Food

• Motif of food and gluttony

  • Symbolizes the idea of over-reaching, which corrupts the title character Faustus
• Foreshadowing


  Hints or clues about future events in a story
• Hamartia


  A tragic flaw or error in judgment that leads to the downfall of the protagonist
• Hubris


  Excessive pride or self-confidence
• Semantic field


  A set of words related by meaning
• Faustus desires 'sweet delighted disputes', after 'riper', 'fruitful' 'years [in] Wittenberg'

  Presents Faustus as nourished and satiated through his study of theology
• Faustus 'surfeits upon cursed necromancy'


  Suggests he overindulges on account of his hamartia, his hubristic desire for the power which comes with black magic
• Robin states that 'he would give his soul to the devil for a shoulder of mutton'


  Highlights how Robin would foolishly sacrifice himself for a meal, satiating his immediate (and literal) appetite with little thought of the consequences, much like Faustus
• Faustus forgets his impeding fate, instead terrorizing the Pope, 'Whose summum bonum is in belly cheer'


  Suggests the friars chief delight is in gluttony, in sin, excessively consuming to bring themselves joy
• Faustus' 'banquet' where he 'carouse[s] and swill[s]'

  Acts as a blasphemous parody of Christ's Last Supper, highlighting that Faustus has failed to redeem himself from 'God's heavy wrath' and continues to blindly gorge
• Faustus is 'glutted with conceit'


  Suggests that Faustus' downfall is inescapable on account of his inability to resist his own hamartia
• Marlowe's reference to the corruption of the Catholic church could perhaps mirror Martin Luther's outrage, the catalyst for the Protestant reformation, at the rising use of 'indulgences, whereby through a monetary gift, the church would pardon sin, securing one's place in heaven
• Marlowe's use of the stock character of jester reflects morality play conventions whereby, through comedic relief, a didactic message is sent to the audience about the idiocy of blinding hubris
• Cardinal Beaufort


  The prominent financier and pro-peace counsellor of Henry VI's early reign. He died in 1447.
• The year in which Henry VI was declared of age and took over the government of England from the regency council


  1437
• William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk


  A favourite of Henry VI. He was active in the peace policy with France and was very unpopular in England as a result. He was killed in 1450.
• Henry VI


  The king of England from 1422 until 1461. He was easily controlled by others and had an obsessive interest in religion.
• Humphrey of Gloucester


  Henry VI's uncle and Protector of England. He was fiercely opposed to the surrender of French land and was a mentor to Richard of York. He died in suspicious circumstances in 1447.
• Charles VII


  The French king until 1461. He was the chief rival to the Lancastrians in France.
• Jack Cade's Rebellion


  A popular revolt in Kent in May 1450. It was connected to the loss of the French wars. The rebels marched on London and looted the city. Henry VI fled and it was finally contained.
• Richard of York


  The rich and powerful heir to the Mortimer claim. He served faithfully and well in France but resented being kept out of the king's inner circle. Henry VI's favourites feared and hated him.
• Margaret of Anjou


  Henry VI's marriage to her in 1445 was deeply unpopular especially after it was revealed that she brought no dowry and Henry VI had secretly agreed to surrender Maine to the French.
• Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset

  A favourite of Henry VI. He was related to the king and the rival of Richard, duke of York. He was widely blamed for the loss of Normandy.
• Adam Moleyns


  The unpopular bishop of Chichester who was murdered by a mob at Portsmouth in January 1450.
• Nicholas of the Tower


  The ship that intercepted Suffolk as he attempted to flee into exile in 1450. The crew gave him a mock trial and then beheaded him.
• William Ayscough


  The bishop of Salisbury murdered in Wiltshire in June 1450. He had married Henry VI and Margaret.
• Lord Saye


  A prominent supporter of Suffolk's and official in Kent. He was murdered by the mob during Jack Cade's rebellion.
• Sir William Oldhall


  A prominent supporter of Richard of York who served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1450 and 1451.
• Calais


  The sole English possession in France after 1453. It dominated trade and had a substantial and highly trained military garrison.
• Captain of Calais


  A highly coveted office. York resented Somerset's possession of it and during the First Protectorate he took it. From 1455 until 1471 it remained effectively in the possession of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick.
• Thomas Young


  An MP for Bristol, who, in 1451, called unsuccessfully for York to be formally recognised as Henry VI's heir.
• Dartford


  York marched on London with an army in 1452 with the avowed intention of reforming Henry VI's government. He was barred from entrance and challenged outside the city where he was forced to lay down arms and swear loyalty to the king.
• Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon


  An early ally of York until the First protectorate when he switched sides. He, along with Lord Cobham, was one of the very few nobles to support York at Dartford.
• Lord Cobham


  Edward Brooke was an ardent noble supporter of Richard of York at Dartford. Later he fought for the Yorkists at St Albans (1455) and Northampton (1460).
• Lord Bonville


  A rival to the Earl of Devon who was a supporter of Suffolk and later Edmund Beaufort. He switched openly to the Yorkist cause in 1460.
• James Butler, Earl of Wiltshire


  Close to the court in the early 1450s and intervened to support Lord Bonville against Devon. He was a prominent Lancastrian.
• Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter


  An extremely violent and reckless person. He initiated a violent feud with Lord Cromwell in 1452. In 1454 he allied himself with Lord Egremont.
• William Crowmer


  The notorious and hated sheriff of Kent with strong ties to the king's household. Opposition to him helped to fuel Jack Cade's rebellion.
• Thomas Daniel and John Trevelyan


  Two household men with close ties to Suffolk specifically mentioned as enemies of the common good in the propaganda of the rebels in 1450.
• Resumption


  A key demand of the rebels in 1450 that land granted by the crown to favourites be taken back so as to improve its finances and reduce taxation.