Nanoblade
02-09-2009, 06:19 PM
Short essay for school.
Examine Marlowe’s presentation of Faustus in the first five scenes of the play
The first thing we notice on Marlowe’s presentation of Faustus is the use of soliloquy, where Faustus refers to himself in the third person “Settle thy studies, Faustus”. This would appear different to an Elizabethan audience who would normally view a play where the Actors would interact with the Audience, opposed to the Actor and themselves. There is much self-conceit and pride amongst Faustus, which ultimately is concealed arrogance as he rejects key areas such as Philosophy, Medicine and Law, which could be argued reflects upon Marlowe himself, although there is no concrete proof to suggest this. The climax of his rejection is when he dismisses ‘divinity’
Although Faustus appears to be dismissive of important factors of life and arrogant, Marlowe presents him with great academic skills, and coming from a working class background, he has built up many friends, despite his attitude towards issues in life. Furthermore an important aspect of the play arises in scene one; the craving for power. Valdes (A friend of Faustus) makes the comment initially “These books, thy wit, and our experience shall make all nations canonize us. As Indian Moors obey their Spanish lords, so shall the spirits of every element be always serviceable to us three”.
The ‘good’ and ‘evil’ angels included in the play are minor in comparison to other characters up to scene five yet they represent Faustus’ conscience, with typically, the good angel attempting to help him in situations “Lay that damned book aside” from the good angel and “Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art” from the evil angel. Faustus further rejects God/ The Holy Trinity, yet contradicts this rejection through his belief in the Devil, which is a flaw in Marlowe’s presentation, because the Devil is known to be a ‘Fallen Angel’ from Heaven, therefore the knowledge and existence of God must be obvious to Faustus yet in his arrogance he overlooks this.
The element of power arrives again in scene three where Faustus is overtaken by his greed of power and pride for himself. Through black magic, he apparently summons the demon ‘Mephastophoilis’. Marlowe’s use of language here is important as he presents Faustus to command the devil “I charge thee” implementing he thinks he has complete power over the demon. However Mephastophoilis quickly corrects Faustus, who is getting too far ahead of himself “I came hither of mine own accord”. However although Marlowe presents Faustus to be intelligent, his knowledge of Hell is lacked, as he refers to it as a place, yet Hell is a state of being and not a place, which is another contribution towards him not having full control over his conscience and is blinded by greed to sell his soul for twenty four years of ‘Power’. Mephastophilis himself warns Faustus not to do his deed “leave these frivolous demands” even though he is hoping to gain his soul, however as we know his arrogance comes before intelligence in Faustus’ case, he tells the fallen angel he is better than he is, more of a man than he is “What, is great Mephastophilis so passionate for being deprived of the joys of heaven? Learn thou of Faustus manly fortitude”.
In scene five, Faustus’ fate is sealed with his act of signing the bargain with his own blood “I cut mine arm, and with my proper blood assure my soul to be great Lucifer’s”. Through his stupidity he assured his own fate, with power that he does not intend to use, and his soul is as good as the Devil’s.
-Luke
Examine Marlowe’s presentation of Faustus in the first five scenes of the play
The first thing we notice on Marlowe’s presentation of Faustus is the use of soliloquy, where Faustus refers to himself in the third person “Settle thy studies, Faustus”. This would appear different to an Elizabethan audience who would normally view a play where the Actors would interact with the Audience, opposed to the Actor and themselves. There is much self-conceit and pride amongst Faustus, which ultimately is concealed arrogance as he rejects key areas such as Philosophy, Medicine and Law, which could be argued reflects upon Marlowe himself, although there is no concrete proof to suggest this. The climax of his rejection is when he dismisses ‘divinity’
Although Faustus appears to be dismissive of important factors of life and arrogant, Marlowe presents him with great academic skills, and coming from a working class background, he has built up many friends, despite his attitude towards issues in life. Furthermore an important aspect of the play arises in scene one; the craving for power. Valdes (A friend of Faustus) makes the comment initially “These books, thy wit, and our experience shall make all nations canonize us. As Indian Moors obey their Spanish lords, so shall the spirits of every element be always serviceable to us three”.
The ‘good’ and ‘evil’ angels included in the play are minor in comparison to other characters up to scene five yet they represent Faustus’ conscience, with typically, the good angel attempting to help him in situations “Lay that damned book aside” from the good angel and “Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art” from the evil angel. Faustus further rejects God/ The Holy Trinity, yet contradicts this rejection through his belief in the Devil, which is a flaw in Marlowe’s presentation, because the Devil is known to be a ‘Fallen Angel’ from Heaven, therefore the knowledge and existence of God must be obvious to Faustus yet in his arrogance he overlooks this.
The element of power arrives again in scene three where Faustus is overtaken by his greed of power and pride for himself. Through black magic, he apparently summons the demon ‘Mephastophoilis’. Marlowe’s use of language here is important as he presents Faustus to command the devil “I charge thee” implementing he thinks he has complete power over the demon. However Mephastophoilis quickly corrects Faustus, who is getting too far ahead of himself “I came hither of mine own accord”. However although Marlowe presents Faustus to be intelligent, his knowledge of Hell is lacked, as he refers to it as a place, yet Hell is a state of being and not a place, which is another contribution towards him not having full control over his conscience and is blinded by greed to sell his soul for twenty four years of ‘Power’. Mephastophilis himself warns Faustus not to do his deed “leave these frivolous demands” even though he is hoping to gain his soul, however as we know his arrogance comes before intelligence in Faustus’ case, he tells the fallen angel he is better than he is, more of a man than he is “What, is great Mephastophilis so passionate for being deprived of the joys of heaven? Learn thou of Faustus manly fortitude”.
In scene five, Faustus’ fate is sealed with his act of signing the bargain with his own blood “I cut mine arm, and with my proper blood assure my soul to be great Lucifer’s”. Through his stupidity he assured his own fate, with power that he does not intend to use, and his soul is as good as the Devil’s.
-Luke