Literature Guides
Key Facts About Doctor Faustus
Full working title: The Tragicall History of D. Faustus and later, The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus.
Author: Christopher Marlowe
Type of Work: Play
Narrator: None, however, the Chorus appears between scenes to offer background information and to provide commentary
Point of View: Dr. Faustus is the central figure of the play, there are multiple long soliloquies that allow the audience to see things from his particular point of view.
Tenses: The Chorus, offering the only narration, shift between present and past tenses.
Foreshadowing: Doctor Faustus constantly focuses on the eternal damnation of Faustus’s soul. His blood congeals while he is trying to sign away his soul, and the words Homo fuge – or Fly man – appear on his arm once the pact is solidified, he constantly struggles with fears of hell and his own doubts.
