This qualification work is devoted to compare and contrast Christopher Marlowe`s Doctor Faustus and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe`s Faust, using biographical and historical information to show external influences on each work. When the Renaissance came to northern Europe, Faust was made into a symbol of free thought, anti-clericalism, and opposition to Church dogma. The first important literary treatment of the legend was that of the English dramatist, Christopher Marlowe.