Doctor Faustus’s matter of choice or destiny
The tragic history of Doctor Faustus is a play by Christopher Marlowe, based on the Faust story in which a man sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge. Doctor Faustus was first published in 1604, eleven years after Marlowe’s death and at least twelve years after the first performance of the play. Moreover the author’s life, he was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. The foremost Elizabethan tragedian before William Shakespeare, he is known for his magnificent blank verse, his overreaching protagonist and his untimely death. Doctor Faustus was considered one of his best writings although it did raise some concerns about whether there was atheism in the play or not. Along with this concern there was another thought that was troubling, it was the controversy of whether Doctor Faustus was a victim of free will or fate. However the play was written after the time of the Middle Ages which was very sufficient because it is during that time that individualism began to arise. Humans were allowed to become individuals with a direct connection to god. Yet through this individualistic relationship between god and man, a sense of pride emerged. Urged along by science and philosophy, the idea of the individual altered from a being that relied on god to a being who relied on himself. Because of self-reliance, god’s influence decreased in the mind’s of scholars such as Doctor Faustus. Consequentially as the acts of god lessened to insignificance throughout Doctor Faustus, Lucifer’s actions and schemes appeared on nearly every page as he encouraged the belief of self power. Faustus represented this self-reliance as he searched his spell books for magic that would give him power to accomplish his own goals. He claims the power given to him from Lucifer as his own majesty, “I am ready to accomplish your request…as by my art and power of my spirit I am able to perform” (Marlowe, 484, 36-37).
The Essay on In what way is Dr. Faustus an Anti-Catholic Play?
On the face of it, Dr. Faustus is not an anti-Catholic play. Yet, once you have read into it certain aspects of the play – there are many anti-Catholic notions and views that Marlowe has placed within the text. If the reader has no prior knowledge of how the world was in the Sixteenth century, then they would probably not uncover Marlowe’s hidden messages. There are many issues dealt ...
However, self-reliance and pride would have not caused so much harm if they had not been accompanied by knowledge. For the quest for knowledge became more than an end to ignorance; it became a greedy thirst and a quest for power for the ordinary individual man. The rising of the individual and the freedom of choice was clearly stated when Doctor Faustus chose to give away his immortal soul to the devil. In that moment when he cut open his arm and used his life force to condemn him to an eternity in hell, he made a voluntary decision. He controlled his own soul. He had the free will to choose to live his life as he pleased and to die as he pleased. “Ay Mephastophilis, I [Faustus] give it to thee…And Faustus hath bequeathed his soul to Lucifer” (Marlowe, 472-473, 48, 75).
In conclusion since Marlowe wrote the play during that particular time he specifically intended for Doctor Faustus to be a victim of free will rather than fate. Considering Doctor Faustus had numerous opportunities to repent and to leave the path that led him to eternal agony. Only because of his persistence in the choices he made does he end in hell. Also Faustus was the one who called on Lucifer on his own account due to his desire to conquer all knowledge as well as his pride. He saw himself as intellectually superior who therefore should have divine powers. His pride has not left him and together with his weaknesses as in fear of death and pain stopped him from asking god’s forgiveness and mercy. It was due to his pride that he chose the path that tormented him as he cried “Gentleman, farewell…Faustus is gone to hell” (Marlowe, 492, 54-55).
