Doctor Faustus Group
Question:
Do you think that the final soliloqy of "Doctor Faustus" represents any key themes from the Renaissance?
I would just like to know if there are any key points that I can draw from this speech that reflect Renaissance themes.
Answers:
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malibrarian Teacher
High School - 12th GradePosted by malibrarian on Sunday March 16, 2008 at 9:57 AMThe epilogue of the play is very indicative of themes that were common and important to the English Renaissance. The classical allusions to Apollo and the laurel bough are demonstrative of a time period in which people began to look back at the writings of the ancient Greek and Romans. In addition, that laurel bough is symbolic of attainment of something - in this case it was the attainment of wisdom.
But the epilogue is also a warning to be careful in choosing how you obtain that wisdom and what kind of wisdom one should pursue:
"Regard his hellish fall,
Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the wise
Only to wonder at unlawful things:"This was another common theme of the Renaissance - people were learning and discovering so many new things, and yet there was also the feeling that one should be careful to not pursue more than humans have the right to know.
Check the link below for more information about the themes of Marlowe's play. Good luck!
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