Lucifer, at one time a favorite angel of God, was expelled from heaven for becoming prideful. Faustus, a revered intellectual, grows conceited and pays a similar price. The overriding moral of the play is that great human achievement doesn’t entitle someone to break the laws of God and man, and that those who do will be punished everlastingly.

Faustus displays early intellectual talent, even genius, and he rises from the anonymity of commoner status to the heights of scholarly renown. At Wittenberg University, where he earns a doctorate in philosophy—at the time, philosophy covered scholarly activities in the humanities and the sciences—Faustus holds forth as a true Renaissance man with knowledge in many fields of study. His expertise covers religion, law, and medicine, and his skills as a debater and lecturer add to his fame. Faustus resides at the top of his profession, but his ambitions outgrow the limits of ordinary human activity. He wants more—“A sound magician is a mighty god” (5)—and the best way to fulfill this lofty dream is in the company of demons.

The Renaissance brought new ideas and new ways to deal with old problems. The thought that human knowledge could grant people more and more power might beguile persons of intellect, to the point that some would dream of limitless capabilities.