Discussion Topic

Themes and Characterization in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus

Summary:

Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus explores themes of hubris, ambition, and the limits of knowledge. The protagonist, Faustus, is a gifted scholar who, driven by pride and the desire for power, makes a pact with the devil for forbidden knowledge. This pursuit leads to his downfall, as he fails to repent and is ultimately damned. The play illustrates the futility of seeking power beyond human limits and portrays God as merciful, offering redemption even after Faustus's pact. Faustus's character is marked by arrogance and despair, with his tragic flaw being his inability to recognize the consequences of his actions.

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What is the main theme of Doctor Faustus?

The primary themes of Doctor Faustus are the relationship between knowledge and power and the consequences of attempting to attain knowledge beyond a certain extent. The play's protagonist, Doctor John Faustus, is an accomplished, esteemed scholar who is well-versed in a variety of academic fields, which he believes he has already mastered. At the beginning of the play, Doctor Faustus dismisses several areas of study by deeming philosophy "odious and obscure," mentioning that law and physics are "for petty wits" and commenting that divinity is "the basest of the three." Doctor Faustus turns his focus toward the metaphysics of magicians and the study of necromantic books to attain forbidden knowledge, which he finds intriguing and rewarding.

Doctor Faustus's motivation to practice necromancy is driven by his pride and desire to attain limitless knowledge, which he believes will bring him authority, prestige, and wealth. Doctor Faustus associates knowledge with power and seeks to know "the secrets of all foreign kings" as well as the unknown elements of the universe, which he will use to attain absolute power. The Bad Angel confirms the nature of Faustus's dangerous quest and tempts him to begin exploring necromancy, which he describes as "that famous art / Wherein all Nature’s treasure is contain’d."

While Faustus's relationship with Mephistopheles does allow him to obtain firsthand knowledge of astronomy, he is unable to unlock all the secrets of the universe, which are under God's control and out of reach. Although Faustus's desire for knowledge is not inherently bad, he fails to recognize that proper knowledge and education have their limits, and his decision to seek too much leads to his demise. At the end of the play, the Chorus reiterates the moral of the story by instructing the audience to only "wonder at unlawful things" and refrain from practicing more than "heavenly power permits."

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What is the main theme of Doctor Faustus?

A major theme of the play is the sin of excessive ambition. Faustus, a clever scholar, wants too much; he seeks to gain knowledge and power beyond normal human limits. In the end, he cannot be allowed to do this; although he enjoys a brief ascendancy, he is ultimately consigned to hell and everlasting punishment, literally dragged offstage by devils. His final words, at the end of a long and despairing soliloquy, rise to sheer agony:

My God, my god, look not so fierce on me!

Adders and serpents, let me breath awhile!

Ugly hell, gape not! Come not, Lucifer!

I’ll burn my books!

Faustus thus vainly entreats the dark powers not to claim him, and attempts to renounce his sin – 'I’ll burn my books!' It was his overweening desire for knowledge that has brought him to this pitiable and tragic end. Now he repents of it – but only when it is far too late. He has to pay for daring 'to practise more than heavenly power permits,' as the Chorus solemnly pronounces in the very last lines of the play.

In his vaunting ambition, Faustus resembles other Marlovian protagonists such as Tamburlaine, the historical conqueror who built a great empire, and Barnabas, the title figure of The Jew of Malta, who aspires to unlimited wealth. 

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What is the main theme of Doctor Faustus?

The message of Doctor Faustus is that a deal with the devil is an exercise in futility. When Faustus makes his bargain with Lucifer to have access to Mephistophilis's powers for twenty-four years in return for his soul, we as an audience might cringe at this as a bad deal: eternity being tormented in hell seems a steep price to pay for a few years of earthly power.

But as the play illustrates, Faustus does not even get the little he bargained for. The devil's power is much more limited than he lets on, and Faustus does not end up remaking geography or exerting power over European politics in the ways he had wished. Mephistophilis can't even provide him with a wife, because the devil has no power over the sacrament of holy matrimony: the best he can do is provide Faustus with a mistress.

All that Faustus gets for his bargain is trickery: he can confuse the pope by being invisible before him, or he can conjure up an image of Alexander the Great for Charles V, but he has no real power, any more than Lucifer has real power over God.

The play drives home the point that the devil is the prince of lies: not only is Faustus mislead about the power he will achieve, every time he thinks about repentance, the devil conjures up an illusion that pulls Faustus away from that wise path. Faustus chooses his fate every step of the way, but the play shows that once a human is in the devil's power, making good decisions becomes harder and harder.

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What are the characteristics of Doctor Faustus in Christopher Marlowe's play?

This format doesn't allow for a complete discussion of Doctor Faustus' character traits, but I can explain the two most important and competing ones, that of arrogance and that of despair. In the beginning of the tragedy, the Chorus makes it clear that Faustus is highly gifted, intelligent and talented. He excels in his studies and quickly earns his doctoral degree in theology. Not stopping there, he continues to study--and master--other fields like medicine and law and logic. In fact, there is nothing left for him to study and he is satiated with it all. As a result, in his growing arrogance and conceit at his own powers and accomplishments, he turns to the one unmastered and most enticing field--necromancy, or magic.

FAUSTUS.
These metaphysics of magicians,
And necromantic books are heavenly;
[...]
A sound magician is a mighty god:
Here, Faustus, tire thy brains to gain a deity.

He arrogantly dreams of being the supreme magician, able to command even the wind and oceans. Thus he calls on the devil Mephistophilis. In his arrogance, he believes he can command Mephistophilis and have from him anything he wants. This is the first painful lesson his arrogance and conceit bring him to: Mephistophilis takes orders from Lucifer, and Lucifer won't tell everything he knows. For example, after asking for knowledge of the cosmos, Lucifer offers him an entertainment by the Seven Deadly Sins and a book about how to change his shape. This adequately sketches and explains Faustus' character trait of arrogance.

LUCIFER.
In meantime take this book; peruse it throughly,
And thou shalt turn thyself into what shape thou wilt.
[...]
Farewell, Faustus, and think on the devil.

The contrasting and competing trait of despair enters most strongly into Faustus' characterization in Act IV when his days are dwindling, although his despair begins to effect him after his revealing encounter with Lucifer. As Faustus feels his designated years coming to an end and the time when he will serve Mephistophilis in hell for eternity fast approaching, his yearnings for repentance and redemption begin to overwhelm him. He is visited by an Old Man who tries to teach him how to repent and accept redemption, then by his friends the Scholars who are aghast at Faustus' misfortune and importune with him to seek Christ's mercy and seek to have his soul yet saved.

SECOND SCHOLAR.
Yet, Faustus, look up to heaven; remember God's
mercies are infinite.
THIRD SCHOLAR.
Yet, Faustus, call on God.

It is this despair that Faustus feels--coupled with an ironic new-found awareness of ignorance--that prevents him from acting and seeking redemptive forgiveness. His despair, which competes with and overcomes his arrogance, leads him to his ultimate doom, doom stemming from the one point on which he is ignorant and doom hemmed in by crippling despair. This adequately sketches and explains Faustus' character trait of despair.

FAUSTUS.
The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike,
The devil will come, and Faustus must be damn'd.
O, I'll leap up to my God!—Who pulls me down?—

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How is God portrayed in Doctor Faustus by Marlowe?

As to how God is portrayed, some critics say that Faustus confuses the Old Testament representation of a vengeful God with the New Testament merciful God and fails to seek forgiveness because of this confusion. Other critics hold that this position isn't supported in the text. Faustus's conversations with the Old Man indicate a clear understanding and portrayal of Christ as the emissary of a merciful, forgiving God. Further, Faustus's last speech portrays God clearly as a loving God who is ever present with the offer of forgiveness.

FAUSTUS. See, see, where Christ's blood streams in the firmament!
     One drop would save my soul, half a drop:  ah, my Christ!—
     Ah, rend not my heart for naming of my Christ!
     Yet will I call on him:  O, spare me, Lucifer!—
     Where is it now? 'tis gone:  and see, where God
     Stretcheth out his arm, and bends his ireful brows!

What keeps Faustus from seeking forgiveness is not a portrayal of God as vengeful but the other portrayal, the one of Lucifer, that is reflected in the same quote above: "[Lucifer, ah], rend not my heart for naming of my Christ!" What stops Faustus is the torment begun by Mephistophilis, begun even while Faustus is still alive and promised for after he is dead.

MEPHIST. Thou traitor, Faustus, I arrest thy soul
     For disobedience to my sovereign lord:
     Revolt, or I'll in piece-meal tear thy flesh.
*********
FAUSTUS. ... God, whom Faustus hath blasphemed!  Ah, my God, I would weep! but the devil draws in my tears.  Gush forth blood, instead of tears! yea, life and soul! O, he stays my tongue!  I would lift up my hands; but see, they hold them, they hold them!

The portrayal of God by the Old Man, the Three Scholars and the Good Angel offers an easier way of determining how God is portrayed since their portrayals are less confusing than the metaphysical interchanges between Faustus and Mephisto.

Scholars: They portray God as having limitless mercies and an unlimited readiness to forgive where forgiveness is sought.

SECOND SCHOLAR. Yet, Faustus, look up to heaven; remember God's mercies are infinite.

Old Man: He portrays God in a way that accords with and expands upon the Scholars portrayal. He declares God is offering His grace to Faustus   and is ready to give it freely. All that is required is a contrite heart and tears of repentance.

OLD MAN. ... I see an angel hovers o'er thy head,
     And, with a vial full of precious grace,
     Offers to pour the same into thy soul:

Good Angel: The Good Angel is the bearer of the message of sin and blasphemy to Faustus. Later though, the Angel promises God's pity and mercy.

GOOD ANGEL: And heap God's heavy wrath upon thy head! ... that is blasphemy! ... Faustus, repent; yet God will pity thee.

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Discuss the character of Doctor Faustus.

Faustus in the world of Marlowe

First, you need to observe Faustus in his element to be able to decipher him. He lived in 16th century (Renaissance) Europe. These were times when academia began to rebel against the accepted Medieval notion that everything, especially knowledge, is centered around God. Therefore, Marlowe wrote Faustus in times of philosophical and religious debate, and when people for the first time began to openly explore the supernatural as a way to think outside the parameters of the previous Medieval times. You will find that, as we discuss Faustus, he might very well be a product of his times, and a victim of his weaknesses.

Doctor Faustus himself

Doctor Faustus is a complex, confused, and tragic protagonist whose extreme intelligence brought on to him both glory and doom. It brought him glory because his wit and brilliance made him famous and respected among his peers and in academia, even in the circle of magicians that he wanted to enter. But it brought him doom because his ego got too big for his own good,and led him to a stubborn battle against the conventions of the time under his own premise he was way ahead of everyone else.

Ultimately, his ego, stubborness, ambition, and greed for more intelligence and power led him to make a pact with the devil for 24 years of service. The resultof this was a waste of everything: his so-called intelligence, his life, and his soul. This clearly shows that Faustus was indeed intelligent, but blinded by ego: The ultimate example of the typical genius who is brilliant enough to do amazing things, but who cannot tap on common sense for the most basic. In the end, he wasted it all.

Faustus' Tragedy

He wasted his intelligence because, once he began to receive the powers and gifts of Lucifer, we can clearly see that he does not use them wisely, nor can think of productive ways to make use of them. Instead, he wastes them in silly and unneccesary feats such as poking tricks at the Pope, and summoning characters from history for no important reason.

He wasted his life because, throughout his adventures, we still cannot see a genuine, or ultimate purpose to his actions. We  unveil a man who has a thick crust made of brains and wit, but inside this crust, he is ultimately empty. When his 24- year pact comes to an end, he had had more than plenty opportunities to repent and turn everything around. Yet, his personality was too egotistical, stubborn and nonsense to even come do that for his own good. In the end, he asks to burn his books in an ultimate demonstration of a life utterly wasted.

Faustus and his reality

Like in the beginning, Faustus is a representation of the mind wondering outside the box and tapping onto sources for which it is not prepared, and guided exclusively by the same weakess that was, ironically, his strength:  An intelligence he was not ready to absorb in full.

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Discuss the theme of temptation in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.

In Christopher Marlowe's play, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, there seems to be one temptation that leads Faustus astray. Faustus is already a religious scholar, but turns his back on this knowledge and considers the black arts. He has friends that practice necromancy, and he sends Wagner, his assistant, to bring them to him. In the meantime, two angels appear: one is good and the other is evil. The Good Angel warns Faustus to stop reading about the black arts, to read the Bible instead, and avoid temptation. However, the Evil Angel speaks to Faustus' ego, telling him he can be as important on earth as Jove (God) is in heaven.

Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art

Wherein all Nature's treasure is contain'd:

Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky,

Lord and commander of these elements.

Doctor Faustus eventually calls forth Mephistophilis, a servant of Lucifer (the Devil). The dark "angel's" appearance is so "ugly," that Faustus sends him away, telling him to return looking (ironically) like a Franciscan friar. Mephistophilis goes to do his bidding, and the usually wise Faustus allows his ego to overpower his intellect: he believes he holds sway over this servant of the Devil, praising himself for his power.

How pliant is this Mephistophilis,

Full of obedience and humility!

Such is the force of magic and my spells:

No, Faustus, thou art conjuror laureat,

That canst command great Mephistophilis...

This concept of man being tricked into believing that he can control beings more powerful than himself—which leads to his doom—is seen also (as one example) in Shakespeare's Macbeth, when Macbeth believes that he controls the three witches. The Goddess of the Witches, Hecate, declares that a false sense of security leads one's soul to damnation. Faustus is as foolish as Macbeth.

Faustus talks with Mephistophilis about the fall of Lucifer, Faustus' lack of fear of eternal damnation (he thinks hell is a "fable"), and his willingness to sell his soul to the Devil in exchange for Mephistophilis' service for twenty-four years. Even Mephistophilis tries to tempt Faustus to change his mind, knowing himself the suffering of being kept from the presence of God:

O, Faustus, leave these frivolous demands,

Which strike a terror to my fainting soul!

Faustus ignores him, and makes his deal. He wants riches, "control [of] the elements," and a "knowledge of nature." Several times, Faustus considers repenting, but the powers of darkness convince him there is no hope and Faustus agrees. At the end, as Faustus' life approaches its end, the scholars speak to Faustus just before he must relinquish his soul, telling him to appeal to God and ask forgiveness.

SECOND SCHOLAR.

Yet, Faustus, look up to heaven; remember God's mercies are infinite.

But Faustus sees no hope for himself.

FAUSTUS. But Faustus' offence can ne'er be pardoned:  the serpent that tempted Eve may be saved, but not Faustus.

Faustus is taken by Mephistophilis, and then the Chorus enters.

The Chorus tell us that while Faustus was a branch that "might have grown full straight," instead he yearned to learn "unlawful things ... [and] to practice more than heavenly power permits."

The Chorus warns others not to make the same mistake. Faustus is tempted by his desire to rise above his place in this world, and by the time he realizes his foolishness, it is too late for him to redeem his soul—and he is carried off to hell.

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What are the themes of Christopher Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus?

Many of the key themes of Christopher Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus are announced explicitly by the Chorus at the very beginning of the work.  These themes include the following:

  • The fluctuation of Faustus’ “fortunes” (“The form of Faustus’ fortunes, good or bad”).
  • Social mobility, as in the reference to Faustus’ rise from poverty to prominence.
  • Learning, including the abuses of learning.
  • Pride or arrogance (a very crucial theme), as in the reference to Faustus being

Swol[e]n with cunning of a self-conceit . . .

  • The self-destruction that often results from pride and from over-reaching (as in the allusion to Ixion flying too near the sun and being destroyed as a result).
  • Black magic (as in the reference to “necromancy”).
  • Foolish choices (as in the reference to Faustus preferring black magic over spiritual salvation).

At the end of the play, the Chorus returns and explicitly spells out the lessons of the work, which include the following themes:

  • Faustus’ corruption and destruction of his originally strong potential, as the following lines suggest:

Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight,

And burned is Apollo's laurel-bough . . .

  • The importance of learning, from the example of Faustus, not to make the same mistakes he made.
  • The dangers in engaging in intellectual presumption (of “wonder[ing] at unlawful things”).
  • The extreme danger of trying

To practice more than heavenly power permits.

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How is pride depicted in Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus?

During Christopher Marlowe’s time and for centuries before then, “pride,” or self-centeredness, was considered one of the “seven deadly sins.” It was in fact considered the root of all other sins. In other words, every other sin was believed to result from a kind of selfishness that prevented a proper and worthy focus on God. Pride actually appears as a character in Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus not only as one of the seven deadly sins but as the first of the sins presented. This order of presentation is not an accident but was in fact entirely typical of the way the sins were usually presented when they appeared as characters in medieval and Renaissance literature. Standard Christian theology taught that all sin resulted, ultimately, from self-centeredness.          

Doctor Faustus’s own pride appears throughout the drama. Consider, for instance, the scene in which he first summons a demon to be his servant. When Mephastophilis does appear, the first thing that Faustus tells him is that he should improve his appearance, since “Thy art too ugly to attend on me.” This statement reflects not only Faustus’s pride but also his tendency to make very superficial judgments. Faustus should know that Mephastophilis will remain spiritually ugly no matter how acceptable his external appearance may be.

While Mephastophilis is off-stage, improving his appearance, Faustus displays his pride once more, this time by congratulating himself on the efficacy of his magical powers. He praises Mephastophilis for his “obedience and humility” (two traits that Faustus himself sorely lacks) and then proceeds to praise himself some more:

Now Faustus, thou art conjurer laureate

That canst command great Mephastophilis.

He reveals his pride again when he tells Mephastophilis that the latter’s job will be to do anything Faustus tells him to do, and he is a bit surprised when Mephastophilis reveals that he came to earth not because of Faustus’s magical spells but simply because he had heard Faustus “rack the name of God.” However, instead of responding to this revelation as a reason to feel humble, Faustus essentially ignores Mephastophilis’s comment as well as the implied warnings the demon now gives him.

Although Mephastophilis makes it clear that hell is hardly an appealing place, Faustus boastfully (and stupidly) declares (speaking of himself in the third person), “This word damnation terrifies not him.” Later, he also arrogantly refers to “these vain trifles of men’s souls.” When Mephastophilis explicitly reveals that Satan fell because of “aspiring pride and insolence,” Faustus fails to see the obvious relevance of this remark to his own attitudes and behavior. Later, when Mephastophilis himself expresses regret that he followed Satan and was thus condemned to hell, Faustus accuses him of being weak and cowardly. Faustus arrogantly advises the demon to “Learn thou of Faustus manly fortitude.” But Faustus’s supposed strength is actually a reflection of his pride and spiritual weakness.

In short, practically every statement Faustus makes in the play reveals his pride in one way or another, just as his statements usually also reveal his foolishness.

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What is the theme of Doctor Faustus?

One of the overriding themes of Marlowe's work is the inherent danger in appropriating the world in accordance to one's own subjectivity.  The element of Faustus making a pact with the devil in order to maximize his own sense of power on Earth heightens this.  Faustus makes this agreement not out of a noble sensibility, or out of a mission driven by benevolence to others, but rather does so in the hopes of controlling more of the world in line with his own vision of self.  Reflective of the exaltation of the powers of the individual, Marlowe's work reminds us that human beings are finite, and their capacity for power has limitations.  In making his agreement with the devil, Faustus denies such boundaries, and seeks to exert his sense of individual identity without such constraints.  In the process, every act of creation leads to another act of destruction.  The stress for understanding limits, accepting natural boundaries, and comprehending that human power has an end that cannot be subverted represents the themes Faustus either learns or demonstrates to the reader via his own experience.

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What is the theme of Dr. Faustus?

There are so many themes in this powerful book that I felt compelled to give you the full list. Here it is. http://www.enotes.com/faustus/themes The one that stood out when I first read your question was the theme of the individual versus society, and good versus evil.
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What are the important themes in Doctor Faustus?

One of the most important themes in Marlowe's play is based on an anonymous quote that I often use with my students. "One should never sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate."

Doctor Faustus like Tom Walker in Irving's short story and other "deal-with-the-devil" works sees only what is in front of him and the opportunity at hand.  He knows that there will be long-term consequences, but he cannot get past what he will have immediately if he gives in.

This theme has been repeated throughout history, not just in fiction, and almost always has disastrous results for those who want immediate gratification.

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