Discuss the significance of Faustus’ contract with Lucifer in Act II, Scene I and his renewal of the contract in Act V, Scene I. [Christopher Marlowe]
Faustus makes his contract with Lucifer by
stabbing his arms and sealing the contract with his own blood. When
Faustus says, “It is finished,” he repeats the words of Christ on the
cross. Faustus’s
blasphemy is the verbal equivalent of the action he has just taken, for he has
rejected God and delivered his soul to Lucifer. His fear of the devils
overwhelms any thoughts of repentance, and Mephistopheles gives him a dagger
and counsels despair. When
Mephistopheles threatens Faustus for his disobedience to Lucifer. Faustus
repents for the very act of thinking of Christ’s mercy. He
asks for Lucifer’s forgiveness, and then confirms again his former vow. Faustus
here parodies the three stages of Christian penance (contrition, confession and
satisfaction). These
two scenes, then, illustrate the nature of Faustus’ contract, and the parodying
of religious language and ritual vividly conveys the blasphemy which Faustus
commits.