Dr Faustus
In Dr. Faustus, Christopher Marlowe uses the resolution of the conflict between Dr. Faustus and the beliefs of his time to explore the idea of man’s place in the universe. In Faustus’ time, it was believed that man had a place in the universe, and man must stay within his boundaries. It can be shown that Dr. Faustus stepped out of his place, failed in his attempt repent his actions, and ultimately caused his own end.
The conflict between Dr. Faustus and the belief system of the age of discovery is established when Faustus makes a pact with the devil to sell his soul. Faustus, a top scholar and doctor in many fields, feels as though he has reached the pinnacle of human achievement. Yet, he desires further knowledge and power, knowledge and power that are not humanly attainable. However, through his pact with the devil, Faustus gains the power necessary to perform black magic, cast spells, and perform other godly deeds. Although Faustus is repeatedly warned by Mephostophelis, he continues greedily and foolishly in his actions. Despite his high aspirations, Faustus still has desires of the flesh, as he requests a wife from Mephostophelis: “…I am wanton and lascivious and cannot live without a wife.” (p. 43) Here Faustus is shown to have internal conflict between godly aspirations and human aspirations. Nevertheless, it is shown that Dr. Faustus is intent on becoming more powerful than any human, and he has gone to great lengths to do so.
After selling his soul for twenty-four years of power and knowledge, Dr. Faustus soon realizes what he has done. He tries to repent his bond with the devil, yet the devil will not have it and binds him to his contract. Following this, Faustus continues to have doubts about his actions. At the same time, Faustus wins fame and fortune for his magic skills, yet his doubts remain as strong as ever. Although Faustus bargained away his soul for super-human power, it is apparent that he uses it to play tricks and silly pranks on people, the opposite of his initial intent. Dr. Faustus continues to use his power meaninglessly for tricks and the like. He is later approached by the old man, who begs Faustus to consider the mercy of God, for Faustus has retained his human soul and can be forgiven by God.
Australian artist Eddie Perfect’s play, “The Beast” was presented by Melbourne Theatre Company in association with Melbourne Festival and Melbourne International Comedy Festival in late 2013. It premiered at the Southbank Theatre (home of Melbourne Theatre Company) and ran from October 3 through to November 9 of 2013. This dark satire is a modern day rant on the middle class, and the dreadful things people do in order to be seen to be good, as opposed to actually doing good. It’s the story of a close group of couples that vow to take on a more sustainable lifestyle in the country after experiencing a close shave with death. When they are forced to kill a free-range calf that they purchased for “nose to tail eating”, tensions boil over as they come face to face with alarming truths.
In 1864, James Clerk Maxwell revolutionized physics by publishing A Treatise On Electricity And Magnetism (James C. Maxwell, Bio.com), in which his equations described, for the first time, the unified force of electromagnetism (Stewart, Maxwell’s Equations), and how the force would influence objects in the area around it (Dine, Quantum Field Theory). Along with other laws such as Newton’s Law Of Gravitation, it formed the area of physics called classical field theory (Classical Field Theory, Wikipedia). However, over the next century, quantum mechanics were developed, leading to the realization that classical field theory, though thoroughly accurate on a macroscopic scale, simply would not work at a quantum, or subatomic scale, due to the extremely different behaviour of elementary particles. Scientists began developing a new ideas that would describe the behaviour of subatomic particles when subjected to the fundamental forces (QFT, Columbia Electronic Dictionary)(QFT, Britannica School). Einstein’s theory of special relativity, which states that the speed of light is always constant and as a result, both space and time are, in contrary, relative, was combined into this new theory, allowing for accurate descriptions of elementary
This excerpt reveals that Faustus, although he has had much success and is widely recognized for it, yearns for further discovery, a limitless experience, a power that physically is beyond him. Later in the same scene, he clearly states his solution to this quandary, “A Sound magician is a mighty god. Here Faustus, try thy brains to gain a deity” (63 – 64). In order to achieve this for even a limited time however, he must exceed natural human boundaries. In his search for a means to do so, he forms a new boundary, namely the loss of control over his soul, in scene 5 through a contract with Lucifer.
Marlowe, Christopher. "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Eds. M.H. Abrams et. al. New York: W.W. Norton and Co, 1993.
Although Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus has outclassed every one at Wittenberg with his academic studies, he is "still but Faustus, a man." Proud of his accomplishments, he desires to become a superman. His judgment clouded by the sin of his pride, he misunderstands his knowledge and dismisses the disciplines of medicine, philosophy, law, and divinity. He lusts for God's capability to "make men live eternally or being dead raise them to life again," believing the devil's arts of magic and necromancy can provide the power, honour, omnipotence and, most importantly, the wealth he craves. His deluded pursuit of the immediate pleasures such wealth can yield brings upon himself the risk of eternal damnation. By conjuring the devil, Faustus removes himself from the influence of the Holy Ghost and God's love, instigating attacks of despair, and internal conflicts as personified by the Good and Bad Angels.
Doctor Faustus is a doctor of theology that wants no limits on what he can know or see or do so he sells his soul to the devil to gain these desires. While reading or observing Marlowe's fascinating play the reader or observer should apply the "New Historicism Approach," and take in to consideration Marlowe's and the 1590s society's beliefs, habits of thought, and biases about various concepts of obtaining the "forbidden knowledge". Like the people of the 1590s, Doctor Faustus searches for the "forbidden knowledge", begins to deny God during his quest for greater knowledge, and gains nothing from his vain activities throughout his lifetime. After these listed characteristics have been established one can begin to visualize the relationship between Marlowe's, Doctor Faustus and the beliefs and thoughts of the people of the 1590s.
Having attained all that he desires from the knowledge of man, Marlowe’s character Faustus turns to the only remaining school of thought that he feels he must master which is the art of necromancy. In his pursuits, he manages to summon the devil Mephistopheles, arch demon of hell, and strikes a deal to trade his immortal soul with Lucifer in exchange for being granted an infinite amount of power and knowledge that extends even beyond the limits of human understanding. However in the process of negotiating the terms of his pact, it becomes clear that Faust is in a constant state of uncertainty in terms of whether he should repent and forsake the arrangement or simply go through with it. This underlying theme of internal struggle is introduced very early and reappears in later acts with the appearance of established binaries that suggest a theme of division not only among the character of John Faustus, but within the written text as a whole. This suggests that Faustus is meant to serve as a symbol for the divided nature of man and the consequences of failing to negotiate the struggles that are a result of the divided self.
A play based upon power and wealth, sin and redemption, it portrays a religious understanding of the consequences an individual receives when contacting the Devil and defying God. Faustus is a brilliant, yet egoistic German scholar with the desire to gain world knowledge, wealth, and power by practicing magic. Faustus was introduced to black magic as summons up the devil, Mephistopheles, for his service, but he has to agree to the offer from his master, Lucifer: twenty-four years of Mephistopheles’s service in exchange for his soul. With Mephistopheles at his service now, Faustus gains everything he could ever wished for: luxury gifts, book of spells, and enchanting powers; however, those gifts, soon, overcomes him and negatively alters his character. Faustus quoted, “Had I as man soul as there be stars, I’d give them all for Mephistopheles. By him I’ll be great emperor of the world” (Scene 3, Lines 102-104). He uses his ability to travel around the world to perform magic and trickery on others rather than using them for higher goals. As his time limit has reached the end of Faustus’s deal, he starts to feel terror and regret as he begs to keep his soul though it is too late, quoting: “O I’ll leap up to my God! Who pulls me down? See, see where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament! One drop would save my
II. Doctor Faustus is contrived of the following: Faustus, a man well learned in medicine and other knowledge’s known to man is dissatisfied with where his life is heading so he calls upon the Lucifer and His accomplice, Mephistophilis, to teach him the ways of magic. They agree to be his tutors only if Faustus will sell his soul to Lucifer and be His after 20 years. Faustus agrees and goes through trying times where he is unsure of his decision and considers repenting but then is persuaded again and again that the magic powers of the Devil are far more satisfying than the powers of Heaven.
In the opening soliloquy, Faustus quotes scripture saying, “The reward of sin is death. That's hard...If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there's no truth in us. Why then belike we must sin, and so consequently die...What doctrine call you this? Che sera, sera, what will, shall be? Divinity, adieu!” (Marlowe 348). Oddly enough, the reason Faustus rejects religion becomes the reason he refuses to rectify his ways. He believes that eternal damnation is his fate. Even before the Doctor formally agrees to trade his soul he concludes that God will not save him saying, “The god thou servest is thine own appetite, wherein is fixed the love of Beelzebub. To him I’ll build an altar and a church, and offer lukewarm blood of new-born babes” (Marlowe 360), when simple logic, which he earlier rejected as lowly and simplistic, suggests that all he must do to escape this fate is not make a pact with the devil. Directly after this statement the personifications of Faustus' duel nature, the Good and Evil Angels, arrive on the scene. The fact that Faustus still has a conscience se...
The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus is Marlowe's misreading of the drama of the morality tradition, the Faust legend, and, ironically, his own Tamburlaine plays. In the development of the character of Doctor Faustus, we find one of the supreme artistic achievements of English dramatic literature, a milestone of artistic creativity and originality. The force of Marlowe's dramatic poetry resonates with lyrical intensity in its dialectic between world and will. Not only is Faustus the first true dramatic character of any psychological, moral, and philosophical depth in English literature of the modern period, but in his creation of this unique character we see Marlowe on the verge of Shakespearean characterization, that supreme artistic achievement that Harold Bloom calls the invention of the human personality.
Dr Faustus is a short play written by Christopher Marlowe. The play is a masterful insight into the paradoxical soul of mankind and its ironically self inflicted corruption. The play could be classified as a theological allegory. It can be assumed that the play specifically speaks to the religious motivations of the time, but can be adapted to the present as well. Marlowe portrays Faustus’ ambition as dangerous; it was the cause of his demise. Perhaps Marlowe used the theme of over-ambition as a warning to the audience, who would be likely to be wary of ambition - it was looked down on as a negative personality trait in Christian England (Calvinism) (Munteanu, Class notes). An on going theme within the story is the corruption of a soul which is played out through the use of religious beliefs. Specifically, the use of the seven deadly sins is a precursor to man kinds self inflicted death. Marlowe uses sin, redemption and damnation to get his point across to the audience. The sins that Marlowe specifically uses are those of: pride, covetousness, wrath, envy, gluttony, sloth and lechery. Theses sins are colourfully displayed through the character traits of Dr Faustus. In the process we view them and can adapt them to our own lives and how they are all parts to the corruption of our souls.
“Marlowe’s biographers often portray him as a dangerously over–ambitious individual. Explore ways this aspect of Marlowe’s personality is reflected in ‘Dr. Faustus.’ ”
Christopher Marlowe’s 14th century play “The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus” demonstrates not how the Devil can lead mankind to temptation, but how mankind through free-will can ultimately lead itself to suffering through sin. I believe that Marlowe heavily uses Christian doctrine through the actions of John Faustus in order to criticize those who do not partake in or see the seriousness of religion.
Austen, Glyn. “The Strange Ambiguity of Christopher Marlowe and Dr Faustus: Glyn Austen examines the powerful paradoxes of Dr Faustus in the light of its literary and intellectual context.” The English Review 14.1 (2003): 2