Question

Why do you think that Faustus continues to speak of God and good things even after he has sold his soul to the Devil? Does this suggest that Faustus could repent and be restored spiritually? Or does it mean something else altogether? Your answer should be at least one hundred words.

Answer 1

Well heres something to help you: 
I believe that even though Dr. Faustus has sold his soul he can no longer repent, but believes that he can. :)

Answer 2

Answer:

I think that Faustus continues to speak of good things even after he has sold himself to evil because he believes that even though his heart has been hardened and he cannot repent there would still be hope and a chance for salvation if he repents according to the A - text.  

I, like some critics who focus on the B - text, believe that Faustus cannot possibly repent and is predestined which basically means that some, like Faustus are destined from day one or from the moment they are born to get in to paradise, whereas everybody else is doomed for all eternity. There’s nothing one could do about it. God’s choice if we are talking about the B - text published 12 years after the A - text.  

Explanation:

In Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe there are actually two different versions of this text- A and B. This summary is going to cover the A- text.  

Doctor Faustus is at home one day bored as and he starts reading a couple of books including logic, medicine, law and realizes that he is bored by these topics. He proceeds to call his servant: ¨Wagner! Get those two magicians, Valdes and Cornelius, because those two probably know a thing or two about some conjuring and spells, do you hear me?”  

A – text was published in 1604 and B – text about 12 years later. Some critics think the A text is messy, repetitive in comparison to B- text. There’s only about a 600-line difference between the two. Critics think this pretty much changes the whole sense of the book.

The difference between the two being whether Faustus chooses to sell his soul or being tricked into doing it. A key question to ask ourselves is ¨Is someone pulling his strings? ¨ and if so, who? Is it good or evil?...  

Since Faustus chooses evil in text A, most of the suffering he goes through is psychological; so all throughout the play he goes back and forth between evil, the devil or representing good and God’s people.  

I think that Faustus continues to speak of God and good things even after he has sold his soul to the Devil because he believes that even though his heart has been hardened and he cannot repent there would still be hope and a chance for salvation if he repents.  

¨Does this suggest that Faustus could repent and be restored spiritually?¨  

Some critics believe that Faustus cannot possibly repent and is predestined which basically means that some, like Faustus are destined from day one, or from the moment they are born to get in to heaven, whereas everybody else is condemned to hell for all eternity, and this is what B – text makes clear as it focuses more on his suffering. B – text shows that there’s nothing one could do about it. God’s choice.