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The two angels appear together and offer dual moral paths for Faustus to contemplate. As the Good Angel will always champion repentance and the Bad Angel will always support the bargain with Lucifer, neither adds any further nuance to the dilemma at hand even as they argue their points to Faustus, offering counterarguments and refutations. Rather, they represent Faustus’s divided conscience.
In addition to the divided nature of man, the Good and Bad Angels also speak to the ongoing conflict throughout the play between medieval versus Renaissance perspectives, with the Good Angel supporting the godly nature of the former and the Bad Angel supporting the more artistic and secular ways embraced by the latter. The play’s end could suggest the Bad Angel’s views ultimately won Faustus over, but it could also be that Faustus was always going to succumb to the temptation of Lucifer’s promise and the Bad Angel knew. Either way, in the end both angels agree as they question how the riches, fame, and power Faustus has accrued will help him now, serving for Faustus the same role the Chorus does for the audience—a means of imparting the play’s lesson.
