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Why does Faustus make a pact with the devil in Doctor Faustus?
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Christopher Marlowe
Detail of a portrait thought to be of Christopher Marlowe, dated 1585, artist unknown; in the collection of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, England.
In Christopher Marloweās play Doctor Faustus, the protagonist makes a pact with the devil to obtain knowledge and power. Driven by grandiose intellectual ambitions, Faustus turns to necromancy and agrees to surrender his soul to the devil in exchange for these worldly benefits.123
Marlowe portrays this Faustian bargain as a tragic and self-destructive act. While Faustus seeks to transcend human limitations through his pact, the play frames his desires as ultimately futile and absurd. Through the presence of morality figuresāsuch as the good and bad angelsāthe drama emphasizes the themes of temptation, the fall, and the inevitable damnation that follows his choice to prioritize material power over his spiritual salvation.132