2015-2016
SEMESTER :- 1(ONE)
ROLL NO. :- 42
TOPIC :- CRITICAL
ANALYSIS OF
DR. FAUSTUS.
WORK :-
ASSIGNMENT
PAPER :- 1 (one)
SUBMITTED BY :-, Bhavnagar Uni. Dep. Of Eng.
Smt. S.B.Gardi Maharaja Krishnakumar Sinhji
Critical
analysis of Dr. Faustus
Introduction
Marlowe is a most out standing figure amongst the
university wits. His importance can be judged from the opinion of many critics
that marlow was the model for Shakespeare. Had there beer no marlow, there would have been no.
Shakespeare, Shakespeare learnt from marlow at least two major drwnatic
techniques. his "Theory of tragedy"and his 'Black versr". He
Learnt the concept of the "Tragic Hero" and " The spiritual
Confict" through which the hero passes from marlowe's
[1] Dr. Faustus
[2] King Edward II
Marlowe was the prime creative force in English literature
marlowes heroes confront the fates, they
are not the sport of destiny. His Edward II was a model before Shakespeare for
his historical plays. " Edward II" was the first complete historical
play "Dr. Faustus", is the best example of the blending of the
morality play and spiritual tragedy. The tragic lamantation of Dr. Faustus
immediately before his, death is an unparalled example. of spiritual conplict
in the soul of the tragic hero.
" was this the
face, that launched thousand ships, and burnt
the topless tooess of
ill sweet Helen make me immortal with at kiss
come Helen come give me
my soul again Here will I dwell, for
heaven is in these
lips."
Thus marlowe the most
powerful member of the university wits laid down the strong foundation on which
English drawn was buits on in the ages to come.
Marlowe's famous for four dramas.
1. Tamburlaine
2. Dr. Faustus
3. The Jew of Malta.
4. Edward II
[Title]
Although we know it today by its short name doctor Faustus
the full title of the play when it was first printed in 1604 was the tragicall
historie of doctor Faustus.
Now consider the title of the chapbook that was marlowe's
probable source for his play "the Historie of the damnable life and
deserved death of doctor john Faustus ". It is a mouthful right ? It seems
that England just kept getting shorter and shooter as time passed and boy are
we grateful.
It should be short, simple and meaningful and suitable for
play .
[ Plot and subplot]
Christopher Marlowe's Famous Play " Doctor
Faustus" is by Aristotle's definition a tragedy along with the tragic plot
main plot of the play there is a comic, less serious subplot as well. This
essay will aid to show how the tragic main plot of doctor Faustus interects
with this play's humorous subplot. the relation between the two plot, and how
the occurrence of this subplot makes the play even more tragic.
As a prologue, the chorus tells us what type of play
"doctor Faustus". It isn't about war and courtly love, but about
Faustus , who was born of lower class parents. This can be seen as different
from the medieval tradition. Faustus helds a lower status then kings and saints
but his story is still worth telling. It gives an introduction to his wisdom
and abilities, most remarkably in wademia, in which he excels so greatly that
he is awarded a doctorate. During this opining, we also get our first clue to
the source of Faustus's dawnfall. Faustus's tale is compared to the sun and
fell to his death when the sun melted his waken wings. This is certainly a hint
to Faustus's end as well as bringing to our attention the ideal ofexcessive
pride which is represented in the story of Icarus
In the play doctor Faustus reaches his downfall because he attempts to reach beyond what he
is capable of achieving in the opening of the play, Faustus comments that he
has reached the ends of every subject he has studied he appreciated logicas
being a tool for arguing; medicineas being unvalued unless it allowed raising
the dead immortality; lawas being upstanding and above him divinityas useless
because he feels that all humans commit sin, and to have sins punishable by
death complicates the logic of Divinity.
He dismisses it as "what doctrine call you this ? que sera,
sera", which Spanish for "what will be, shall be".
[Themes]
Theme's means central idea of the play.
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas
explored in a literary work.
[Sin,
Redemption, and Damnation]
Insofar as doctor Faustus is a Christian play, it deals
with the themes at the heart of Christianity understanding of the world. First,
there is the idea of sin, which Christianity defines as arts contrary to the
will of god. In making a part with Lucifer. Faustus commits what is in a sense
the ultimate sin; not only does he disobey god, but he consciously and even
eagerly renounces obedience to him, choosing instead to swear allegiance to the
devil.
[Pride
/ Hubris]
The major theme of Dr. Faustus is the pride which goes
before a fall. Faustus sin in not his practice of mearomancy but his denial of
god's power and majesty.
·
His pride is the source of his damnation
all the other sins committed by him are various aspects of the sin of pride.
·
Even his despair in the last scence of the
play is another aspect of his pride because it prevents him.
[Quest
for knowledge]
·
He examines all the orthodox branches of
knowledge and finds them wanting.
·
He choses magic, for it promises a world
of profit and delight of power of honor, of comnipatence.
[Quest
for power]
·
A desire to be 'omnipotent' or 'demigod'
·
Faustus power exists more in his
imagination than in fact.
·
Faustus power is illusory, since at each
stage he depends upon mephistophilis.
·
When He perfomas magic, The audience
gets the impression that he is a practical joker or a court entertainer.
[The
Divided Nature Of Man]
Faustus is constantly undecided about whether he should
repent and return to god of coutinue to follow his pact with Lucifer. His
Internal stuggle goes on Throughout the play as part of him of wants to do good
and serve god, but part of him lusts after the power that mephistophilis
promises. The good angel and the evil. angel both of whom appear at Faustus's
shoulder in order to arge him in different directions, symbolize this struggle.
while these angels may be intended as an actual of supernatural beings, they
clearly represent Faustus's divided will, which compels Faustus to commit to
Mephistophilis but also to question this commitment continually.
[symbol]
symbolare object, characters figures, or colors used to
represent abstract ideas or concepts.
[Blood]
Blood plays multiple symbolic roles in the play, when Faustus
signs away his soul, he signs in blood, symbolizing the permanent and
supernatural nature of this fact. His Blood congeals on the page however,
symbolizing, perhaps, his own body's revolt against what he intends to do.
Meanwhile christ's blood, which Faustus says he sees running across the sky
during his terrible last night, symbolizes the sacrifice that jesus, according
to Christian belief made on the cross, this sacrifice opened the way for
humankind to repent its sins and be saved Faustus of course, in his proud folly,
fails to take this path to salvation.
Faustus's
Rejection of the Ancient Authorities
In Scene 1, Faustus goes through a list of the major fields
of human knowledge logic, medicine, law, and theology and cites for each an
ancient authority. he then rejects all these figures in favor of magic. This
rejection symbolizes Faustus's break with the medieval world, which prized
authority above all else, in favor of a more modern spirit of free inquiry in
which experimenration and innovation trumps the assertions of greek
philosophers and the Bible.
The
Good Angel and Evil Angel
The angles appear at Faustus's shoulder early an in the
play the good angel urging him to repent and serve god, the evil angel urging him to follow his
hest for power and serve Lucifer. The two symbolize his divided will, part of
which wants to do good and part of which is sunk in sin.
[Conclusion]
Faustus was indeed a tragic hero. many scholars and literary experts may debate that, because this play was written in the renaissance, Christopher Marlowe intended the Doctor Faustus be seen as a martyr trying to attain that which was forbidden to man in a time when doing so was the noble things to do. To begin with , he feels that he can justify his turning to witchcraft and necromancy by his gaining of all other knowledge. He also is a tragic hero because of his methods of using his new power. Finally, he proved his tragic nature by trying to move above and beyond the limitations set by god himself Faustus knew he had to abide by certain laws and rules that god set aside for all of mankind.
However, because he was stuborn, ignorant and blind he
refused to see that he was never truly damned until he was drug by the devils
into the heart of hell itself.
To evaluate my assignment click here
To evaluate my assignment click here
No comments:
Post a Comment