Doctor Faustus Chapter Summary & Analysis | Prologue

Prologue Summary

Faustus is born to poor parents in Rhodes, Germany, grows up and eventually goes to Wittenberg to study divinity. Through his studies, he does well financially but his thoughts soon turn away from theology. Instead, he begins to turn toward the study of magic and necromancy -- the magical art of raising the dead.

Prologue Analysis

A chorus speaks in the Prologue and at a few other points in the play. This is a holdover from Greek theater in which a chorus would speak in order to fill in plot points, tie together scenes or, as in this case, fill in background information. Though it had mostly fallen out of use by the time that Christopher Marlowe was writing, it was still used occasionally.

In the city of Wittenberg there is a famous university where Martin Luther taught and studied. The fact that Faustus attends this well-known and well-respected university is an...
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