Final answer:
The basic theme of the play 'Doctor Faustus' is the peril of excessive ambition and selling one's soul for earthly gains, reflecting the struggle between good and evil within humanity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Epilogue in Doctor Faustus highlights the thematic culmination of the play.
This theme revolves around the dangers of unlimited ambition and the consequences of bargaining with evil.
Doctor Faustus's contract with Mephistopheles is a vivid example of the theme, where the quest for knowledge and power ultimately leads to downfall.
The epilogue serves as a moral conclusion, warning the audience about the perils of straying from a virtuous life in pursuit of materialistic and fleeting pleasures.
The text also emphasizes that evil is often disguised in appealing forms, making it seductive but inevitably destructive.
The Epilogue conveys this by welcoming Faustus's soul back into the 'communion of your race,' suggesting a collective human disposition towards sin and the struggle between good and evil within humanity.