Discuss how Doctor Faustus illustrates English protestantism.

Doctor Faustus by Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe was a wildly popular tragedy based on famous German folk-tales. The protagonist of the play, Faustus, is a German doctor interested in alchemy and necromancy. To gain information for selfish gain, Faustus summons the demon Mephistopheles and makes a pact with the Devil. He exchanges his soul for twenty-four years on earth with a deep understanding of scientific knowledge. Faustus squanders his mastery of science and, in the final scene of the play, his soul is claimed by Mephistopheles and transported to Hell.
Marlowe did not write Doctor Faustus in a social or religious vacuum; he lived in a time of violent turmoil between English Protestants and Catholics. In the play, many argue that Marlowe mocks Catholicism and the papacy, particularly in act 2, when Faustus and Mephistopheles visit both the Pope’s court and his personal bathroom. Pope Adrian appears ridiculous and foolish in the play, as he claims that he has “all the power on earth” and yet is easily deceived. Faustus also openly questions Catholic doctrine in raucous dialogue throughout his visit to Rome. Many scholars cite these examples as evidence for Marlowe’s anti-Catholic stance. In this sense, Doctor Faustus can be seen to support English Protestantism.
There is also much debate regarding a theological interpretation of Marlowe’s play and whether it supports the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. Calvinism was increasingly popular during Marlowe’s lifetime and became a dominant force in the English brand of Protestantism. The play ties to this theological dispute because many scholars debate whether Faustus truly had free will. Perhaps, some argued, Faustus was predestined by God to suffer his horrible fate at the hands of the demons. Although the Doctor Faustus doesn’t advocate for or against Calvinism, it illustrates a key theological disagreement that raged among Marlowe’s more religious contemporaries.
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