“O, thou art fairer than the evening air clad in the beauty of a thousand stars.”

Presenting beauty through an expansive image of the night sky · Doctor Faustus, spoken by Faustus

• Beauty
• Nature

“Nature, that fram'd us of four elements, warring within our breasts for regiment, doth teach us all to have aspiring minds.”

Linking human ambition with the imagined elemental structure of nature · Tamburlaine the Great, spoken by Tamburlaine

• Nature
• Truth

“Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium!”

Capturing beauty as a force capable of inspiring overwhelming desire · Doctor Faustus, spoken by Faustus

• Beauty
• Love

“Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it.”

Expressing the torment of a consciousness unable to escape itself · Doctor Faustus, spoken by Mephistophilis

• Despair
• Mortality

“Infinite riches in a little room!”

A memorable image of concentrated wealth and ambition · The Jew of Malta, spoken by Barabas

• Beauty
• Fame