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- Ambitious- he is always seeking to increase his knowledge and is never satisfied. "Excelling all whose sweet delight disputes", "Till, swoll'n with cunning of a self-conceit/His waxen wings did mount above his reach" He is a victim of hubris.
- An academic/scholar- breadth of knowledge in many areas; science, medicine, divination. "The fruitful plot of scholarism graced"
- Indecisive- He is never sure whether to repent or what to do with his new powers.
- He is well renowned amongst Germany. "graced with doctor's name", "Is not thy common talk sound aphorisms?", Are not thy bills hung up as monuments?", "And thousand desp'rate maladies been eased?"
- He represents the Renaissance- man's rejection of medieval beliefs and the welcoming of the possibilities of humanity. "Nothing so sweet as magic is to him/Which he prefers before his chiefest bliss"
- He is a master of rhetoric "Bene disserere est finis logices"
- Faustus is called "Master Fustian" by the Horse-Courser, fustian was the name given to overblown, bragging speech which Faustus is guilty of.
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- Faustus personifies the Renaissance- "His study fits a mercenary drudge/Who aims at nothing but external trash-/Too servile and illiberal for me." He details his ambition and how he would not be satisfied with menial tasks and questions the possibilities of man. "A sound magician is a mighty God".
- Blasphemy- "Stipendium peccati mors est. Ha!" Faustus mocks the saying 'the wages of sin is death' (Romans 6.23) He goes on to say "Why then belike we must sin" in response to "If we say that we have no sin,/We deceive ourselves, and there's no truth in us." (1 John 1.8.) He describes black magic how he should God "And necromantic books are heavenly" which introduces his fascination with the occult and confusion between medieval values of right and wrong.
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- He continuously considers repenting "Ay, God will pity me if I repent." but then convinces himself not to "My heart's so hardened I cannot repent.", "I am resolved Faustus shall ne'er repent."
- Despite consistent reminding by the Good Angel that "Never too late, if Faustus can repent." he ends up back with Mephistopheles. "Christ cannot save thy soul, for he is just."
- He becomes increasingly devoted to Lucifer "Faustus vows never to look to heaven,/Never to name God or to pray to him, to burn his Scriptures, slay his ministers,/And make my spirits pull him down."
- He gains greater reputation after making the pact with Lucifer "Now is his fame spread forth in every land."
- Early in the play, Faustus likens a magician to a God, however, in Act 4 Scene 1, when his magic is merely used to entertain the Emperor it shows that magicians are just that-entertainers/jesters. In some ways, these scenes demonstrate bethos and the audience questions Faustus' obsession with such anticlimactic arts.
- Faustus is given them opportunity to commit suicide as Mephistopheles hands him a dagger, this would mean Faustus would be committing the ultimate sin of despair.
- During the final scenes Faustus claims "I'll burn my books!"
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- Marlowe was known for his atheism. Thomas Beard (who attended Cambridge with Marlowe) stated that he 'even cursed and blasphemed to his last gasp', and he saw his death as a 'manifest sign of God's judgement'
- Just after Marlowe's death, Richard Baines accused him of heresy in a report entitled 'A note containing the opinion of one Christopher Marly (Marlowe had many variants of his name), concerning his damnable judgement of religion and scorn of God's word'
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