FAUSTUS Marlowe’s Dr Faustus is the true represen sentative of the Renaissance age as we find almost all the salient features of that age in the character of Dr Faustus. The Renaissance age in the positive senses rebirth or revival of knowledge and enlightenment and all at once, it carries unlimited desires, lust for infinite knowledge, power and worldly things. These features are very much present in Dr Faustus. The The stor story y of the the Dr Faus Faustu tus s has has been been deri derive ved d from from Germa German n stories, named Faustbuch. It was a story of straightforward wickedness and well deserved punishment of Dr Faustus but Marlowe transforms this simple story into a tragedy by giving Faustus a voice with which he could examine his own state of mind and think through moral problems in detail. Marlowe creates a tragedy which makes a clear voice for understandable reasons. Through Dr Faustus, Marlowe gives his view point that unleashed ambitions lead Dr Faustus to challenge and disobey God and disastrous consequences. Marlowe’s masterpiece doctor Faustus’ theme is similar to that of the first play-an insatiable desire for power and adventure, thou though gh in this this case case the the powe powerr is sy symb mbol oliz ized ed by lear learni ning ng:: “Marlowe takes old story of the medieval magician who sells his soul to the devil for twenty-four year of pleasure and the gift of all knowledge, and gives it a significance akin to such worldworld-old old myth as. The Faustu Faustus’ s’ legend legend becomes becomes for us a symbol of humanity’s splendid struggle to reach the stars, the the trag traged edy y of infi infini nity ty of aspi aspira rati tion on endi ending ng in agon agony y and and remors remorse. e. The most impre impressi ssive ve thing thing in the play, and one which is worthy to be placed by the side of the greatest scenes in Shakespeare, is the one where the Devil comes to claim Faustus’ soul. There are two kinds of conflict in the play: one between rival views of the nature of evil and the other between the choice of good good and and the the choi choice ce of evil evil.. Faus Faustu tus’ s’ init initia iall obst obstin inac acy y makes him persist in a heroic view of evil and renders him incapable of moral reflections. In his soliloquy, Faustus says;
"If we say that we have no sin We deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us. Why then, belike, we must sin, And consequently die. Ay, we must die an everlasting death." (Act 1, Scene 1, Lines 41-46:)
As for as, as, the the char charac acte terr of Dr Faust austus us is conce oncern rned ed,, he is domi domina nate ted d by two two main ain char charac acte terr trai traits ts:: inte intell llec ectt and and ambition. It is the intellect that creates doubt when ambition alone would simply carry him forward in his devilish contract, but it is also intellect that makes his ambition possible in the first place. Within these two, evidence can be found for a series of binary oppositions. He is capable of stupidity and intelligence, courage and cowardice, cruelty and generosity. In short, Dr Faustus is filled with contradiction and so comes across as very humane, especially in his ambition to better hims himsel elf. f. To this this exte extend nd,, Faus Faustu tus s is a mank mankin ind d figu figure re;; a repr repres esen enta tati tive ve of each each one one of us us.. Faus Faustu tus s also also trie tries s to tran transc scen end d that that stat status us,, howe howeve ver, r, and and his his ambi ambiti tion on to be greater than human is his downfall. In an ironic move, the play redefines practicality when it shows that Faustus’s knowledge, which is about the real work, is actu actual ally ly impr imprac acti tica call in comp compar aris ison on with with an imag imagin inat ativ ive e knowledge about virtue and godliness. Besides his lust for knowledge, Faustus is immensely conscious of social class, though probably no more so than most people of Marlowe’s period period.. Nevert Neverthel heless ess,, his habit habit of respec respectt of nobil nobility ity and disres dis respec pectt for servan servants ts direct directly ly contra contradic dicts ts any Christ Christian ian sense of human beings as equals. His little trick with the outof-season grapes is no greater for having provided them for Duchess. Faustu Faustus s is the prota protagon gonist ist and tragi tragic c hero hero of Marlow Marlowe’s e’s play, play, tremendous eloquence and possessed of awesome ambition, yet prone to a strange, almost willful blindness and willingness to waste powers that he has gained at great cost. The tragic hero, the main character must be realistic or present some sense of realism. realism. This aspect aspect of the tragic tragic hero is meant for the audience to relate to or feel some form of connection with the characters and the story of the play.
One of the features that characterize a tragic hero is that this type of character “will mistakenly bring his own downfall”, which is referred to as “hamartia”. For one, the main character of the play Doctor Faustus makes mistakes, which is part of the human condition and is something that every human being does. This also adds to a sense of realism to Faustus, the same for Oedipus and Hamlet, who also make mistakes. In Marlowe’s play, the main character, Faustus, brings his own downfall by the end of the story. In his opening speech, we see Faus Faustu tus s tell tellin ing g read reader ers s that that he has has skil skille led d hims himsel elff in law, law, medicine and divinity, but he wants to know more than what he knows and also know more about other things. This aspect of Faustus, his curiosity to learn and know more, may be thought of as part part of the the huma human n cond condit itio ion n and and huma human n natu nature re and and isn’ isn’tt something that is seen as wrong in our society. However, this aspect also blinds Faustus from a sense of reason and right from wrong. This eventually leads Doctor Faustus to make make an agre agreem emen entt with with the the devi devil, l, whic which h resu result lts s in Faus Faustu tus’ s’ downf downfall all.. This This aspect aspect of Faustu Faustus’ s’ chara characte cterr and person personali ality ty is simila similarr to Oedipu Oedipus. s. In Sophoc Sophocles les’’ Oedipu Oedipus s Rex, Rex, Oedipu Oedipus’ s’ pride pride blinds him from seeing truth, reason, as well as the difference from right and wrong, which leads to character’s downfall and result results s in, Oedipu Oedipus, s, stabbi stabbing ng his eyes eyes out. out. Much Much like like Faustu Faustus, s, Oedipus’ fate is sealed when he refuses to see the truth, even when it’s standing right in front of him. Though these two tragic heroes may feel some sense of guilt about their actions, neither Fau Faustu stus nor nor Oedi edipus pus seem seem feeli eeling ng some some sens sense e of guil guiltt or responsibility of their flaw. We see whenever there is some kind of good good inter nterlu lude de;; Faus Faustu tus s brin brings gs hims himsel elff bac back to his evil evil purposes, determining to achieve the glory and power. What boots it then to think on God or heaven? Away with such vain fancies and despair, Despair in God and trust in Beelzebub. Now go not not backward. No, Faustus, Faustus, be resolute.
The fact that Faustus wants to acquire more knowledge, which adds to the realism of the play, learning and understanding more and more subjects, and obtaining more knowledge is part of our growth and evolve as human beings, as individuals and as a society.
This sense of realism in the tragic hero may introduce pity. This is a crucial aspect to the tragedy genre. If the audience and the readers pity or sympathizes with the main character, this may lead to suggest that the audience and readers feel some form of connection with the hero of the play. In order for this to occur, the character must have some realistic features. This aspect of the tragic hero of Doctor Faustus in relation to the audience and readers may vary. There may be some who do pity Faustus, while other may feel no pity for this character. The same can be said of the characters Oedipus and Hamlet. Several people may feel sympathy for these two two char charac acte ters rs,, whil while e othe others rs won’ won’tt sy symp mpat athi hize ze with with thes these e characters at all. This aspect and feature is part of the human condition and adds to the realism of the character and of the play. It is impossible to like or sympathize with everyone. Marlow seems at his best in the portrayal of this tragic hero Dr. Faustu Faustus. s. He has elevated elevated this charac character ter to a height height,, which which is envied by many of the writers and it is an undeniable fact that the character of Dr. Faustus is a remarkable character and is the true reflection of Marlow’s dramatic genius and this one character has given a stature, which is memorable in the history of the English literature. In the depiction of remorse and the pangs of conscious Marlowe is the equal of Shakespeare. Even some of the critics are very just to remark that “No Marlowe, No Shakespeare”