Marlowe uses a lot of classical references in his play, ‘Dr Faustus’. Like Icarus, Faustus does not foresee the danger of the extreme belief in his abilities until it is too late. And like Icarus, he too fell, but “to a devilish exercise”. Reaching further and further into forbidden realms, Faustus overlooks the threat of eternal damnation, because blinded by pride and the belief that he cannot be wrong, he rejects even the evidence in front of his own eyes. When presented with Mephastophilis’ depiction of hell, Faustus responds by replying, “Come, I think hell’s a fable” and dismisses religious issues by describing them as “trifles and mere old wives’ tales”. This shows Faustus being true to himself as it shows his determination to believe only what he himself can prove.
When Faustus wishes to “seek to save distressed Faustus’ soul”, Lucifer appears and puts on a show starring the Seven Deadly Sins to alleviate Faustus’ doubt. This seems to be a way of manipulating Faustus by means of distraction. His response to the pageant of the Seven Deadly Sins is the opposite of what might be expected of a typical person, as he comments, “O this feeds my soul”, displaying a delight in this transgression, which would instead have been found offensive by Marlowe’s audience. Faustus says he would be “happy” if he “might see hell”, a juxtaposition that would jolt in the minds of a religious audience.
In the historical context of the play, the majority of his audience would have not understood the ideas presented by Marlowe as they would have been mainly poor, uneducated, working-class people. At the time around which ‘Dr Faustus’ was first performed, old beliefs such as the earth being the centre of the universe were being challenged and replaced by revolutionary new ideas, and Britain’s political and religious structure was under stress. It was an age in which new knowledge and ideas were throwing old systems and long-accepted beliefs into turmoil. Faustus seems to be the epitome of Renaissance aspiration as he represented the thirst for knowledge that marked the age in which Marlowe wrote this play. But this thirst ultimately leads to Faustus’ downfall.
The play ends where it began, in the seclusion of Faustus’ study, and it is here that Faustus finally damns himself, although for a brief moment after the Old Man’s speech, he comes very close to atonement and salvation. However, he chooses “to glut the longing” of his heart’s desire and see the beautiful Helen of Troy. It is here that Faustus says what is arguably some of Marlowe’s best lines, “Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium?” By kissing the apparition of Helen, Faustus commits the ultimate blasphemy as the kiss signifies demonolatry i.e. intercourse with the devil. It is this event that causes the Old Man to give up on Faustus as his soul was now excluded from “the grace of heaven”.
The last soliloquy of Faustus’ seems to be a complete contrast to his first. Faustus wishes that he “had never seen Wittenberg, never read a book” and this opposes his earlier thirst for knowledge and a new challenge. Marlowe’s audience would have been all too aware of the vast eternity of damnation that would have awaited him. There was no other way for him to go as Faustus himself admitted “My heart’s so hardened I cannot repent”.
Marlowe uses brilliant heightened blank verse in ‘Dr Faustus’ to show complex ethics in what is essentially a complex morality play. Towards the end of this play, Faustus becomes increasingly aware of the emptiness of his bargain and the reality of damnation. By pursuing knowledge, Faustus ultimately brought about his own downfall. The play ends with an Epilogue, which is in line with the tradition of Morality Plays.