Doctor Faustus

by Colin Teevan

  And so consequently die.

  Ay, we must die an everlasting death.

  What doctrine call you this, Che serà, serà,

  What will be, shall be? Divinity, adieu!

  (He picks up a book of magic.)

  These metaphysics of magicians

  And necromantic books are heavenly:

  Lines, circles, signs, letters, and characters –

  Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires.

  O, what a world of profit and delight,

  Of power, of honour, of omnipotence,

  Is promised to the studious artisan!

  All things that move between the quiet poles

  Shall be at my command. Emperors and kings

  Are but obeyed in their several provinces,

  Nor can they raise the wind or rend the clouds;

  But his dominion that exceeds in this

  Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man.

  A sound magician is a mighty god.

  Here, Faustus, tire thy brains to gain a deity.

  Wagner!

  Enter WAGNER.

  FAUSTUS

  Commend me to my dearest friends,

  The German Valdes and Cornelius.

  Request them earnestly to visit me.

  WAGNER

  I will, sir.

  Exit WAGNER.

  FAUSTUS

  Their conference will be a greater help to me

  Than all my labours, plod I ne’er so fast.

  Enter the GOOD ANGEL and the EVIL ANGEL.

  GOOD ANGEL

  O Faustus, lay that damnèd book aside,

  And gaze not on it, lest it tempt thy soul,

  And heap God’s heavy wrath upon thy head.

  Read, read the Scriptures. That is blasphemy.

  EVIL ANGEL

  Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art

  Wherein all nature’s treasury is contained.

  Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky;

  Lord and commander of these elements.

  Exit ANGELS.

  FAUSTUS

  How am I glutted with conceit of this!

  Shall I make spirits fetch me what I please,

  Resolve me of all ambiguities,

  Perform what desperate enterprise I will?

  I’ll have them fly to India for gold,

  Ransack the ocean for orient pearl,

  And search all corners of the new-found world

  For pleasant fruits and princely delicates.

  I’ll have them read me strange philosophy,

  And tell the secrets of all foreign kings.

  I’ll levy soldiers with the coin they bring,

  And reign sole king of all our provinces.

  Enter VALDES and CORNELIUS.

  FAUSTUS

  Valdes, sweet Valdes, and Cornelius,

  Know that your words have won me at the last,

  To practice magic and concealèd arts.

  Yet, not your words only, but mine own fantasy,

  That will receive no object, for my head,

  But ruminates on necromantic skill.

  Philosophy is odious and obscure,

  Both law and physic are for petty wits;

  Divinity is basest of the three,

  Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and vile:

  ’Tis magic, magic that hath ravished me.

  Then, gentle friends, aid me in this attempt.

  VALDES

  Faustus, these books, thy wit, and our experience

  Shall make all nations to canonize us.

  As Indian Moors obey their Spanish lords,

  So shall the subjects of every element

  Be always serviceable to us three.

  If learnèd Faustus will be resolute.

  FAUSTUS

  Valdes, as resolute am I in this

  As thou to live; therefore object it not.

  CORNELIUS

  The miracles that magic will perform

  Will make thee vow to study nothing else.

  He that is grounded in astrology,

  Enriched with tongues, well seen in minerals,

  Hath all the principles magic doth require.

  Then doubt not, Faustus, but to be renowned

  And more frequented for this mystery

  Than heretofore the Delphian oracle.

  The spirits tell me they can dry the sea,

  And fetch the treasure of all foreign wrecks –

  Ay, all the wealth that our forefathers hid

  Within the massy entrails of the earth.

  Then tell me, Faustus, what shall we three want?

  FAUSTUS

  Nothing, Cornelius. O, this cheers my soul!

  Come, show me some demonstrations magical,

  That I may conjure in some lusty grove,

  And have these joys in full possession.

  CORNELIUS

  Valdes, first let him know the words of art,

  And then, all other ceremonies learned,

  Faustus may try his cunning by himself.

  VALDES

  First I’ll instruct thee in the rudiments,

  And then wilt thou be perfecter than I.

  FAUSTUS

  We’ll canvass every quiddity thereof,

  For ere I sleep I’ll try what I can do.

  This night I’ll conjure, though I die therefore.

  Exit all.

  SCENE 3

  FAUSTUS

  Now that the gloomy shadow of the earth,

  Longing to view Orion’s drizzling look,

  Leaps from th’Antarctic world unto the sky,

  And dims the welkin with her pitchy breath,

  Faustus, begin thine incantations,

  And try if devils will obey thy hest,

  Seeing thou hast prayed and sacrificed to them.

  He draws a circle.

  FAUSTUS

  Within this circle is Jehovah’s name,

  Forward and backward anagrammatised,

  The breviated names of holy saints,

  Figures of every adjunct to the heavens,

  And characters of signs and erring stars,

  By which the spirits are enforced to rise.

  Then fear not, Faustus, but be resolute,

  And try the uttermost magic can perform.

  Sint mihi dei Acherontis propitii! Valeat numen triplex Jehovae! Ignei, aerii, aquatici, terreni, spiritus, salvete! Orientis princeps Lucifer,

  Beelzebub, inferni ardentis monarcha, et Demogorgon, propitiamus vos, ut appareat et surgat Mephistopheles! Quid tumoraris? Per Jehovam,

  Gehennam, et consecratam aquam quam nunc spargo, signumque crucis quod nunc facio, et per vota nostra, Ipse nunc surgat nobis dicatus

  Mephistopheles!

  Enter a DEVIL (MEPHISTOPHELES).

  FAUSTUS

  I charge thee to return and change thy shape.

  Thou art too ugly to attend on me.

  Exit DEVIL (MEPHISTOPHELES).

  FAUSTUS

  I see there’s virtue in my heavenly words.

  Who would not be proficient in this art?

  How pliant is this Mephistopheles –

  Full of obedience and humility –

  Such is the force of magic and my spells!

  Now, Faustus, thou art conjuror laureate,

  That canst command great Mephistopheles.

  Re-enter MEPHISTOPHELES.

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Now, Faustus, what wouldst thou have me do?

  FAUSTUS

  I charge thee wait upon me whilst I live,

  To do whatever Faustus shall command,

  Be it to make the moon drop from her sphere,

  Or the ocean to overwhelm the world.

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  I am a servant to great Lucifer

  And may not follow thee without his leave.

  No more than he commands must we perform.

  FAUSTUS

  Did not he charge thee to appear to me?
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  MEPHISTOPHELES

  No, I came hither of mine own accord.

  FAUSTUS

  Did not my conjuring speeches raise thee? Speak.

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  That was the cause, but yet per accidens.

  For when we hear one rack the name of God,

  Abjure the Scriptures and his Saviour Christ,

  We fly in hope to get his glorious soul;

  Nor will we come unless he use such means

  Whereby he is in danger to be damned.

  Therefore, the shortest cut for conjuring

  Is stoutly to abjure the Trinity,

  And pray devoutly to the prince of hell.

  FAUSTUS

  So Faustus hath

  Already done, and holds this principle:

  There is no chief but only Beelzebub,

  To whom Faustus doth dedicate himself.

  This word ‘damnation’ terrifies not him,

  For he confounds hell in Elysium.

  His ghost be with the old philosophers!

  But leaving these vain trifles of men’s souls,

  Tell me what is that Lucifer thy lord?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Arch-regent and commander of all spirits.

  FAUSTUS

  Was not that Lucifer an angel once?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Yes, Faustus, and most dearly loved of God.

  FAUSTUS

  How comes it then that he is prince of devils?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  O, by aspiring pride and insolence,

  For which God threw him from the face of heaven.

  FAUSTUS

  And what are you that live with Lucifer?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer,

  Conspired against our God with Lucifer,

  And are for ever damned with Lucifer.

  FAUSTUS

  Where are you damned?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  In hell.

  FAUSTUS

  How comes it then that thou art out of hell?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it.

  Think’st thou that I, who saw the face of God

  And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,

  Am not tormented with ten thousand hells,

  In being deprived of everlasting bliss?

  O Faustus, leave these frivolous demands,

  Which strike a terror to my fainting soul!

  FAUSTUS

  What, is great Mephistopheles so passionate

  For being deprivèd of the joys of heaven?

  Learn thou of Faustus’ manly fortitude,

  And scorn those joys thou never shalt possess.

  Go bear these tidings to great Lucifer:

  Seeing Faustus hath incurred eternal death,

  By desp’rate thoughts against Jove’s deity,

  Say he surrenders up to him his soul,

  So he will spare him four-and-twenty years,

  Letting him live in all voluptuousness,

  Having thee ever to attend on me,

  To give me whatsoever I shall ask,

  To tell me whatsoever I demand,

  To slay mine enemies, and aid my friends,

  And always be obedient to my will.

  Go and return to mighty Lucifer,

  And meet me in my study at midnight,

  And then resolve me of thy master’s mind.

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  I will, Faustus.

  Exit MEPHISTOPHELES.

  FAUSTUS

  Had I as many souls as there be stars,

  I’d give them all for Mephistopheles.

  By her I’ll be great emperor of the world,

  And make a bridge through the moving air

  To pass the ocean with a band of men;

  I’ll join the hills that bind the Afric shore

  And make that land continent to Spain,

  And both contributory to my crown.

  The Emp’ror shall not live but by my leave,

  Nor any potentate of Germany.

  Now that I have obtained what I desire,

  I’ll live in speculation of this art

  Till Mephistopheles return again.

  SCENE 4

  FAUSTUS

  Now, Faustus, must thou needs be damned,

  And canst thou not be saved?

  What boots it then to think of God or heaven?

  Away with such vain fancies and despair!

  Despair in God and trust in Beelzebub.

  Now go not backward: no, Faustus, be resolute.

  Why waverest thou? O, something soundeth in mine ears:

  ‘Abjure this magic, turn to God again!’

  Ay, and Faustus will turn to God again.

  To God? He loves thee not.

  The god thou servest is thine own appetite,

  Wherein is fixed the love of Beelzebub.

  To him I’ll build an altar and a church,

  And offer lukewarm blood of new-born babes.

  Enter the GOOD ANGEL and the EVIL ANGEL.

  GOOD ANGEL

  Sweet Faustus, leave that execrable art.

  FAUSTUS

  Contrition, prayer, repentance – what of them?

  GOOD ANGEL

  O, they are means to bring thee unto heaven.

  EVIL ANGEL

  Rather illusions, fruits of lunacy,

  That makes men foolish that do trust them most.

  GOOD ANGEL

  Sweet Faustus, think of heaven and heavenly things.

  EVIL ANGEL

  No, Faustus; think of honour and of wealth.

  Exit ANGELS.

  FAUSTUS

  Of wealth?

  Why, the seigniory of Emden shall be mine.

  When Mephistopheles shall stand by me,

  What god can hurt thee, Faustus? Thou art safe;

  Cast no more doubts. Come, Mephistopheles,

  And bring glad tidings from great Lucifer.

  Is’t not midnight? Come, Mephistopheles!

  Veni, veni, Mephistophile!

  Enter MEPHISTOPHELES.

  FAUSTUS

  Now tell, what says Lucifer, thy lord?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  That I shall wait on Faustus whilst he lives,

  So he will buy my service with his soul.

  FAUSTUS

  Already Faustus hath hazarded that for thee.

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  But, Faustus, thou must bequeath it solemnly,

  And write a deed of gift with thine own blood,

  For that security craves great Lucifer.

  If thou deny it, I will back to hell.

  FAUSTUS

  Stay, Mephistopheles, and tell me, what good will my soul do thy lord?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Enlarge his kingdom.

  FAUSTUS

  Is that the reason why he tempts us thus?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Misery loves company.

  FAUSTUS

  Have you any pain that tortures other?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  As great as have the human souls of men.

  But tell me, Faustus, shall I have thy soul?

  And I will be thy slave, and wait on thee,

  And give thee more than thou hast wit to ask.

  FAUSTUS

  Ay, Mephistopheles, I’ll give it thee.

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Then stab thine arm courageously,

  And bind thy soul that at some certain day

  Great Lucifer may claim it as his own,

  And then be thou as great as Lucifer.

  FAUSTUS cuts his arm.

  FAUSTUS

  Lo, Mephistopheles, for love of thee

  I cut mine arm, and with my proper blood

  Assure my soul to be great Lucifer’s,

  Chief lord and regent of perpetual night.

  View here the blood that trickles from mine arm,

 
And let it be propitious for my wish.

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  But Faustus, thou must write it in manner of a deed of gift.

  FAUSTUS

  Ay, so I will.

  (He writes.)

  But Mephistopheles,

  My blood congeals, and I can write no more.

  What might the staying of my blood portend?

  Is it unwilling I should write this bill?

  Why streams it not, that I may write afresh?

  ‘Faustus gives to thee his soul’ – ah, there it stayed!

  Why shouldst thou not? Is not thy soul thine own?

  Then write again: ‘Faustus give to thee his soul.’

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Here’s fire. Come Faustus, set it on.

  FAUSTUS

  So, now the blood begins to clear again,

  Now will I make an end immediately.

  He writes.

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  (Aside.)

  O, what will not I do to obtain his soul?

  FAUSTUS

  Consummatum est. This bill is ended,

  And Faustus hath bequeathed his soul to Lucifer.

  But what is this inscription on mine arm?

  ‘Homo, fuge!’ Whither should I fly?

  If unto God, he’ll throw me down to hell –

  My senses are deceived; here’s nothing writ –

  FAUSTUS looks at arm. It is blank. He looks to other arm.

  FAUSTUS

  I see it plain. Here in this place is writ

  ‘Homo, fuge!’ Yet shall not Faustus fly.

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  (Aside.)

  I’ll fetch him somewhat to delight his mind.

  Exit. MEPHISTOPHELES returns with DEVILS.

  FAUSTUS

  Speak, Mephistopheles. What means this show?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Nothing, Faustus, but to delight thy mind withal,

  And to show thee what magic can perform.

  FAUSTUS

  But may I raise up spirits when I please?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Ay, Faustus, and do greater things than these.

  FAUSTUS

  Then there’s enough for a thousand souls.

  Here, Mephistopheles, receive this scroll,

  A deed of gift of body and of soul –

  But yet conditionally that thou perform

  All articles prescribed between us both.

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Faustus, I swear by hell and Lucifer

  To effect all promises between us made.

  Speak, Faustus. Do you deliver this as your deed?

  FAUSTUS

  (Giving the deed.)

  Ay, take it, and the devil give thee good on’t.

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Now, Faustus, ask what thou wilt.

  FAUSTUS

  First will I question with thee about hell.

  Tell me, where is the place that men call hell?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Under the heavens.

  FAUSTUS

  Ay, but where about?

  MEPHISTOPHELES

  Within the bowels of these elements,