Doctor Faustus by Marlowe

Question 1: Dr. Faustus reflects the spirit of Renaissance. Discuss.

Introduction: The Renaissance gave birth a new age in England. It dispelled ignorance and superstition and made the way for new thoughts and new ideals. It developed the passion for knowledge and love for power. People of this age began to take interest in the exploration of new world and in the adventure. Literature, music, dance and mirth played a significant role in the general life of the people of this age. Interest in science, nature and geography stirred the people of the age.

Dr. Faustus: The Renaissance inspired the writers of the age to give expressions to the values that the Renaissance had brought in its wake. Marlowe also showed his love for the Renaissance spirit. His Dr. Faustus reflects all the important features of the Renaissance. The hero of the play is a great Renaissance figure. His career may be described as the 'Microcosm of Renaissance humanism'. In fact, Marlowe's Faustus has the restless curiosity, riotous imagination and the audacious desires.

Passion for Knowledge and Power: Passion for knowledge and power was a very important feature of the Renaissance. Dr. Faustus reflects this spirit. The hero of this play, Faustus, was born in a low family but he was endowed with the natural gift of a brilliant mind. He received university education and got doctorate in Theology. He mastered all the sciences of the time. But this could not quench his thirst for knowledge and power. Thus one by one he studied all subjects and decided to study magic. He believed that 'a sound magician is a mighty God'. For the sake of acquiring knowledge he sold even his soul to the Devil. Thus the character of Faustus reflects one of the important features of Renaissance.

Interest in the Exploration of New World: Dr. Faustus deals with interest in the exploration of new world and in trade and commerce. Faustus wants to have power over the spirits. He wants to have them fly to India for gold and to ransack the ocean for orient pearl. Like all Renaissance men Dr. Faustus shows his interest to the quest for new regions beyond the seas. He wants to grasp: 

"From America the golden fleece

That yearly stuffs old Philip's treasury."

Love for Books: Deep learning was one of the important characteristics of the Renaissance. People of this period were fond of books. We find the clear reflection of this Renaissance spirit in the character of Dr. Faustus. He was fond of Aristotle's work. He studied a lot of books on theology, philosophy, medicine, law, logic, physics, and economics. The metaphysics of magicians and books of Necromancy were heavenly to him.                                                                                                   

Bookshelves

Interest in Science, Nature and Geography: Interest in science, nature and geography stirred the people of the Renaissance age. This spirit is clearly reflected in Dr. Faustus. Faustus knows that the year is divided into two circles over the whole world. When it is winter in one circle, there is summer in the other. He gets information of the entire universe from Mephistopheles. At one place he says:

Who knows not the double motion of the planets?

The first is finished in a natural day; ....

Some other Features: Apart from the above-mentioned features, we get many other features of the Renaissance in Dr. Faustus. Like all Renaissance men, Faustus tried to make impossible possible. He made several inquiries from Mephistopheles. The spirit of inquiry was a dominant trait of the Renaissance. Like all Renaissance men he loved music, dance, mirth and beauty. And that's why he wants to see Helen.

Conclusion: Thus, Dr. Faustus is an excellent play. It deals with the spirit of the age. It clearly reflects a lot of important features of the Renaissance.

Question 2: Dr. Faustus as a tragedy of human soul. Discuss.

Marlowe is a great dramatist. He is called the man of Renaissance. He holds a unique place in the sky of English literature. He is a great innovator of techniques. He has put a new life in the blank verse. His mighty lines are as famous as the pyramids of Egypt are.

Dr. Faustus is Marlowe's masterpiece. It has been composed in blank verse. It deals with the dramatization of the medieval legend of Dr. Faustus. He was a necromancer of the 16th century. Marlowe has taken this legendary character as the principal character of this play. He has added to it the note of hunger for infinite power. This is the major theme of this drama. Its plot or structure is loose and weak. But the interest and appeal of the play depends upon its unity of the character. Dr. Faustus himself is a living play with living acts, scenes, incidents and episodes.

In the play Dr. Faustus is fond of study. He wavers among many subjects. But at last he decides to study magic and necromancy to gain power, wealth and honour. With the help of this black power he calls upon Mephistopheles to appear. He sells his soul to the Devil. It is decided that the Devil will attend on him for 24 years of his life. It is also settled that the Devil would give him whatever he asks for. The vision of Paris and Helen are called to appear. When the stipulated period is going to expire, the mind of the Dr. becomes highly agonised.

Dr. Faustus is Marlowe's most personal tragedy. It is the spontaneous expression of Marlowe's innermost thoughts and experiences. He concentrates all his dramatic skills in delineating the principal character of the play. This character has passion for knowledge and love for power. But he lacks firm determination. He himself weaves the net of his tragedy with his own hands. He rejects the Christian values. Thus he commits sin and for that he suffers. On this basis this drama can be called a spiritual tragedy or the tragedy of human soul.

From the beginning of the play Faustus is divided within himself. There is a tug of war in him between appetite and timidity. He wavers between good and evil; between God and Devil. He wants to be a mighty magician and a mighty God. There is a conflict in his mind. The Good Angel and the Bad Angel aggravate his conflict. The Good Angel asks him to give necromancy and to ignore magic. But the Evil Angel tells him to follow the art of magic. The God and Evil in him make him a battlefield. Both the forces are trying to win the soul of Faustus. He is hanging between these two forces. In the end the conflict of his mind becomes more intense. This wavering Faustus becomes the prey of the Evil. The Evil has succeeded and we should regard his hellish fall.

Thus Dr. Faustus is a beautiful spiritual tragedy of human soul. This play shows development in Marlowe's dramatic art style. The conception of tragedy is mature. Dr. Faustus has passion for knowledge and love for power. He falls into the temptation of the Evil. He does not care for his conscience. Thus he faces down fall and ultimately death due to his over- ambition. Here Marlowe's blank verse also attains a great height.

To conclude, Dr. Faustus is a play of vast conflict, fearful failure, intense feeling and stirring emotion. Its central idea is loss. Here sin is presented with its inescapable punishment. Thus it is a matchless spiritual tragedy in which the mighty protagonist is man and he is surrounded by the mysterious powers. At last he falls but his fall is a glorious fall. It fills our heart with a strange kind of pity.