Marlowes original title was The Tragicall history of Dr. Faustus. To what extent do you consider Faustus a truly tragic figure?
Marlowe’s original title was ‘The Tragicall history of Dr. Faustus’. To what extent do you consider Faustus a truly tragic figure?
‘Doctor Faustus’ was written in 1593 and it is a morality play depicting the fall of Doctor Faustus. Doctor Faustus is a highly intelligent man who rose to become the top of many academic subjects at a young age. Calvinism is also a very important theme of the play. Calvinism is the belief that one’s fate is decided by god at birth and hence no matter what good one does in their life if they are not the elect then they will go to hell. Faustus believes in this to some extent as towards the end of his life he repeatedly mentions that god will have no mercy on him and that his fate is sealed. The reason for Faustus’s desire to practice necromancy stems from his belief that he felt that no other subject could satisfy him enough or perhaps in the case of philosophy, he believes that he has achieved all what one can in the subject, as he says, ‘then read no more, thou has attained the end’. Faustus goes onto reject medicine, law and theology with each discipline having their own problems which Faustus believes makes him incompatible with them.
One opinion that Faustus was a tragic figure is because he never truly understood what necromancy consisted of and the consequences of it. Faustus’s first display of interest in necromancy is illustrated when he says, ‘and necromantic books are heavenly’. This paradoxical claim is the first instance whereby Faustus is interested in necromancy while simultaneously not truly understanding it. Faustus’s lack of insight to the consequences of total damnation is shown when he says, ‘he will spare him four and twenty years’. Faustus has youthful naivety; he believes total damnation for eternity is worth twenty four years of his life. Faustus is a peripeteian character, his actions brought his fateful end but tragically he did not understand or even appreciate the consequences. Interestingly, the ‘B’ text shows that Mephistophilis actually controlled what Faustus was reading in the biblical texts, resulting in Faustus misunderstanding gods message. Faustus’s lack of understanding because of Mephistophilis therefore makes him an even greater tragic figure as he then appears to have never had a chance of redeeming himself as he never able to understand gods message about redemption. In addition, Mephistophilis actually conducted the necromancy, as seen in Elizabeth Frierstone’s production whereby Mephistophilis is the one tormenting the Pope and the friars. The audience would have enjoyed this scene as the audience was Protestant and naturally, at the time, they disliked Catholics so the torment of them would have made Faustus an enjoyable character, which in consequence makes his fall even more tragic. Faustus’s lack of understanding about necromancy and the fact that he never really conducted it makes him a tragic figure as he just appears to be a man who got caught up in the delights of necromancy. Faustus’s questions about necromancy after he sold his soul illustrates how misinformed he is, as he says, ‘where is the place that men call hell’ Furthermore, Faustus’s desire to ‘resolve me of all ambiguities’ also makes him an interesting character as he wants to achieve things that the audience would most likely want to as well. Faustus is tragic because the audience sees the consequences of Faustus’s actions while concurrently sympathising with why he did it.
