Compare And Contrast Doctor Faustus And The Renaissance

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Good versus Evil: conflict in Renaissance

Key Words: Christopher Marlowe, Contradictory, Evil, God, Renaissance.
Introduction:
Doctor Faustus is not satisfied with traditional knowledge. He told Mephastophilis he will surrender up to him his soul in order to let him live in all voluptuousness, to give him whatever he wants, asks and demands. This shows human’s ambition during the Renaissance time, seek for freedom and the power over than humankind. This also represents the desires of human seeking for eteral. However, doctor Faustus distains the power of God and think himself to be a “God” who can control everything. His view is contradictory with Renaissance’s view which more focus on pace and harmony. During the 24 years, Faustus didn’t success any goal he was used to achieve and hope to make. Besides, he finally lost himself between the desire and human’s ration.
1. Doctor Faustus’s desire versus the traditional view in Renaissance.
As a doctor at University of Wittenberg. Faustus don’t like philosophy, law, …show more content…

The contradiction of two sides in Faustus’s characteristic
Man is in the central position in the great chain of being, possessing body and soul, passion and reason. Man is the node of mortal and immortal. Besides, man could ascend to heaven when his action is under reason. On the contrary, he will go to hell. Man is compared to a microcosm which reflected the harmony as presented in the macrocosm. Faustus is in the clashes of passion and reason, which are embodied by the good and evil angel. But he always lured by the evil one finally, then became inharmonious.
This part I will discuss the relationship between Faustus’s passion and reason. Faustus’s whole life is a constant struggle. In the book the good angel represents the voice of god and another represents evil. The contrasts of them show Faustus’s internal struggles and conflict to choose and judge which view is right: seeking for soul and harmony human life or following the human’s body

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