Personifications of Faustus' inner turmoil, who give differing advice to him at key points. At the end of the play, he seems concerned about his master's fate. He steals Faustus' books and learns how to summon demons. Not only does Mephostophilis get Faustus to sell his soul he also encourages Faustus to waste his twenty-four years of power. But he is gleefully evil, participating at every level in Faustus' destruction. He admits that separation from God is anguish, and is capable of fear and pain. In Marlowe's play, Mephostophilis has layers to his personality. He possibly was created for the Faustus legend. In lore, Mephostophilis (also spelled Mephistopheles, or Miphostophiles, and also called Mephisto) seems to be a relative latecomer in the recognized hierarchy of demons. He is the devil who comes at Faustus' summoning, and the devil who serves Faustus for 24 years.
Mephostophilisįrom the Hebrew, mephitz, destroyer, and tophel, liar. He proceeds to waste this time on self-indulgence and low tricks.įaustus is the absolute center of the play, which has few truly developed characters. Faustus decides to sell his soul to the devil in exchange for earthly power and knowledge and an additional 24 years of life. As an intellectual, Faustus is familiar with things (like demon summoning and astrology) not normally considered academic subjects by today's universities. He is arrogant, fiery, and possesses a thirst for knowledge. Faustus is a scholar of the early sixteenth century in the German city of Wittenburg.
A brilliant man, who seems to have reached the limits of natural knowledge.
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