In Christopher Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus, Faustus faces harsh consequences at the end of the play. Faustus is damned for all eternity. It is quite difficult to put your fingers on rather his fate is a tragedy or justice served for all his sins. I want to say his fate was a tragedy because his fate changed into tragedy once he sold his soul for twenty-four years of knowledge and power. I wouldn't say it's a tragedy if he was a bad person and a sinner from the beginning. But I feel sympathy for Doctor Faustus and also sort of feel the connection between him and human being. Therefore, I think his fate was tragic and a pitiful death. Doctor Faustus act of sin is very similar to what human being faces everyday in our lives. We all want to learn and want to gain knowledge and while achieving what we want, we make mistakes and fall but we continue with our path and we also know how not to make same mistakes twice. Faustus’s act of selling his soul was all because of him being ambitious to gain power that he never had, and he exchanges the twenty-four years of power with his soul. Faustus wanting to gain power and wanting to have knowledge of something that he never had is very similar to what we want in our lives. Humans always seek for something new and something to achieve. We have curiosity and jealousy that makes us going forward rather than staying still in one place. So when I was reading this play, I felt the connection with Faustus and felt the ending was such tragedy. I felt sympathy when Doctor Faustus said, “O soul, be changed to little water drops and fall into the ocean. Ne-re be found. My God, my God, look not so fierce on me!” (Scene 13. 108-110) This phrase was very emotional because it shows Faustus’s ... ... middle of paper ... ...austus.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philosophy 66.4 (Oct, 1964): 625-647. University of Illinois Press. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. Frank Manley. “The Nature of Faustus.” Modern Philosophy 66.3 (Feb, 1969): 218-231. The University of Chicago Press. Web. 15 Nov. 2013 Lily B. Campbell. “Doctor Faustus: A Case of Conscience.” PMLA 67.2 (Mar. 1952): 219-239. Modern Language Association. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. Robert Ornstein. “Marlowe and God: The Tragic Theology of Dr. Faustus.” PMLA 83.5 (Oct, 1968): 1378-1385. Modern Language Association. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. Sherman Hawkins. “The Education of Faustus.” Studies in English Literature 6.2 (Spring, 1966): 193-209. Rice University. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. Warren D. Smith. “The Nature of Evil in “Doctor Faustus.” The Modern Language Review 60.2 (Apr. 1965): 171-175. Modern Humanities Research Association. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
Goethe, Johann W. V. “Faust.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature: 1800-1900. Eds. Sarah Lawall and Maynard Mack. 2nd ed. Vol. E. New York: W. W. Norton, 2002. 774. Print.
The play progresses to Faustus gaining power but doing nothing productive with it because he has no wisdom to guide himself on. Faustus wishes for power and has plans looking forward to his future life but as he gains it, he starts to lose his wisdom as power clearly took a toll on his mind. He becomes a performer for an emperor and finally ends up believing there is no redemption for his life as he knows he has sinned against God before and after his deal with the devil which what he believes - his last straw with God. Faustus crumbles after he has too much of the weight of power in his hands to the point it ruins him, as he has no wisdom to properly organize his goals or
Faustus’ initial display of conceit and neglect for God’s saving grace is in Act I Scene I, where he trivializes and casts aside several academic pursuits, leading him to examine the bible. Faustus selectively reads from John 1:8, “The reward for sin is death…if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us.” It is from this line the Doctor makes the decision to abandon religious pursuits and investigate unrighteous magic, as man is to die in sin regardless. To a reader unfamiliar with the bible, this appears to be a sound and logical conclusion; however, Faustus ignores the following verse, “If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (Engberg). Being a well-studied scholar from the heavily religious ...
Bevington, David M; Rasmussen, Eric. “Doctor Faustus A- and B- texts (1604, 1616): Christopher Marlowe and his collaborator and revisers.” Manchester, England: Manchester University Press. (1962). Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 Dec. 2013 (Bevington)
Ambition, intelligence, and will are all attributes that can help one to succeed in life. What of these when they are used to strive for power? These attributes of the human mind turn into arrogance, ignorance and, at the extreme, (lead to) eternal damnation - (as) seen in Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, and similarly in society today. Faustus is enticed to reach for more power than is attainable through mortal means: "Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits/ To practice more than heavenly power permits"(Epil. ll.7-8). In his ignorance, he gives up his soul.
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.
“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.’ ”
Marlowe, Christopher. The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus. Ed. Louis B. Wright. New York: Washington Square Press, 1959.
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.
Unaware that he is guilty of committing these sins, pride first leads Faustus into being extremely greedy, and this greediness acts in opposition to the will of God. While ambition is admirable, it appears to be a negative trait when it is not used for good. It appears that Faustus wanted to gain this knowledge for himself and not for the well-being of all people. Being so adamant about gaining this power
Snow, Edward A. "Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and the Ends of Desire." Two Renaissance Mythmakers: Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson. Ed. Alvin Kernan. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. Print.
Doctor Faustus can only be described as a man that had a fervent hunger for power. The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, or, which is commonly known as, just ‘Doctor Faustus’, is an Elizabethan story written by Christian Marlowe. The work represents the tragic life of a scholar, John Faustus, who later finds himself into damnation because of his decision to practice sorcery. Since he had deliberately sold his soul to the devil, he gains incredible knowledge and power through his involvement of necromancy. Though he feels he has endless power, he is later forced to face his downfall. When his 24 year period, the time he had agreed to, is over, he is taken and dragged to Hell realizing his lack of good sense.
Marlowe, Christopher Dr Faustus in ed. WB Worthen. The Harcourt Brace Anthology of Drama, 2nd edn., Texas: Harcourt Brace 1996.
Dr. Faustus was given many chances to repent throughout his life, he was told by many that God’s forgiveness was still available to him, and that all he had to do was ask for it. However, it was not until he laid on his deathbed, and he knew he had no more time to live his life of debauchery, trickery, and black magic, that he finally sought salvation. As long as he was living, and had the chances to choose between a life of damnation, but power, or a life of salvation, but without magical power, he knowingly chose the damnation that went along with power time and time again. If perhaps just once he had made the right choice, it would have shown a true willingness to change. However, as long as he lived another day, he wanted it to ...
This soliloquy shows that Faustus is eager to learn magic, which reflects on how people during the Renaissance were interested in science and nonreligious aspects instead of God.