ABSTRACT
The story of Dr Faustus has captured many imaginations, most notably of course those of Goethe and Marlowe. A mediaeval legend seems to have got caught up with the real story of a sixteenth-century German necromancer and together they have fashioned the now familiar tale of the man who sold his soul to the Devil in return for unlimited powers, but for a limited time. In Marlowe’s version there is considerable pathos in the portrayal of Faustus approaching the end of his twenty-four years as master of all and realizing just what the bargain he had entered into really meant.
