An Unlikely Preacher

I have grown fond of the demon Mephastophilis. Throughout our reading, he has shown himself to be one of the most reasonable characters in Marlowe's story. One would not expect it of a servant of the "Father of Lies," but he proves to be infinitely more stable - and representative, therefore, of an absolute truth - than Faustus himself. The difference in the portrayal of Mephastophilis was one of the greatest discrepancies I noted between the A and B texts of Doctor Faustus.

In the A text, at the time of Faustus' "temptation," Mephastophilis pleads with him to turn back while there is hope.

"Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it.
Thinkst thou that I, who saw the face of God,
And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,
Am not tormented with ten thousand hells
In being deprived of everlasting bliss?
O Faustus, leave these frivolous demands,
Which strike a terror to my fainting soul." (Scene 3, 76-82)

This does not sound like a temptation at all, but a warning. In fact, Mephastophilis seems to pity the foolish human whom he has been sent to lure into Lucifer's services. Of course, after Faustus has signed the treaty, the demon leaps to distract him at any mention of God or salvation, but this is merely obedience to the command of Lucifer, then master of he and Faustus both. His place is clear: a regretful slave of the evil he has chosen to serve. In the A text, Mephastophilis' final line is a promise to fulfill Faustus' final command, and, his duties finished, he does not linger to taunt Faustus as damnation draws nearer. Mephastophilis serves the darkness with joyless resignation, due punishment for his rashness, and no less attuned for that to the workings of the light.

In the B text, Mephistophilis seems to have lost some of his (for lack of a better word) humanity, transformed into a mindless creature of darkness.

"I do confess it, Faustus, and rejoice;
'Twas I, that when thou wert i' the way to heaven,
Dammed up thy passage; when thou took'st the book,
To view the Scriptures, then I turned the leaves,
And led thine eye. -
What, weepst thou? 'Tis too late, despair, farewell!
Fools that will laugh on earth must weep in hell." (Scene 13, 233-239)

As the damning hour approaches, Mephistophilis jeers at Faustus, assuming full credit for his fatal mistake. There is something almost clownish in his arrogance, and he comes across as a cardboard villain, evil for evil's sake.

We have spoken some in class about the place of free will in Marlowe's text. I find that the two tellings' constrasting representations of Mephastophilis affect my opinions on the matter. It is easier for me to believe that the Faustus of the B text was conned, predestined for his tragic fate. He was deceived as Eve, blind to the demonic influence that misled his eyes. In the A text, however, Faustus' decision is far more intellectual in nature. Duly warned, he chooses to ignore the advice of the very side to whom he intends to turn. Yet even as I hold him responsible for his own foolish actions, I find him a more sympathetic character, in that his plight, his very idiocy, is so endearingly familiar. Who would look to a demon, after all, for the surest sign of God's presence? And is he a fool that he did not heed the warning of a hellfiend?