Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe - Is Doctor Faustus mad or sane? Christopher Marlowe's play, Dr. Faustus, is the story of the struggle of a man who is fighting with himself over what he values ​​most in life and how far he will go to get what he wants. The battles for control of one's ego and what a person values ​​in their life are the two struggles underlying this work. Faustus is a very educated and tall member of society, but he was born into a lower class and struggled his whole life to become a rich person. He gets this opportunity to get rich when he learns to call upon Satan and makes a deal with the devil to get all the riches of life for his soul. Throughout the play Faustus struggles with this decision and changes his mind back and forth with the devil to go back on the deal. Faustus is a human character, so he is tempted like all human beings and will be led astray by false promises of happiness achieved by wealth and knowledge. Dr. Faustus is a play that deals with the psychological effects that come from acquiring wealth and knowledge unethically. The obvious elements of a psychological battle are in the characters' attempts to control their ego and superego. The "good" angel is the mark of good thoughts and the Superego in the story, and the "bad" angel is the mark of the ego in the story. The good angel always gives Faustus the opportunity to repent and return to God, and that God will forgive him and allow him to enter heaven. "It will never be too late if Fausto repents... Repent, and they will never shave your skin again" (II, iii; 84,86-87). The good angel argues with the bad angel while Fausto contemplates repenting of his sin... middle of the paper... first, as if it were nothing. Fausto was never happy with all the goods he received, because there was always the battle in the depths of his mind between controlling his ego and superego. Faustus' fear and lack of self-esteem dominated him and gave way to his inability to achieve happiness. The psychological effects Faustus experienced were the loss of his identity, happiness, and loss of control over his life. The struggle Faustus went through emotionally and physically should have been controlled by him, but when the end came he no longer had control over anything in his life, as his fate had already been decided. By the time the play ended, Faustus had realized that twenty-four years of complete extravagance was not happiness, and that the only happiness he could get would be given to him by a wife or life partner, which he would never obtained..