The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus
The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus is a Christian morality and classical tragedy by Christopher Marlowe. The story tells of an indecisive man under the name Faustus. From the story, we see him being born under lowly circumstances and develop an insatiable hunger for knowledge. He takes the initiative of reading hard and widely and in the process mastering all the knowledge known to man. His dissatisfaction with intellectual knowledge leads him to studying magic, which he believes is limitless unlike intellectual knowledge. He engages two magicians to teach him the tricks of magic. During the wait, he is confronted by two angels, a good angel and an evil angel. He rejects the advice of the good angel and continues to learn magic. In the process, he rejects God and commits the ultimate sin by giving his soul to the devil. This enables him to become one of the greatest magicians in all of earth as he performs great miracles even in the presence of the pope. When his twenty-four years are nearing, he develops a fear for Satan and desires repentance. However, he fails to repent and is finally carried off by a group of devils.
From the onset of the story, the author indicates to the audience that it is about the tragedy of Dr. Faustus. This is a strong indication that he desires to attain redemption even at the end of the play. The damnation of Dr. Faustus is not based on his inherent devilish qualities but because he is not willing repent. He cannot be considered as a very evil villain because he has not yet achieved that status. When he is given omnipotent power, his actions are different from a true villain as we see him changing a horse into hay, going invisible and the like. His damnation is based on his inability to recognize God as the Supreme Being but rather fears Satan.
His damnation is secured by his inherent characteristics. This means that his damnation is secured regardless of what he does or believes in. In the beginning, we find him making a pact with the devil because he is not scared of him nor does he believe in the after life. He does not seem deterred by the fact that he is making a pact with the devil. Even when Mephistopheles warns him of the terror of hell and the after life, he is still unconvinced even flippant, of the dangers of making a pact with the devil or the horrors of the afterlife, he says, “I think hell’s a fable.” (Marlowe 43). However, on nearing the end of his tenure, he begins to confront the horror of the life he is headed for and starts to desire repentance. “”Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscribed, In one self place, but where we are is hell, And where hell is there must we ever be” (Marlowe Act 2, scene one). However, he fails to repent because he has developed a deep fear for Satan. With this respect, he is damned at the beginning for his lack of fear of the devil and is damned in the end because of his fear of Satan. This apparent contradiction; he is damned regardless of what he does, provides evidence that his end is predestined.
Dr. Faustus is damned because he lacks enough courage or faith for repentance. He flirts with the thought of repentance but does not conjure up the courage to repent. From the story, it is evident that he is aware of the possibility of redemption through repentance but he strangely fails to repent. Several times, he flirts with the returning of Christ thereby acknowledging in the saving power of His blood. He says, “See, where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament! One drop would save my soul, half a drop. Ah, my Christ!” (Marlowe 43). He however fails to gather up enough courage or belief to utter the prayer of forgiveness. This lack of sheer faith is what secures him eternal damnation.
Dr. Faustus’ damnation is evidenced during the end of the story. When his twenty-four years near their end, his fear for the devil is so intense that he cannot go back on his pact. Instead of repentance, he asks Helen of Troy to be his lover during his last days. He later reveals his tricks to his fellow scholars on the source of his exploits. In the end, he is carried of by a group of devils to hell as his eternal damnation.
Works Cited
Marlowe, Christopher. Doctor Faustus and Other Plays. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Print.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]