Doctor Faustus: Act II

The adjective also means "deserving a curse" (a curse is "an appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil" or "a profane or obscene expression of anger"). The Latin prefix "ex" means "out" and the verb "sacrare" means "to make sacred or hold holy." All the definitions apply here: to the Good Angel, the art of magic is definitely offensive and hateful because conjurers use the godlike powers to serve their own needs and desires.

The verb also means "save from sins" or "free from harm or evil." These definitions give the line an ironic tone. In delivering the deed ("a legal document to effect a transfer of property"), Faustus is actually choosing to sin, which includes harming others. He enters this contract because he believes that he has everything to gain while he lives and that he will feel no pain after he dies (to him, hell is a fable, trifle, and old wife's tale).

The Latin prefix "circum" means "around" and the verb "scribere" means "to write." Thus, to circumscribe something is to draw a circle around it. This image is suggested by Mephistophilis when he hands Faustus a magic book: "The framing of this circle on the ground brings whirlwinds, tempests, thunder, and lightning." This gives the lines a sense of irony: by literally circumscribing on a specific piece of earth, Faustus damns himself to a hell that cannot be circumscribed.

The humor in this line from the 1616 Quarto becomes clear when the audience sees that Robin is trying to conjure with one of Faustus' books, yet neither servant (a hostler takes care of horses) can read. In the 1604 Quarto, Robin gives a more specific warning: "Keep out, keep out, or else you are blown up, you are dismembered, Ralph."

This line is from the 1616 Quarto, where the relationship between the two servants is more conflicted. Here, Robin is annoyed that Dick (who's named Ralph in the 1604 Quarto) is stepping close to his magic circle to tell him to get back to work. Thus, this sounds more like a threat than a concerned warning.

In the 1604 Quarto, Robin suggests that he can use the conjuring book to help Ralph get the kitchen maid. In this line from the 1616 Quarto, Robin suggests that he has slept with Dick's wife, so Dick is like his master, since they both have horns on their heads (the image of horns does not refer to the devil but to a laughingstock: this is from the legendary joke that a wife's infidelity causes her husband to grow horns).

In the 1604 Quarto, "tavern" is spelled "tabern" which is closer to the Latin root "taberna" (which can refer to a shop, inn, hut, or shed). "Tabernacle" derives from the same root, but despite how Robin and Dick/Ralph adore drinking, a tavern is usually not seen as "the place of worship for a Jewish congregation." The 1616 Quarto separates the two comic characters' minor tavern-related scenes into different acts.