To what extent do you agree that Faustus is the Gothic victim, rather than the Gothic villain in Christopher Marlowe's play 'Doctor Faustus'?

Faustus could be perceived as a Gothic victim because he could be interpreted as a victim of himself; of his own ambitions and obsessions. The driving force for his act of selling his soul is to enhance his knowledge and to “resolve [him] of all ambiguities”. Faustus’s disappointment that evolves through the play may evoke a sense of sympathy from the audience. Faustus says “Wagner can decide” on the content Mephistopheles is sharing, meaning Faustus is not gaining new knowledge, thus conveying the character of Faustus as a victim of his own pointless pursuit of greatness. This is supported by Mephistopheles reference to hell: “why this is hell” because this highlights Faustus’s inability to acquire any further knowledge that he could have learnt without selling his soul to the devil, which also induces sympathy for his character. This can cause the audience to no longer identify Faustus as a Gothic villain for turning to Lucifer, but rather as a victim of his own foolishness. On the other hand, some may argue that Faustus is a true Gothic villain in the play because, although he may have been foolish or tricked by Mephistopheles, he made a conscious decision to sell his soul and ignored all the warnings. Even his own body rebelled against this terrible act, shown when Faustus is signing the contract and his "blood congealed”. Faustus still chose to turn towards Lucifer, which was considered to be the ultimate sin to an Elizabethan, and wholly religious, audience, and thus constitute damnation for eternity, meaning a Renaissance audience would place Faustus in the role of the villain because, ultimately, he disrespected God. This is also seen in the entrance of Mephistopheles when he tells Faustus that it was not Faustus that conjured him but Lucifer who sends Mephistopheles to anyone who will “rack the name of God”. For Faustus to investigate black magic and to turn away from God and religion would have been unforgivable, therefore Faustus would have been interpreted as a villain.