Friday 16 September 2016
Saturday 10 September 2016
ma english notes part 1 : Theme of Damnation
ma english notes part 1 : Theme of Damnation: Theme of Damnation Properly speaking the theme of a literary work is its central idea...
Friday 9 September 2016
Dr.Faustus as a Morality play
Dr.Faustus as a Morality play
Oh God ,
Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years,
A hundred thousand, and at last be saved.
Before discussing Dr.Faustus as a Miracle or Morality play, we should first know about Morality plays, their origins, salient features, objective, dramatis personae and construction. Basically a morality play is an allegory in dramatis form. Its origins are to be found in the Mystery and Miracle plays of the middle ages. Miracle plays used to dramatize saints, lives and Mystery plays were based on bible. In sense a morality was dramatization of the battle between the forces of good and evil in the human soul. In other words it was an exteriorization of the inward spiritual struggle, man’s need for salvation and the temptations which beset him on his pilgrimage through life to death.
The dramatize personae usually comprised of allegorical personages such as the Good and Bad angles, the seven deadly sins, the World, the flesh and the Devil. The earliest and most famous examples of morality plays are Everyman and The Castle of perseverance. In Everyman God instructs death to summon everyman. On his unsought but obligatory journey everyman finds that only his good deeds can travel with him. The same is true in the castle of perseverance where the hero, mankind is torn between his desire for salvation and his desire for wealth and pleasure, In fact all moralities are didactic illustrations of the war between God and the Devil.
Judging Dr. Faustus upon these lines, we find that morality features are frequent and abundant in it. Marlowe seems to have profited a lot from the traditions of morality plays. We can clearly point out the following affinities of the play with the morality plays.
Firstly, the story of the play seems to be a didactic sermon for those who fall a prey to pride.
Till, swollen with cunning of a self-conceit,
His waxen wings did mount above his reach,
And, melting, heavens conspir’d his overthrow;
The play is dramatization of the life of a man who surrenders his soul in order to materialize hi inordinate ambition of becoming a demi god and satisfying his sensual desires.
Secondly, the description of the mental and spiritual conflict which afflicts Faustus is an allegorical propagation of Christian message. This conflict is an indirect warning for those who are inclined towards the forces of heart, desires and aspirations.
Faustus is gone’ regard his hellish fall
Thirdly, like most of religious plays, Dr.Faustus in its objective is a strongly didactic play. The fall of Dr. Faustus propagates the divine tidings that disobedience to God earns eternal damnation and death.
Fourthly, the death scene in Dr.Faustus is vivid reminder of the same scene in everyman, where the hero goes through a great deal of agony and panic at the arrival of Death.
O soul, be changed into little water drops,
And fall into the ocean, never be found.
Fifthly, In Morality plays the characters were allegorical and personified abstractions of vice and virtue. Similarly the dramatis personae in Dr.Faustus are Good and Evil Angles, The Devils, The seven deadly sins and Old Man.
Sixthly, in most of Morality plays God’s order is visible and powerful. Dr. Faustus’ story also bears out that only God is the Omnipotent and supreme.
Seventhly, in its essence the play is allegorical and symbolic. Both the characters and action seem to be symbolic and allegorical reflection of vice and virtue, pride and humility, Devil and God.
Eighthly, the comic scenes in Dr. Faustus also belong to the tradition of morality plays. The five comic scenes in the play remind us of such comic scenes in religious plays as the one where Noah is shown beating his wife.
Finally, the play follows the traditions of Morality plays in its absence of inter-play of characters and loose construction.
Despite such vivid affinities with morality plays Dr. Faustus is not an absolute morality play. It seems a delicate and artistic fusion of religious and secular elements. Though written in medieval mould yet we can surely think of Dr. Faustus as an embodiment of the inquiring and aspiring spirit of the age of Renaissance. In fact Marlowe express both his sympathy with Renaissance spirit and his fear of the peril into which this spirit can lead. When we see a well-knowing Faustus deliberately setting himself upon an evil course, we infer that Marlowe wants to show his sympathy for emancipation from old order, the free play of the mind and individualism. However the final words of the play show Marlow’s recognition of the fact that “forward wits” like Faustus who “practice more than heavenly power permits” prepare for themselves a “hellish fall”
Touseef Ahmad watto
Oh God ,
Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years,
A hundred thousand, and at last be saved.
Before discussing Dr.Faustus as a Miracle or Morality play, we should first know about Morality plays, their origins, salient features, objective, dramatis personae and construction. Basically a morality play is an allegory in dramatis form. Its origins are to be found in the Mystery and Miracle plays of the middle ages. Miracle plays used to dramatize saints, lives and Mystery plays were based on bible. In sense a morality was dramatization of the battle between the forces of good and evil in the human soul. In other words it was an exteriorization of the inward spiritual struggle, man’s need for salvation and the temptations which beset him on his pilgrimage through life to death.
The dramatize personae usually comprised of allegorical personages such as the Good and Bad angles, the seven deadly sins, the World, the flesh and the Devil. The earliest and most famous examples of morality plays are Everyman and The Castle of perseverance. In Everyman God instructs death to summon everyman. On his unsought but obligatory journey everyman finds that only his good deeds can travel with him. The same is true in the castle of perseverance where the hero, mankind is torn between his desire for salvation and his desire for wealth and pleasure, In fact all moralities are didactic illustrations of the war between God and the Devil.
Judging Dr. Faustus upon these lines, we find that morality features are frequent and abundant in it. Marlowe seems to have profited a lot from the traditions of morality plays. We can clearly point out the following affinities of the play with the morality plays.
Firstly, the story of the play seems to be a didactic sermon for those who fall a prey to pride.
Till, swollen with cunning of a self-conceit,
His waxen wings did mount above his reach,
And, melting, heavens conspir’d his overthrow;
The play is dramatization of the life of a man who surrenders his soul in order to materialize hi inordinate ambition of becoming a demi god and satisfying his sensual desires.
Secondly, the description of the mental and spiritual conflict which afflicts Faustus is an allegorical propagation of Christian message. This conflict is an indirect warning for those who are inclined towards the forces of heart, desires and aspirations.
Faustus is gone’ regard his hellish fall
Thirdly, like most of religious plays, Dr.Faustus in its objective is a strongly didactic play. The fall of Dr. Faustus propagates the divine tidings that disobedience to God earns eternal damnation and death.
Fourthly, the death scene in Dr.Faustus is vivid reminder of the same scene in everyman, where the hero goes through a great deal of agony and panic at the arrival of Death.
O soul, be changed into little water drops,
And fall into the ocean, never be found.
Fifthly, In Morality plays the characters were allegorical and personified abstractions of vice and virtue. Similarly the dramatis personae in Dr.Faustus are Good and Evil Angles, The Devils, The seven deadly sins and Old Man.
Sixthly, in most of Morality plays God’s order is visible and powerful. Dr. Faustus’ story also bears out that only God is the Omnipotent and supreme.
Seventhly, in its essence the play is allegorical and symbolic. Both the characters and action seem to be symbolic and allegorical reflection of vice and virtue, pride and humility, Devil and God.
Eighthly, the comic scenes in Dr. Faustus also belong to the tradition of morality plays. The five comic scenes in the play remind us of such comic scenes in religious plays as the one where Noah is shown beating his wife.
Finally, the play follows the traditions of Morality plays in its absence of inter-play of characters and loose construction.
Despite such vivid affinities with morality plays Dr. Faustus is not an absolute morality play. It seems a delicate and artistic fusion of religious and secular elements. Though written in medieval mould yet we can surely think of Dr. Faustus as an embodiment of the inquiring and aspiring spirit of the age of Renaissance. In fact Marlowe express both his sympathy with Renaissance spirit and his fear of the peril into which this spirit can lead. When we see a well-knowing Faustus deliberately setting himself upon an evil course, we infer that Marlowe wants to show his sympathy for emancipation from old order, the free play of the mind and individualism. However the final words of the play show Marlow’s recognition of the fact that “forward wits” like Faustus who “practice more than heavenly power permits” prepare for themselves a “hellish fall”
Touseef Ahmad watto
Autobiographical Elements in Dr.Faustus
Autobiographical Elements in Dr.Faustus
Literary creations are broadly categorized into subjective and objective. By subjective writing we mean that the writing is primarily concerned with conveying his personal experiences and feelings, while objective writing suggests that the writer is outside of and detached from what he is writing. As a general rule any writer of any merit is simultaneously subjective and objective. However a very few exceptions like Shakespeare, by sheer magic of their genius, are able to expel themselves from what they create. And this self-effacement called negative capability by Keats
When we read Marlowe’s dramatic creations, we can’t help meeting Marlowe himself through his creations. His heroes like Faustus Tamburlaine, Barbas and Edward seem to be the second self of his. Each of these four literary wonders projects one or the other aspect of Marlowe’s person, nature, temperament, mind, career, life and death.
More than any other drama of Marlowe, the play Dr. Faustus seems to be a concealed autobiography by and of Marlowe. A deep study of the character of Dr. Faustus indicates abundant and flagrant affinities between Marlowe and Faustus. In order to highlight the autobiographical elements in Dr.Faustus we can enumerate the following similarities between the origin, education, career, religious and mental outlook, aspirations, ambitions, life and death of Marlowe and those of Faustus.
Firstly both Christopher Marlowe and Dr.Faustus came of “base stock”. Marlowe was a son of shoe maker while Faustus a son of a poor farmer. Even the places where they were born were busy Meccas of their times, Marlowe’s for devout pilgrims (Canterbury) and Faustus for erudition pilgrims (Wittenberg).
Secondly both of them were fortunate enough to be patronized for higher education by their Kinsmen. Both of them went up to university level and both got doctorate in Divinity. And quite ironically both shunned abjured the knowledge they got.
Thirdly both Marlowe and Faustus changed their line of profession. Both were educated and trained for church but one forsook it stage and the other for necromancy
Fourthly both rebelled against Christian dogmas and both were doomed to damnation. Their premature and pathetic ends were similar in more than one way.
“Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight”.
Fifthly Marlowe and Faustus seem to be replica of each other in their nature, temperaments and minds. Both Marlowe and Faustus were rebels on thought and imagination. Both were dreamy and ambitious. Both were genuine incarnations of Renaissance spirit. Both were swept away by the tempest of their unattainable aims. As true apostle of Renaissance spirit, both craved for infinite power and pelf, knowledge and awareness, adventure and sensuous joys.
“O, what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honor, of omnipotence
Is promised to the studious artizan ”
Sixthly Marlowe and Faustus match each other in their tragic conflicts. If we penetrate the lives of the two, we find that both of them were stuck between two contrary forces. On one side they were fascinated by the emancipating spirit of Renaissance which preached freedom from old order, the assertion of one’s individuality and free play of mind. On the other hand they were awed by the peril into which the rebellious conduct could lead i.e. “hellish fall.” In simple words they were caught up between two contrary forces of Renaissance and medievalism.
Seventhly both Marlowe and Faustus are similar in their bohemian, profligate and boisterous lives. Both of them gave up Divinity just in order to gratify their lascivious nature. They adored their own gods, the gods which could provide them with opportunities for the gratification of sensual desires. In words of Faustus,
“The god thou serv’st is thine own appetite”
Finally Faustus reflects Marlowe’s poetic genius through his speech addressed to Helen.
“And all is dross that is not Helena”
In short without pressing the analogies too far, we find the character of Dr.Faustus and expression of Marlowe’s own personality. The entire play seems to be the spiritual history of Marlowe. The storm of doubt and despair of suffering and sin, that sweeps through the serious scenes of the play, does not seem to be the work of a mere imaginative artist who conjures it forth from the confines of his own mind, but of one who must stop up to the chin in such experience. Marlowe, like Faustus, seems to have realized that all he had learn and known, all he had attempted and achieved with the help his intellectual equipment, helped not to strengthen his soul but to lose it, by being cut off from the rich natural resources of inspiration and faith.
Touseef watto
Literary creations are broadly categorized into subjective and objective. By subjective writing we mean that the writing is primarily concerned with conveying his personal experiences and feelings, while objective writing suggests that the writer is outside of and detached from what he is writing. As a general rule any writer of any merit is simultaneously subjective and objective. However a very few exceptions like Shakespeare, by sheer magic of their genius, are able to expel themselves from what they create. And this self-effacement called negative capability by Keats
When we read Marlowe’s dramatic creations, we can’t help meeting Marlowe himself through his creations. His heroes like Faustus Tamburlaine, Barbas and Edward seem to be the second self of his. Each of these four literary wonders projects one or the other aspect of Marlowe’s person, nature, temperament, mind, career, life and death.
More than any other drama of Marlowe, the play Dr. Faustus seems to be a concealed autobiography by and of Marlowe. A deep study of the character of Dr. Faustus indicates abundant and flagrant affinities between Marlowe and Faustus. In order to highlight the autobiographical elements in Dr.Faustus we can enumerate the following similarities between the origin, education, career, religious and mental outlook, aspirations, ambitions, life and death of Marlowe and those of Faustus.
Firstly both Christopher Marlowe and Dr.Faustus came of “base stock”. Marlowe was a son of shoe maker while Faustus a son of a poor farmer. Even the places where they were born were busy Meccas of their times, Marlowe’s for devout pilgrims (Canterbury) and Faustus for erudition pilgrims (Wittenberg).
Secondly both of them were fortunate enough to be patronized for higher education by their Kinsmen. Both of them went up to university level and both got doctorate in Divinity. And quite ironically both shunned abjured the knowledge they got.
Thirdly both Marlowe and Faustus changed their line of profession. Both were educated and trained for church but one forsook it stage and the other for necromancy
Fourthly both rebelled against Christian dogmas and both were doomed to damnation. Their premature and pathetic ends were similar in more than one way.
“Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight”.
Fifthly Marlowe and Faustus seem to be replica of each other in their nature, temperaments and minds. Both Marlowe and Faustus were rebels on thought and imagination. Both were dreamy and ambitious. Both were genuine incarnations of Renaissance spirit. Both were swept away by the tempest of their unattainable aims. As true apostle of Renaissance spirit, both craved for infinite power and pelf, knowledge and awareness, adventure and sensuous joys.
“O, what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honor, of omnipotence
Is promised to the studious artizan ”
Sixthly Marlowe and Faustus match each other in their tragic conflicts. If we penetrate the lives of the two, we find that both of them were stuck between two contrary forces. On one side they were fascinated by the emancipating spirit of Renaissance which preached freedom from old order, the assertion of one’s individuality and free play of mind. On the other hand they were awed by the peril into which the rebellious conduct could lead i.e. “hellish fall.” In simple words they were caught up between two contrary forces of Renaissance and medievalism.
Seventhly both Marlowe and Faustus are similar in their bohemian, profligate and boisterous lives. Both of them gave up Divinity just in order to gratify their lascivious nature. They adored their own gods, the gods which could provide them with opportunities for the gratification of sensual desires. In words of Faustus,
“The god thou serv’st is thine own appetite”
Finally Faustus reflects Marlowe’s poetic genius through his speech addressed to Helen.
“And all is dross that is not Helena”
In short without pressing the analogies too far, we find the character of Dr.Faustus and expression of Marlowe’s own personality. The entire play seems to be the spiritual history of Marlowe. The storm of doubt and despair of suffering and sin, that sweeps through the serious scenes of the play, does not seem to be the work of a mere imaginative artist who conjures it forth from the confines of his own mind, but of one who must stop up to the chin in such experience. Marlowe, like Faustus, seems to have realized that all he had learn and known, all he had attempted and achieved with the help his intellectual equipment, helped not to strengthen his soul but to lose it, by being cut off from the rich natural resources of inspiration and faith.
Touseef watto
Dr.Faustus, an incarnation of Renaissance
Dr.Faustus, an incarnation of Renaissance
Like Chaucer, Marlowe reflects his age and its ethos. Marlowe’s dramatic creation has indelible stamp of the current times. The age in which Marlowe conceived his plays was the age which saw the full flowering of the Renaissance in England. Before discussing the impact of Renaissance spirit on Dr. Faustus we should refresh our sense about Renaissance, its nature and features. Literally Renaissance means rebirth or revival of learning. It was a complex and many sided movement. As a whole, Renaissance can be defined in a number of different ways.
Firstly it can be defined as a revolt against the stable but restrictive world of late middle ages.
Secondly in words of Walter Patter it was a general excitement and enlightening of the human mind.
Thirdly it was the movement which filled men with curiosity and enlightenment both about them and the Universe around them.
Fourthly it was the movement which promoted humanism and individualism in conduct, philosophy, religion and art. In short this movement had three leading characteristics; an impulse towards emancipation, a spirit of inquiry and assertion of individualism.
If we take up Marlowe’s Dr.Faustus, we find it to be an intricate blend of religious and secular elements. In its mould and message, subject and structure, the play has frequent and flagrant affinities with Morality plays. Yet no one can deny Marlowe’s sympathy and support for all that was inspired and ingrained by Renaissance. Both in his thought and actions Dr.Faustus reflects Renaissance. He appears before us as a typical Renaissance figure with his love and desire for emancipation from the old order, the free play of the human mind, the assertion of one’s individuality. We rather find him as an incarnation of the spirit of Renaissance in his unbridled yearning for limitless knowledge, power and wealth, his insatiable spirit of inquiry, his intemperate lust for voluptuous joys, his sense of self importance, his insolent and defiant stance towards religion and God, and his love for adventure and journey. The spirit of Renaissance in Dr.Faustus can be detailed with textual evidence as follows.
If we read the play carefully, we shall find it lavishly tinged with spirit of Renaissance.
First of all Marlowe’s Faustus is introduced to us as an Icarus, as an aspiring figure and an over-reacher.
“His waxen wings did mount above his reach”
The very prologue presents Faustus as an over-reacher, a scholar who acquires learning and his pride causes him to over-reach and destroy himself. Only a man of Renaissance could have aspired so sublime. In the words of another hero of Marlow;
“Nature doth teach all to have aspiring minds”
Secondly his review and rejection of the traditional subjects of study and eager preference for magic which promises; “World of profit and delight, of power, of honor, of omnipotence.” also prove him a man of Renaissance. His discussion with Cornelius and Veldese further exposes him as a man of Renaissance with his ardent curiosity, his desire for luxury and wealth, his nationalism, and his awareness of extended horizons of that age of discovery.
In fact Faustus’ dreams of power and pelf, knowledge and beauty are those of people of Renaissance age.
“All things that move between the quit poles shall be at my command”.
Thirdly the appearance of Good and Bad Angels symbolize the genral fix in which the man of Renaissance was stuck. On one side he was attracted by the liberating and aspiring spirit of Renaissance. On the other side he was by the fear of facing eternal damnation.
“And gaze not on it , lest it temp thy soul,
Be thou on earth as Jove is in the Sky”
Fourthly the spirit of revolt against the old and enslaving order of the day was breed by Renaissance. Religion had to face the brunt of this spirit. As a result of this assault, Renaissance man became skeptic even insolent toward religion and God.
“Divinity is the basest of the three”
This word “damnation” terrifies not him”
I think hell is a fable.
Fifthly Faustus possesses the spirit of inquiry. It is the spirit which chiefly causes the surrender of soul by Faustus.
“To tell me whatever I demand”
After writing the deed of gift, the first service Faustus asks from Mephistopheles is to rid this Renaissance scholar of the queries about hell and its whereabouts. In order to gratify his spirit of knowing, he demands different books of magic which might enlighten him about heavenly bodies and earthly vegetation.
“Wherein I might see all plants ,herbs and trees that grow upon the earth.”
Sixthly Faustus sense and appetite for beauty with all its voluptuousness is another trait of a Renaissance man.
“Let me have a wife, the fairest maid in Germany”
This craving for beauty in Faustus reaches its apex when he confronts the spirit of Helen.
“Sweet Helen make me immortal with kiss”
Seventhly Faustus embodies the Renaissance love for adventure and travel. He spends most of the allotted time in visiting distant lands and mysterious heavenly bodies.
“ He views the clouds, the planets and the Stars”
Finally, a number of allusions to Greek and Roman mythologies and cultures are made in the play. These allusions bear indelible stamp of Renaissance. Only a man from Renaissance age could have such interest and awareness about those cultures.
In order to sum up the discussion, we conclude that Marlowe’s Faustus is a martyr to everything that the Renaissance valued-power, knowledge, curiosity, enterprise, wealth and beauty. Like his creator Faustus epitomizes the restless curiosity, the riotous imagination, and the audacious desires of a man responding fully to the new trends in his age. Faustus, “The insatiable speculator” surrenders his soul just to quench his intellectual and mental thirst; another gift by Renaissance for the men of that age.
Tragic Conflict in Dr. Faustus
Tragic Conflict in Dr. Faustus
Conflict or crisis is the essence and soul of drama. Every dramatic creation hinges upon some conflict. A conflict or crisis may be of two sort; external and internal, Physical and mental, material and spiritual. External crisis rises when the hero or protagonist confronts hostile circumstances or social forces. Internal conflict occurs when the hero is caught up in contrary mental or spiritual forces. Usually, these forces stand for heart and mind, imagination and reason, dream and reality. Marlowe’s Dr.Faustus is a perfect exponent of inner or spiritual conflict. The play highlights those crises in Faustus which result from the tussle between his aspirations and apprehensions, his heart and conscience. Broadly speaking, this conflict of Faustus is actually the symbolic reflection of the tension which existed between medieval and Renaissance forces of this time.
Let us discuss how, throughout the play, Faustus keeps on hanging between two different forces, different directions and different destinations. When the play starts, Dr. Faustus is sitting in his study. He is in a sort of mini crisis. He is at sea about his future target of study. He is not satisfied with his present achievements as they have failed to make him more than a man. Faustus ‘ desire to be more than a man originates from his presumption. Renaissance also accounts for this desire. In fact Dr. Faustus is torn by two contrary forces, i.e. those of Renaissance and medieval Christianity. On one side Renaissance attracts him as it advocates freedom from old and restrictive order, assertion of individualism, quest for knowledge, desire for pelf and power, love for beauty and sensuous joys and craze for adventure. But these Renaissance attractions are retarded by medieval apprehensions. He is apprehensive of the risk of being damned due to the pursuit of Renaissance dreams. This breeds crisis and conflict in the mind of Dr. Faustus. The exterior form of this crisis is the appearance of Good and Bad Angles on the stage.
Good Angel: “O, Faustus, lay that damned book aside”
Bad Angel: “Go forward, Faustus in that famous art”
In spite of his spiritual apprehensions he is infatuated by his dream and decides to practice necromancy and abjure divinity. He exclaims that he is glutted with notion of obtaining the power and status he avidly desires.
How am I glutted with conceit of this!
However before signing the deed of gift with the devil, Faustus is again gripped by inner conflict. Sitting in his study he ponders upon his return to God in order to save himself from damnation.
“O something sounds in mind ears”
Abjure this magic, turn to God again!
He shuns these qualms by admitting;
“The god thou serv’st is thine own appetite”
At this juncture again the good and bad angels appear and externalize his combat with his conscience. Good angels reveals upon him that contrition, prayer and repentance are means to reach heaven. Evil angel denounces these means as illusion, fruits of lunacy.
The inner conflict is rekindled by Mephistopheles refusal to say who made the world. This refusal sparks doubts in Faustus mind and he thinks of repenting. At this Mephistopheles invokes the aid of Lucifer and Beelzebub. The chief devil not only intimidates him but also gratifies him with the show of seven deadly sins.
After suffering from crises of soul exteriorized by good and bad angels, Dr.Faustus goes through an other spiritual and inner crisis, this time in form of old man’s exhortations.
“O gentle Faustus, leave this damned art,
Though thou hast now offended like a man,
Do not preserve in it like a devil.”
This good counsel has an immediate effect upon evil-exhausted Faustus and he thinks of pondering upon his sins. But he lacks in God’s mercy and the result id despair which thrusts the final nail into the coffin of his damnation and with this all his crises and conflicts come to an end.
“Damn’d art thou, Faustus, damn’d ; despair and die.”
Conflict or crisis is the essence and soul of drama. Every dramatic creation hinges upon some conflict. A conflict or crisis may be of two sort; external and internal, Physical and mental, material and spiritual. External crisis rises when the hero or protagonist confronts hostile circumstances or social forces. Internal conflict occurs when the hero is caught up in contrary mental or spiritual forces. Usually, these forces stand for heart and mind, imagination and reason, dream and reality. Marlowe’s Dr.Faustus is a perfect exponent of inner or spiritual conflict. The play highlights those crises in Faustus which result from the tussle between his aspirations and apprehensions, his heart and conscience. Broadly speaking, this conflict of Faustus is actually the symbolic reflection of the tension which existed between medieval and Renaissance forces of this time.
Let us discuss how, throughout the play, Faustus keeps on hanging between two different forces, different directions and different destinations. When the play starts, Dr. Faustus is sitting in his study. He is in a sort of mini crisis. He is at sea about his future target of study. He is not satisfied with his present achievements as they have failed to make him more than a man. Faustus ‘ desire to be more than a man originates from his presumption. Renaissance also accounts for this desire. In fact Dr. Faustus is torn by two contrary forces, i.e. those of Renaissance and medieval Christianity. On one side Renaissance attracts him as it advocates freedom from old and restrictive order, assertion of individualism, quest for knowledge, desire for pelf and power, love for beauty and sensuous joys and craze for adventure. But these Renaissance attractions are retarded by medieval apprehensions. He is apprehensive of the risk of being damned due to the pursuit of Renaissance dreams. This breeds crisis and conflict in the mind of Dr. Faustus. The exterior form of this crisis is the appearance of Good and Bad Angles on the stage.
Good Angel: “O, Faustus, lay that damned book aside”
Bad Angel: “Go forward, Faustus in that famous art”
In spite of his spiritual apprehensions he is infatuated by his dream and decides to practice necromancy and abjure divinity. He exclaims that he is glutted with notion of obtaining the power and status he avidly desires.
How am I glutted with conceit of this!
However before signing the deed of gift with the devil, Faustus is again gripped by inner conflict. Sitting in his study he ponders upon his return to God in order to save himself from damnation.
“O something sounds in mind ears”
Abjure this magic, turn to God again!
He shuns these qualms by admitting;
“The god thou serv’st is thine own appetite”
At this juncture again the good and bad angels appear and externalize his combat with his conscience. Good angels reveals upon him that contrition, prayer and repentance are means to reach heaven. Evil angel denounces these means as illusion, fruits of lunacy.
The inner conflict is rekindled by Mephistopheles refusal to say who made the world. This refusal sparks doubts in Faustus mind and he thinks of repenting. At this Mephistopheles invokes the aid of Lucifer and Beelzebub. The chief devil not only intimidates him but also gratifies him with the show of seven deadly sins.
After suffering from crises of soul exteriorized by good and bad angels, Dr.Faustus goes through an other spiritual and inner crisis, this time in form of old man’s exhortations.
“O gentle Faustus, leave this damned art,
Though thou hast now offended like a man,
Do not preserve in it like a devil.”
This good counsel has an immediate effect upon evil-exhausted Faustus and he thinks of pondering upon his sins. But he lacks in God’s mercy and the result id despair which thrusts the final nail into the coffin of his damnation and with this all his crises and conflicts come to an end.
“Damn’d art thou, Faustus, damn’d ; despair and die.”
Theme of Damnation
Theme of Damnation
Properly speaking the theme of a literary work is its central idea which may be stated directly or indirectly. Marlowe’s Dr.Faustus is no exception in this regard. The play has a clear theme which is indirectly stated through the representation of Faustus’ life on the stage. Beyond any doubt the central theme of the play is the eternal damnation of an insatiable scholar who falls a prey to presumption or pride caused by his excessive learning.
“Till, swollen with cunning of a self-conceit,
His waxen wings did mount above his reach,
And, melting, heavens conspired his overthrow.”
If we read and analyze the life of Dr.Faustus carefully, we shall find that Dr.Faustus earns eternal damnation through a gradual process. This process of heading towards eternal damnation is quite opposite of sudden. In simple words Faustus commits four deadly sins and paves his way to hell. These four deadly sins are the sin of presumption, the sin of blasphemy, the sin of demoniality and the sin of despair. The committal of these four mortal sins on the part of Dr.Faustus constitutes the gradual process of his damnation.
Firstly the seeds of self-damnation are sown by Faustus in form of his presumption and pride. In his pride and arrogance Faustus reminds us of Lucifer. Lucifer was created and placed above cherubim by God. This superior status caused Satan to presume unto the throne of God with the intention of thrusting God out of his seat. Upon this presumption Satan was cast down by the Lord into the darkness of Hell. Quite like Lucifer, Faustus happens to attains the status of superiority among his fellow scholars for his learning. This superior and excessive learning accounts for his pride and presumption. Proud and presumptuous Faustus ponders upon his status as a man and is almost disgusted with his human status.
“Yet art thou still but Faustus, and a man.”
Faustus arrogance and haughtiness cause him to think of becoming a demi-god.
“here tire, thy brains, to get a deity.”
In this presumptuous pursuit, Faustus is assisted and escalated by his German friends Veldese and Cornelius. They coax him to practice Necromancy which, they claim, would immortalize him.
“Go forward Faustus, in that famous art.
Be thou on earth as Jove in the Sky”
Such presumptuous and audacious fancies lead him to another sin, the sin of blasphemy. Under the spell of his vain presumption, Faustus analysis the prospects and suitability of traditional sciences and shuns them haughtily and chooses necromancy hastily.
“Philosophy is odious and obscure;
Both Law and Physic are for petty wits;
Divinity is basest of the three.
Tis magic, magic, that hath ravish’d me”
He dives further into the sin of blasphemy when he dares to defy God and abjure Trinity. Even he declares to dedicate himself of Beelzebub.
“There is no chief but only Beelzebub.”
His presumption leads him to his bargain with the devils and he writes a deed of gift with his unwilling blood. Although he goes through a spiritual conflict in form of good angel and bad angel. Here too inclines himself to evil forces and further towards damnation.
“What power can hurt me? Faustus thou art safe.”
The third sin is committed by Faustus while he is availing himself of the life of sensuous joys. The apex of these sensual joys reaches when he gratifies himself with the” Sweet embraces” of Helen, an impersonated devil. Thus by embracing a devil, Faustus commits the sin of demoniality.
“Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.”
The last but not least, the sin of despair is committed by Faustus. When the old man comes for the final attempt on the part of forces of goodness, Faustus thinks of repentance but at the same time despairs.
“I do repent, and yet I do despair.”
At this the holy man realizes that Faustus is devoid of soul and the grace of heaven. That is how Faustus pushes himself towards lasting damnation. His ruin roots in his pride and is culminated by his despair. His hellish fall is a stern warning in general to all human beings and in particular to the forward wits.
“Faustus if gone: Regard his hellish fall,
Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the wise,
Only to wonder at unlawful things,
Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits,
To practice more than heavenly power permits.”
Properly speaking the theme of a literary work is its central idea which may be stated directly or indirectly. Marlowe’s Dr.Faustus is no exception in this regard. The play has a clear theme which is indirectly stated through the representation of Faustus’ life on the stage. Beyond any doubt the central theme of the play is the eternal damnation of an insatiable scholar who falls a prey to presumption or pride caused by his excessive learning.
“Till, swollen with cunning of a self-conceit,
His waxen wings did mount above his reach,
And, melting, heavens conspired his overthrow.”
If we read and analyze the life of Dr.Faustus carefully, we shall find that Dr.Faustus earns eternal damnation through a gradual process. This process of heading towards eternal damnation is quite opposite of sudden. In simple words Faustus commits four deadly sins and paves his way to hell. These four deadly sins are the sin of presumption, the sin of blasphemy, the sin of demoniality and the sin of despair. The committal of these four mortal sins on the part of Dr.Faustus constitutes the gradual process of his damnation.
Firstly the seeds of self-damnation are sown by Faustus in form of his presumption and pride. In his pride and arrogance Faustus reminds us of Lucifer. Lucifer was created and placed above cherubim by God. This superior status caused Satan to presume unto the throne of God with the intention of thrusting God out of his seat. Upon this presumption Satan was cast down by the Lord into the darkness of Hell. Quite like Lucifer, Faustus happens to attains the status of superiority among his fellow scholars for his learning. This superior and excessive learning accounts for his pride and presumption. Proud and presumptuous Faustus ponders upon his status as a man and is almost disgusted with his human status.
“Yet art thou still but Faustus, and a man.”
Faustus arrogance and haughtiness cause him to think of becoming a demi-god.
“here tire, thy brains, to get a deity.”
In this presumptuous pursuit, Faustus is assisted and escalated by his German friends Veldese and Cornelius. They coax him to practice Necromancy which, they claim, would immortalize him.
“Go forward Faustus, in that famous art.
Be thou on earth as Jove in the Sky”
Such presumptuous and audacious fancies lead him to another sin, the sin of blasphemy. Under the spell of his vain presumption, Faustus analysis the prospects and suitability of traditional sciences and shuns them haughtily and chooses necromancy hastily.
“Philosophy is odious and obscure;
Both Law and Physic are for petty wits;
Divinity is basest of the three.
Tis magic, magic, that hath ravish’d me”
He dives further into the sin of blasphemy when he dares to defy God and abjure Trinity. Even he declares to dedicate himself of Beelzebub.
“There is no chief but only Beelzebub.”
His presumption leads him to his bargain with the devils and he writes a deed of gift with his unwilling blood. Although he goes through a spiritual conflict in form of good angel and bad angel. Here too inclines himself to evil forces and further towards damnation.
“What power can hurt me? Faustus thou art safe.”
The third sin is committed by Faustus while he is availing himself of the life of sensuous joys. The apex of these sensual joys reaches when he gratifies himself with the” Sweet embraces” of Helen, an impersonated devil. Thus by embracing a devil, Faustus commits the sin of demoniality.
“Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.”
The last but not least, the sin of despair is committed by Faustus. When the old man comes for the final attempt on the part of forces of goodness, Faustus thinks of repentance but at the same time despairs.
“I do repent, and yet I do despair.”
At this the holy man realizes that Faustus is devoid of soul and the grace of heaven. That is how Faustus pushes himself towards lasting damnation. His ruin roots in his pride and is culminated by his despair. His hellish fall is a stern warning in general to all human beings and in particular to the forward wits.
“Faustus if gone: Regard his hellish fall,
Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the wise,
Only to wonder at unlawful things,
Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits,
To practice more than heavenly power permits.”
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