fruit and food imagery, suggests that the knowledge is enriching and nourishing and the knowledge is as necessary to him as food and water, which leads to growth and nurtures him.

Question 4

so soon he profits in divinity

Question 5

his waxen wing did mount above his research

Answer 5

marlowe makes use of the classical allusion of icarus to emphasise faustuses over reaching nature