Doctor Faustus | On the A-text, the B-text, and Their Differing Endings

The A-text and B-text of Doctor Faustus have many notable differences, with one of them being the play's ending. In this post, I would like to lay out my interpretations of both of these endings and discuss the dissimilarities between them that produce these differing interpretations.

The first difference between the A-text and B-text is the introduction of Mephistopheles, Beelzebub, and Lucifer at the opening of the final scene:

Thunder. Enter Lucifer, Beelzebub, and Mephistophilis.

Lucif.
Thus from infernal Dis do we ascend
To view the subjects of our monarchy,
Those souls which sin seals the black sons of hell,
'Mong which as chief, Faustus, we come to thee,
Bringing with us lasting damnation,
To wait upon thy soul. The time is come
Which makes it forfeit.

Meph.
And this gloomy night,
Here in this room will wretched Faustus be.

Bels.
And here we'll stay,
To mark him how he doth demean himself.

Meph.
How should he, but in desperate lunacy?
Fond worldling, now his heart blood dries with grief;
His conscience kills it, and his labouring brain
Begets a world of idle fantasies
To overreach the devil, but all in vain.
His store of pleasures must be sauced with pain.
He and his servant Wagner are at hand.
Both come from drawing Faustus' latest will.
See where they come. Enter Faustus and Wagner.

The introduction of these devils at the beginning of the scene rather than at the end (as it is in the A-text) gives this scene a much stronger feeling of inevitability in the B-text. Notice that the devils never leave the stage but instead remain upon it when Faustus and Wagner enter. While it is made clear that the devils are supposed to be waiting for Faustus in a room other than the one in which he enters, the audience would nevertheless be able to see both the devils and Faustus on stage at the same time, giving the impression that the devils are always watching Faustus as he prepares to meet them. Further, this gives the devils a much stronger presence in the scene. Not only are they always watching over Faustus, but they are literally and figuratively in the background of everything that happens throughout the scene. The devils share the stage with Faustus, likely farther backstage than Faustus since Faustus has the speaking role and is supposed to be in a different room than the devils, as he tells the scholars how he is damned to hell because he has sold his soul to the devil. While the presence of the devils in the A-text is minimal and the ending ambiguous, the presence of the devils here, to me, makes it clear that Faustus is truly damned.

Next, there is the brief exchange between Faustus and Wagner regarding Faustus's will:

Faust.
Say, Wagner, thou hast perused my will;
How dost thou like it?

Wag.
Sir, so wondrous well,
As in all humble duty, I do yield
My life and lasting service for your love.

Enter the Scholars.

Faust.
Gramercies, Wagner. Welcome, gentlemen.

While many would pass over this as being inconsequential, I would argue that it shows Faust as being more resigned to his inevitable damnation. In the A-text, Faustus gives no indication that he has accepted his fate at all; instead, the most I can say is that he seems relatively calm as he speaks with the three scholars. This scene in the B-text, however, shows that Faustus has thought about what will happen after he goes to hell as he takes the time to draw up a will and run it past his assistant Wagner.

Finally, there is the appearance of the good and bad angel just before Faustus is taken to hell:

Enter the Good Angel and the Evil Angel at
several doors.

Good.
Oh Faustus, if thou had'st given ear to me,
Innumerable joys had followed thee.
But thou did'st love the world.

Bad.
Gave ear to me,
And now must taste hell's pains perpetually.

Good.
O, what will all thy riches, pleasures, pomps,
Avail thee now?

Bad.
Nothing but vex thee more,
To want in hell, that had on earth such store.

Music while the throne descends.

Good.
O, thou hast lost celestial happiness,
Pleasures unspeakable, bliss without end.
Had'st thou affected sweet divinity,
Hell, or the Devil, had had no power on thee.
Had'st thou kept on that way, Faustus behold
In what resplendent glory thou had'st set
In yonder throne, like those bright shining Saints,
And triumphed over hell. That hast thou lost,
And now poor soul must thy good angel leave thee.
The jaws of hell are open to receive thee. Exit.

Hell is discovered.

Bad.
Now, Faustus, let shine eyes with horror stare
Into that vast perpetual torture-house.
There are the Furies tossing damned souls
On burning forks; their bodies broil in lead.
There are live quarters broiling on the coals,
That ne'er can die. This ever-burning chair
Is for o'er-tortured souls to rest them in.
These, that are fed with sops of flaming fire,
Were gluttons, and loved only delicates,
And laughed to see the poor starve at their gates.
But yet all these are nothing; thou shalt see
Ten thousand tortures that more horrid be.

Faust.
O, I have seen enough to torture me.

Bad
Nay, thou must feel them, taste the smart of all.
He that loves pleasure must for pleasure fall.
And so I leave thee, Faustus, till anon.
Then wilt thou tumble in confusion. Exit.

As I mentioned previously, the ending of the A-text may be read as slightly ambiguous about whether or not Faustus is actually damned to hell or is saved at the last minute. This addition to the B-text makes the ending less ambiguous, as the good angel, instead of offering salvation as he had done previously, now chastises Faustus for his decision to sell his soul to the devil while the bad anger torments Faustus with visions of the hell that he will spend eternity in. This ambiguity is further dissolved in the B-text with the addition of a scene after the one in which Faustus is seemingly dragged to hell:

Scene 13

Enter the Scholars.

1
Come, gentlemen, let us go visit Faustus,
For such a dreadful night was never seen,
Since first the world's creation did begin.
Such fearful shrieks and cries were never heard.
Pray heaven the Doctor have escaped the danger.

O help us heaven! See, here are Faustus' limbs,
All torn asunder by the hand of death.

3
The devils whom Faustus served have torn him thus;
For 'twixt the hours of twelve and one, me thought
I heard him shriek and call aloud for help,
At which self time the house seemed all on fire
With dreadful horror of these damned fiends.

2
Well, gentlemen, though Faustus' end be such
As every Christian heart laments to think on,
Yet for he was a scholar, once admired
For wondrous knowledge in our German schools,
We'll give his mangled limbs due burial.
And all the students clothed in mourning black
Shall wait upon his heavy funeral.

Faustus, then, has been torn asunder, and his end is "such as every Christian heart laments to think on." If I was not convinced that Faustus was damned and dragged to hell after reading the A-text, I certainly would be after reading the B-text.