Feelings towards Faustus in Act 5

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Ruth Spink

Mr. Reeves

Feelings towards Faustus in Act 5

In Faustus’ first speech in Act 1, my main feeling towards Faustus was not sympathy but irritation. I became aware of Faustus’ arrogance and his impatience with ordinary learning, particularly with his referral to law as ‘a petty case of paltry legacies.’ He also constantly refers to himself as ‘Faustus’, reminding himself of his own importance. Other aspects of Faustus’ character are revealed in the descriptive language he uses. He is ‘ravish’d’ by magic, and is ‘glutted’ with learning. These adjectives show a very sensual personality.

The good and bad angels represent the two different sides of his personality, one side urging him to sell his soul for magic and the other urging him to remember that heaven is ‘his chiefest bliss’.

        Faustus seems to be a very worldly character in his first speech but when he speaks of what he will do with his ‘heavenly’ powers, they are very small goals. Faustus shows his true colours as a student when he tells Cornelius and Valdes that he will ‘fill the public schools with silk’ and make ‘the Rhine circle fair Wittenberg’. These aims show his loyalty to his home and to his students. In the first scene, the main thing I notice about Faustus is his naïvety. He does not realise the horrors of hell, partly through his determination not to believe in it, and partly through Cornelius’ and Valdes’ influence, as they give him the magic books with no warning as to their power.

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After Faustus summons Mephostophilis, he seems to quite flippant towards holy things, and even orders the devils to change. He tells Mephostophilis to ‘return and old Franciscan friar, that holy shape becomes a devil best’. The first thing Faustus does when he summons Mephostophilis is ask questions, showing his inquisitive mind and reinforcing the image of him as a scholar.

Faustus sees himself as indebted to Mephostophilis for ‘by him I’ll be a great emperor of the world.’

        In Act 2, the good and bad angels return as a demonstration of both of Faustus’ opinions. Because Faustus is such ...

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