Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus

1. Desire

A. What do you want?

B. What prevents you from getting it?

C. What do you do to get it?

2. The Paradigm

A. desire -> obstacle -> praxis

3. Clash between Systems

A. Medieval Renaissance
God-centered Human-centered
authority investigation
limits boundlessness

B. Magician and scientist not so different;

i. Faustus rejects ancient authorities (specifically in scene 1)

ii. rejection of God’s authority

iii. thirst for knowledge

iv. control over nature

C. The ending chorus is admonitory

i. Faustus, the Renaissance man who rejects God suffers;

ii. however, Faustus has tragic grandeur suggesting something more complicated

4. God and the Devil

A. Magic as a Trivial Power

i. Practical Jokes

B. Devils

i. Mephastophilis—literary devils Milton’s Satan

a. he warns Faustus about the deal

b. he says hell is everywhere that is not heaven

c. he tries to persuade Faustus that Hell is real

d. These scenes seem to suggest more about Faustus than M

C. God and Angels

i. The Good and Bad Angel

ii. Christian morality play and Classical Tragedy

a. Faustus’ principal sin—pride and ambition as opposed to humility

b. But Faustus’ tragic end must be tragic—i.e. classical tragedy opposed to Christian divine "comedy" (salvation, etc.)

iii. Blood: Faustus’ blood in contract (blood rite); Christ’s blood seen in the sky (redemption)

5. What Does Faustus Want?

A. Knowledge

i. What is knowledge?

ii. Where does it come from?

iii. What are its uses?

B. Power as Corrupting

i. What does he do with his power

C. Pleasure

i. What kind of pleasure does he receive

D. To be relieved of his boredom

i. Does he relieve his boredom?

E. Greatness—he is bigger than the world, ambitious and therefore already damned

F. Faust’s search for transcendence

i. Different fields of study

ii. Black magic

iii. Deal with devil

iv. Knowledge, power, travel, experience

v. Parlor Tricks?

vi. Helen (woman, beauty, pure sensuality)

vii. God? Does he seek forgiveness?

G. His last speech

i. moves through many options

ii. recognizes his own fault

iii. why hasn’t he repented earlier?

iv. does he ask forgiveness here? (line 71? line 110?) If so, why isn’t he forgiven?

H. His transgression

i. Faustus trespasses in areas forbidden to man, sells his soul, and is ultimately damned. A clear lesson for Marlowe's Renaissance audience, yes? Perhaps not.

ii. Marlowe was accused of being an atheist; how does this effect our sense of his Christian moralizing?

iii. What does the text suggest?

a. Faustus is not damned because he sells his soul; he sells his soul because he is damned, and this is the only avenue left open to him.

b. The lines in the prologue of the play, "And melting heavens conspired his overthrow," suggest that God himself is aligned against Faustus. Is it not almost perverse to assume the guilt of a man whom God himself has damned?

c. Faustus’ ambition cause God to damn him

d. Faustus’ audacity in questioning his place in the universe turns God against him

e. What solace can anyone take in such an authoritarian, judgmental deity?

iv. In light of this admittedly extreme stance, what possible lesson does Marlowe intend for his audience? Is it anti-Christian?