Themes, Motifs & Symbols in Doctor Faustus.
Themes, Motifs & Symbols Themes 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's understanding of the world. First, there is the idea of sin, which Christianity defines as acts contrary to the will of God. In making a pact 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. In a Christian framework, however, even the worst deed can be forgiven through the redemptive power of Jesus Christ, God's son, who, according to Christian belief, died on the cross for humankind's sins. Thus, however terrible Faustus's pact with Lucifer may be, the possibility of redemption is always open to him. All that he needs to do, theoretically, is ask God for forgiveness. The play offers countless moments in which Faustus considers doing just that, urged on by the good angel on his shoulder or by the old man in scene 12-both of whom can be seen either as emissaries of God, personifications of Faustus's conscience, or both. Each time, Faustus decides to remain loyal to hell rather than seek heaven. In the Christian framework, this turning away from God condemns him to
All characters within the story Doctor Faustus are lonely, and some confide to evil to relinquish their loneliness.
"Evil Characters are lonely characters and their isolation fascinates us" In the light of this view, consider ways in which writers portray the isolation of evil characters. All characters within the story Doctor Faustus are lonely, and some confide to evil to relinquish their loneliness. As the audience, our situation is one that is different to the characters in Doctor Faustus, hence why we're fascinated by them. As they seem alien to us, unusual in their actions and people who don't follow the normal trends in society attract curiosity and we subsequently become fascinated by their unorthodox actions and morals. Mephastophilis is the loneliest character, and is, maybe not buy chose, evil. Christopher Marlowe paints Mephastophilis as a moral guidance for the audience, a powerful message, a warning as such, sin and you'll regret it. Mephastophilis is lonely because he's somewhere he doesn't want to be. Doctor Faustus doesn't grasp the notion what Mephastophilis is saying, "Ay, think so still, till experience change thy mind", only by seeing the alternative, which is Heaven, can Mephastophilis truly understand the situation he's in, where he's isolated from Heaven and now spends eternity in Hell "where we are tortured". We, the audience are fascinated by Mephastophilis because his situation is so different to ours. He's not normal and this exotic character fascinates us.
Compare and contrast the Murders in The Rue Morgue and The Big Sleep.
Compare and contrast the Murders in The Rue Morgue and The Big Sleep The extract taken from Murders in The Rue Morgue is from when Dupin is going over the police investigations of the murders and showing the narrator that there is more to the murders than the police have found e.g. the police believe there is a motive yet nothing had been taken from the house. Although the story is written in the first person narrative this extract is written as direct speech. Through this direct speech, Dupin shows his attitude to the police when he says 'The conclusion here is absurd,' as this shows he is undermining the conclusions of the police. Rhetorical questions such as '...why did he not take the best...' involve the reader and make them think about possible answers to Dupin's questions. It also makes you think along the same lines as Dupin. The Big Sleep extract shows Marlowe questioning Brody about his involvement with Geiger. The Big Sleep is written in the first person narrative, as is The Murders in The Rue Morgue. In this extract this helps show Brody's attitude to Marlowe (e.g. 'Brody was breathing hard,' shows Brody is scared of Marlowe.) This extract also shows direct speech as in the extract in The Murders of The Rue Morgue extract. This shows Marlowe's attitude to Brody. For example Marlowe say's to Brody, 'you didn't watch hard enough.' This shows that
Doctor Faustus: What do we learn about Faustus? What are our responses to his ambition? What is your response to key issued linked to pride?
Doctor Faustus: What do we learn about Faustus? What are our responses to his ambition? What is your response to key issued linked to pride? We first learn that Faustus is an academic and well educated individual from the first few lines, having studied at 'Wittenberg' we are prone to believe he is a highly educated man; furthermore, we begin to understand same of his qualities, such as, being a 'quick learner', a master of theology, yet after a change in register, we begin to identify the fact that his awareness of being an intelligent person, turns into cockiness and self-pride. 'His waxen wings did mount above his reach' This allows us to pick up on the idea that his desire for knowledge and power is beyond the scope of man; in other words, Dr Faustus feels that he has to make decisions about his future, having mastered a brilliant career. Philosophy, medicine, law and theology doesn't satisfy hum any longer and this is where we begin to embark on Faustus' attractions to the secrets of magic; having mastered all other aspects of knowledge, he want to master craft. Faustus' journey to creating magic reveals a lot about his character in just the first few pages. Faustus originally intends to increase his intellect and power to help others and impact on his chances of finding a mate to start a family, yet we begin to identify him ad being somewhat a demonic character,
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe A n short-lived English playwright and poet and is considered the first great English dramatist and the most important Elizabethan dramatist before William Shakespeare. Although his entire as a playwright lasted only six years. Born in Canterbury, England on February 6th 1564. A son of a shoemaker, a relatively baldy paid profession. Even so, Marlowe was well educated attending first the King's School, Canterbury. Then Marlowe going on to university studies at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Much of the curriculum at Cambridge at that time involved the intensive study of theology and of ancient languages. While still a student at Cambridge, Marlowe travelled aboard on Government business from which information scholars conclude that he was probably spying for Sir Francis Walsingham's secret service. After his studies, he went to London in 1587 and took up the profession of playwright at which he became very successful with Tamburlaine the Great and its sequel, Tamburlaine the Great, Part II. He associated himself with the Admiral's Men a company of actors for whom he wrote most his plays. The dates of composition of Marlowe's plays are not certain, had he may have began writing while still at university. Doctor Faustus was probably written in the late 1580s. It has been suggested that Doctor Faustus was not written until 1592, when an English
The Importance of Scene 5 in context with the whole play - "Now Faustus, must thou be damned, And canst thou be saved"
The Importance of Scene 5 in context with the whole play "Now Faustus, must thou be damned, And canst thou be saved" Scene 1 These are the words that open scene five as Faustus says them whilst sitting in his study. He is pondering on the like-hood of damnation. This scene has a repetitive sequence with a few phases. This is also the first time that we see Faustus expressing doubt as written in the above quote. This is one of the phases. He also becomes more resolute as he calls on the devil Memphostophilis. Persuasion is the second as persuasive efforts are made by the Good and Evil Angels to influence him. "...think of heaven, and of heavenly things" - Good Angel. "...think of honour and of wealth" - Evil Angel Scene five is important because it shows Faustus' transaction from an honourable Christian to a greedy Satanist. It is the most important scene as all his ambitions are shown for the first time. The scene focuses on all the major strands that play a key role in the other scenes - intellectual curiosity, Faustus' moral hesitations and the display put on by the Devil to keep him happy and forget the negative issues. Faustus himself is dominated by two main character traits; intellect and ambition. It's his intellect that creates doubt when his ambition alone can carry on forward, but on the other side; it's also his intellect that makes his
