The Importance of Scene 5 in context with the whole play - "Now Faustus, must thou be damned, And canst thou be saved"

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Dr Faustus                                                                                       

The Importance of Scene 5 in context with the whole play

“Now Faustus, must thou be damned,

And canst thou be saved”

Scene 1

These are the words that open scene five as Faustus says them whilst sitting in his study. He is pondering on the like-hood of damnation. This scene has a repetitive sequence with a few phases. This is also the first time that we see Faustus expressing doubt as written in the above quote. This is one of the phases. He also becomes more resolute as he calls on the devil Memphostophilis. Persuasion is the second as persuasive efforts are made by the Good and Evil Angels to influence him.

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“…think of heaven, and of heavenly things” – Good Angel.

“…think of honour and of wealth” – Evil Angel

Scene five is important because it shows Faustus’ transaction from an honourable Christian to a greedy Satanist. It is the most important scene as all his ambitions are shown for the first time. The scene focuses on all the major strands that play a key role in the other scenes – intellectual curiosity, Faustus’ moral hesitations and the display put on by the Devil to keep him happy and forget the negative issues. Faustus himself is dominated by ...

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