Trace Doctor Faustus' mental conflict from the start of the play to his last hour on earth.

A brief encapsulation of Faustus's mental conflict begins
with the description given by the Chorus in Act I, scene i of Dr.
Faustus and ends with the Chorus's summary of his plight. The Chorus begins
with a metaphor that compares Faustus to Icarus who fatefully flew too near the Sun on
waxen wings. They say that Faustus is "glutted now with learning's golden gifts" and
therefore turns to gorge himself on magic: "He surfeits upon cursed necromancy; /
Nothing so sweet as magic is to him" (surfeit: an amount of something that is too
large).

Faustus's initial mental conflict is to find
something to inspire him that is worthy of professing, since he is at the end of his
greatly prolonged studies: “begin / To sound the depth of that thou wilt profess.” He
rejects the study of logic ("Analytics"), economics, medicine, law, and divinity: “What
will be, shall be? Divinity, adieu!” He settles upon magic and the "necromantic books"
that will bestow him with power and profit and command of "All things that move between
the quiet poles" [North and South Poles]:

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O, what a world of profit and
delight,
Of power, of honour, of omnipotence,
Is promis'd to the
studious artizan! ...

His
mental conflict at the end of the play has done a turn-about because he has found that
even the power Mephistophilis could give was no comparison to the loss of "eternal joy
and felicity." Nor could it compensate for the "ireful bow" of God and the torment of
eternal suffering. His mental conflict is illustrated three ways. Firstly, his talk with
the Old Man draws Faustus toward pleading repentance before God--but Mephistophilis
comes, and Faustus yields to the pain and to the fear of pain of present suffering (had
he but braved the present suffering to plead with God for
mercy!).

Secondly, he confesses to the Scholars, who adjure
him to plead for God's salvation to which Faustus replies that his arms are held down
and his heart is ripped to pieces if he but names the name of God--he yields to the
conflict of present pain even in the face of greater future pain in eternity! Thirdly,
in his speech, when left alone by the (cowardly) Scholars, he pleads with God to at
least shorten the time of his eternal suffering--which he realizes can't be done. His
final outcry before seeing Mephistophilis come to take him away is, "I'll burn my
books!" This takes the conflict full circle to the beginning conflict that concerns
which set of books Faustus should give his allegiance to. Marlowe demonstrates that
Faustus chose the wrong set. The Chorus sums it up:

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Faustus is gone: regard his hellish fall, / ... /
Only to wonder at unlawful things / ... / more than heavenly power
permits.