"Fools that will laugh on earth, most weep in hell"

That "Faustus is gone to hell" (5.2.92) is really not a shocker. He repeatedly chose earthly gain over eternal pleasure, and ignored the Good Angel's urges for him to repent. That's the point I'd like to stress: he made a choice. Mephostophilis was upfront about hell - he didn't sugarcoat it! I don't think Faustus really believed that he couldn't repent or that it was too late to do so - I think he was "in denial", so-to-speak, because he desired those earthly possessions. Perhaps he really thought it was too late there at the end, but I have trouble believing that.

The reason I find it difficult to believe that Faustus truly didn't think that he could repent and be saved is that everyone else seems to know that he can do this! The Good Angel repeatedly tells him he can be saved, and even the scholars in Act 5 tell him he can repent. Lucifer and Mephostophilis tell him he can't be saved because they know he can be - think about it: did we expect Lucifer to pat Faustus on the head and say, "There, there. You can totally repent and be fine"? Of course we didn't. Lucifer and Mephostophilis act just as we'd expect them to (Duh, Faustus! They're playing you, fool).

We make choices everyday, and those choices have effects (I don't want to say "consequences" because I think that tends to have a negative connotation, and choices can have a good effect just as much as a bad effect). Faustus chose to make a deal with the devil. I repeat, Faustus chose to make a deal with the devil - for vanity. He knew God would frown upon this, and he knew he could chose not to make a deal with Lucifer, but he made that choice. Just as Lucifer chose to turn against God, so too did Faustus, and to hell he goes!

How would this play be different if Faustus had repented? Well, if he had repented or never signed the deal with Lucifer, then we wouldn't have a play. But, if he had repented in Act 5? It seems significant that Marlowe chose for Faustus not to repent even at the end.

Why did Christopher Marlowe write this play? Did he expect us to pity Faustus, to empathize with him? Did he want to stress the choice with which Faustus was presented? Was he interested in what such a person as Faustus would do in this situation?