Dr. Faustus

The sub plot underscores the stupidity of Faustus’s bargain. Discuss.

As begun in Act 1. Scene 2, the story of Doctor Faustus reveals a livelier and quite comical dialogue. While the main plot focuses on Doctor Faustus's struggle and misuse of power, the more comical scenes seem to echo Faustus's actions. These interludes also offer the reader a more broadened perspective of who Faustus really is, and who his decisions are affecting.

As these comic interludes provide the reader with a break from the story, they also seem to mock and bicker at Faustus himself. During the second act of the play Wagner essentially mimics his master by using scholastic/logical language to explain why the two Scholars should not have asked a question. As seen in Act 1, Faustus misuses his knowledge to conjure up spirits and play with black magic. Accordingly, in the next scene, we cross Wagner who uses his logic for nothing more than to inform the Scholars of Faustus's location. Though this scene may be inherently poking fun at Faustus, it also leads the reader to notice the importance of Faustus's decision on his peers. The two scholars convey a message of fear and concern, as they are frightened by Faustus's determination to play with black magic.

The sub plot shows that even clowns and not highly educated men like Wagner can see through the devils and know that what Faustus is doing is nothing but stupid. Their small yet powerful and comic scenes actually mock fun not only at Faustus but to his education as well which can not teach him the basic difference between good and evil.

As a whole, when these men joke and yet fear for Faustus, it provides the reader with a bit of foreshadowing. As Wagner and others are concerned for Faustus, their knowledge of the situation amounts to what they fear the most, losing Faustus. As the jokes fly, Faustus is losing his life and falling into the devils hands. In the end, his sentence was eternal damnation, and a life in hell. Validating the concerns of the Scholars, Faustus finds himself caught up in a world beyond his wildest dream. Though the Scholars wanted to change Faustus's destiny, they never could. This simply lets the reader know in advance that there is no way out for Faustus.

However, others say that "...these scenes filled in the time element and provided a type of low comedy which appealed to the less intelligent..." (Fitzwater 34). However, the parallelism between the life of Faustus and the life of his servant are unmistakably similar. Another point brought up in both the comic and "real" scenes is the importance of a master/servant relationship. As Faustus is a servant to Mephistophilis, we find that the Clown becomes a servant to Wagner. These relationships exhibit a sense of a caste system, allowing one to truly understand the relationship of Faustus and those around him.

The different scenes of play and mockery help us see the play through the eyes of commoners thus making an action as big as selling of soul appear trivial. Therefore this acts as a form of mock heroism giving such a serious play a light note.