The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus: From the Quarto of 1604

Christopher Marlowe's electrifying tragedy follows a brilliant scholar who trades his soul for twenty-four years of supreme knowledge and power. Dr. Faustus, disillusioned with medicine, law, and theology, summons a demon and signs a blood pact that will damn him eternally. What unfolds is a harrowing portrait of ambition unchecked, as Faustus revels in his forbidden gifts, commanding spirits to bring him Helen of Troy, wagering with kings, and precipitating his own damnation. The play crackles with dark comedy and theological weight, its famous Good Angel and Evil Angel battling for Faustus's soul in every scene. Written by the Elizabethan era's most controversial playwright, this 1604 quarto version crackles with raw theatrical power and the paranoid energy of a world where God and the devil feel terrifyingly close. Marlowe, dead at 29 under mysterious circumstances, left behind a play that feels like a suicide note from damnation's edge.