Dr.faustus

The Renaissance meant that the old medieval ways of understanding the world were giving way to the quest for power, learning, knowledge; and appreciation of beauty. Faustus personifies this. He is not satisfied with classic knowledge: he wants more and he wants it all. The worldly and primal pleasures romanticized in the Renaissance become Faust's obsession and ultimate undoing. I think Marlow goes a step farther to embrace Reformation and Protestantism which succeeded the Renaissance. Silly pranks on the Pope and a general criticism of the Catholic Church were very much a part of the Faustian narrative.