Faustus and the Promises of the New Science, c. 1580-1730

Having identified the literary origins of the Faustus legend in the late sixteenth-century German Faust Book and its English translation, this book argues that the Faustus typology emerged as a vehicle for discussing morality and beliefs. This study examines a broad spectrum of transformations of the thematic core of the legend, concentrating on Marlowe's play, Milton's and Fontenelle's responses to seventeenth-century science, Mountfort's farcical Faustus play and early eighteenth-century harlequinades.