Assignment Of Paper No: 1 The Renaissance Literature
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Assignment
Paper: 1 The Renaissance Literature
Subject: DISCUSS DOCTOR FAUSTUS AS A TRAGEDY
Name: Sagar B. Vaghela
Sem: 1
Roll No: 53
Batch: 2017-19
Enrollment No: 2069108420180053
Email: sagarvaghela2020@gmail.com
Submitted to: S.B.Gardi Department of English MKBU
Christopher Marlowe was born in Canterbury around February 26, 1564. He went to King's School and was awarded a scholarship that enabled him to study at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, from late 1580 until 1587.
Aristotle defines a tragedy as a ‘representation of an action which is important, complete and limited in length. It is enacted not recited and by arousing pity and fear, it gives an outlet to emotions of this type. ’ However, for the Elizabethans, more specifically for Marlowe and Shakespeare, tragedy is not a restrictive view of human excellence or weakness as the Greeks are often inclined to present but an affirmative view of human aspirations whose pursuit brings a glory to the definition of a man.
Doctor Faustus’ Tragic Flaw Doctor Faustus has elements of both Christian morality and classical tragedy. On the one hand, it takes place in an explicitly Christian cosmos: God sits on high, as the judge of the world, and every soul goes either to hell or to heaven.
There are devils and angels, with the devils tempting people into sin and the angels urging them to remain true to God. Faustus’s story is a tragedy in Christian terms, because he gives in to temptation and is damned to hell. Faustus’s principal sin, tragic flaw according to Aristotle, is his great pride and ambition, which can be contrasted with the Christian virtue of humility; by letting these traits rule his life, Faustus allows his soul to be claimed by Lucifer, Christian cosmology’s prince of devils.
And hence – ‘A greater subject fitteth Faustus’s wit. ’ Faustus’ soul is afire with intemperate ambition and with a craze for super human powers and supreme sensual pleasure of life. Divinity adieu: These metaphysics of magicians, And necromantic books are heavenly: The Strength of the Tragedy The play is a human tragedy for not only is Faustus tragically constituted in his boundless ambitions but, at the same time, the play questions the effectiveness of the cultural aspirations that shape his ambitions.
Consequently, the play provides a complex interaction between the human dimensions of the dramatic character and the ambiguities and ambivalences of the cultural situation the character is placed in. Yet while the play seems to offer a very basic Christian message—that one should avoid temptation and sin, and repent if one cannot avoid temptation and sin—its conclusion can be interpreted as straying from orthodox Christianity in order to conform to the structure of tragedy.
In a traditional tragic play, as pioneered by the Greeks and imitated by William Shakespeare, a hero is brought low by an error or series of errors and realizes his or her mistake only when it is too late. In Christianity, though, as long as a person is alive, there is always the possibility of repentance—so if a tragic hero realizes his or her mistake, he or she may still be saved even at the last moment. But though Faustus, in the final, wrenching scene, comes to his senses and begs for a chance to repent, it is too late, and he is carried off to hell.
Marlowe rejects the Christian idea that it is never too late to repent in order to increase the dramatic power of his finale, in which Faustus is conscious of his damnation and yet, tragically, can do nothing about it. Faustus’ Tragedy Act I establishes Faustus’ tragedy. The egocentric self-temptation of Act I gives way to an agonising conflict between the religiously constituted self and the aberrations of its human impulses of Act II: Now, Faustus, must Thou needs be damn’d and canst thou not be sav’d.
Faustus’ state of mind transcends his mental frame and is, possibly, rooted in his particular religious persuasion. As despair leads to the self-indulgent belief that divine providence as well as the divine wrath cannot reach him, Faustus signs the pact with the devil giving away his soul in return for his services. As Faustus reaches his rebellious or tragic death in Act V, the nature of his death and the attendant torment bespeaks a magnificent tragedy But Faustus’ offence can ne’er be pardoned:
The serpent that tempted Eve may be saved, But not Faustus The tragic conflict does not abate till the end. Faustus seeks an alternate heaven through the devilish Helen: Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again. Thus the main cause of the tragedy of Doctor Faustus is ‘aspiring pride and insolence’ for which the Lucifer of Milton also fell. His inordinate ambition and proud presumption leads him to commit the sin of practising more than heaven permits. And that is why Faustus abjures God and the Devil leading to his eternal damnation.
Understanding of Christopher Marlowe's Elizabethan tragedy, Dr. Faustus, can be framed in terms of the Renaissance philosophy and the Elizabethan tragedy, which takes a different turn on some points from the Aristotelian tragedy, for instance such as the Elizabethan tragedy's requisite death of the tragic hero. Dr. Faustus demonstrates the Renaissance philosophy that pits the dichotomy of good, angelic humanity against evil, depraved humanity. Marlowe's play also is a model of the Elizabethan tragedy.
Marlowe constructed the character of Dr. Faustus to represent within himself both characteristics of the Renaissance view of humanity as divinely good and hellishly evil. First, Dr. Faustus is presented as a scholar of all things including divinity, the highest Renaissance scholarly discipline. Then, Faustus is shown as dissatisfied with the limitations of humanity and grasping for unlimited knowledge, which is a Biblical allusion to Adam and Eve who ate of the Tree of Knowledge. Throughout the play, Faustus descends to lower and lower planes of knowledge in his pursuit for the "power" and "omnipotence" that comes from knowledge. At the beginning, Mephistopheles answers all Faustus' questions but draws the line on talk of the universe, which can be seen to stand for astronomical and cosmological studies--the very studies that science is deeply involved in today: CERN; Hubble; SoHo; etc). Faustus must be content with merely mapping the universe instead of understanding it. Marlowe ultimately shows in Dr. Faustus the futility of the quest for ultimate knowledge and the inevitable end result of abandoning moral integrity for omnipotent knowledge.
Dr. Faustus also represents a Classic Elizabethan tragedy. First, the tragic hero has a flaw or makes an error in judgment that leads to his own doom. It's hard to say whether Faustus had a fatal flaw in his character or whether he was doomed by a faulty understanding that lead to a fatally disastrous error in judgment. All along the way, Faustus has doubts and hesitations which speak for an integrity of his moral character. If he has a fatal flaw, it might be that he did not reckon the power of evil highly enough, that he thought that with omnipotent knowledge, he could free himself from the chains of evil he wrapped so blithely around himself. Adam and Eve also fell to the punishment from the lure of knowledge. Of course, quite often Faustus' fatal flaw is said to be greed and irreverent disregard for goodness. One clue to forming a literary stance on the question lies in examining his hesitations and second thoughts.
Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus is perhaps one of the best known tragedies. It definitely differs from a traditional Greek tragedy, as Faustus doesn't have a high birth status (like a king, prince etc.). Moreover, as we know, in a Greek tragedy, though the hero suffers, but everything is brought into restoration by the end. As long as the person is alive, there is an option of repentance and forgiveness of his sins by the God. But Doctor Faustus shows some deviations.
Doctor Faustus can be called as an Elizabethan form of tragedy with elements of Christianity and Renaissance. It drew inspiration but was significantly different from the Aristotelian form of tragedy. In fact, the tragedy plays by the famous playwright William Shakespeare are believed to be an advancement of Marlowe’s genius.
Now, though we understand that Faustus doesn't have a high birth status, he still enjoys respect in the society because of his unmatchable education and intelligence.
Doctor Faustus represents the modern man who is divided between the Christian faith and the Renaissance spirit. Faustus, similar to the heroes of Greek tragedies (Greeks were pioneers of tragedy plays) has one fatal error or tragic flaw (known as Hamartia) that leads to his damnation. It is his hubris or extreme pride (this is considered as the most severe of all seven deadly sins as it gives rise to the other sins). He is guilty of being too proud over his intelligence and achievements. Because of his he commits a series of other mistakes one after the other.
We see that Faustus too finally realizes his mistakes (all tragic heroes meet revelation of their faults) and begs for repentance. But it’s too late by then and he meets damnation. Through his tragic end, he gains the audience’s sympathy and provokes Catharsis. Catharis is atypical of any tragedy. In fact, the most obvious and logical conclusions of the Elizabethan (or, later famously called as the Shakespearean tragedy) is the hero’s death.
Doctor Faustus can be, hence, called as a tragedy play.
Work cited :
https://www.biography.com/people/christopher-marlowe-9399572
https://freebooksummary.com/dr-faustus-as-a-tragedy-45315
https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/discuss-dr-faustus-tragedy-125609
Assignment
Paper: 1 The Renaissance Literature
Subject: DISCUSS DOCTOR FAUSTUS AS A TRAGEDY
Name: Sagar B. Vaghela
Sem: 1
Roll No: 53
Batch: 2017-19
Enrollment No: 2069108420180053
Email: sagarvaghela2020@gmail.com
Submitted to: S.B.Gardi Department of English MKBU
Christopher Marlowe was born in Canterbury around February 26, 1564. He went to King's School and was awarded a scholarship that enabled him to study at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, from late 1580 until 1587.
Aristotle defines a tragedy as a ‘representation of an action which is important, complete and limited in length. It is enacted not recited and by arousing pity and fear, it gives an outlet to emotions of this type. ’ However, for the Elizabethans, more specifically for Marlowe and Shakespeare, tragedy is not a restrictive view of human excellence or weakness as the Greeks are often inclined to present but an affirmative view of human aspirations whose pursuit brings a glory to the definition of a man.
Doctor Faustus’ Tragic Flaw Doctor Faustus has elements of both Christian morality and classical tragedy. On the one hand, it takes place in an explicitly Christian cosmos: God sits on high, as the judge of the world, and every soul goes either to hell or to heaven.
There are devils and angels, with the devils tempting people into sin and the angels urging them to remain true to God. Faustus’s story is a tragedy in Christian terms, because he gives in to temptation and is damned to hell. Faustus’s principal sin, tragic flaw according to Aristotle, is his great pride and ambition, which can be contrasted with the Christian virtue of humility; by letting these traits rule his life, Faustus allows his soul to be claimed by Lucifer, Christian cosmology’s prince of devils.
And hence – ‘A greater subject fitteth Faustus’s wit. ’ Faustus’ soul is afire with intemperate ambition and with a craze for super human powers and supreme sensual pleasure of life. Divinity adieu: These metaphysics of magicians, And necromantic books are heavenly: The Strength of the Tragedy The play is a human tragedy for not only is Faustus tragically constituted in his boundless ambitions but, at the same time, the play questions the effectiveness of the cultural aspirations that shape his ambitions.
Consequently, the play provides a complex interaction between the human dimensions of the dramatic character and the ambiguities and ambivalences of the cultural situation the character is placed in. Yet while the play seems to offer a very basic Christian message—that one should avoid temptation and sin, and repent if one cannot avoid temptation and sin—its conclusion can be interpreted as straying from orthodox Christianity in order to conform to the structure of tragedy.
In a traditional tragic play, as pioneered by the Greeks and imitated by William Shakespeare, a hero is brought low by an error or series of errors and realizes his or her mistake only when it is too late. In Christianity, though, as long as a person is alive, there is always the possibility of repentance—so if a tragic hero realizes his or her mistake, he or she may still be saved even at the last moment. But though Faustus, in the final, wrenching scene, comes to his senses and begs for a chance to repent, it is too late, and he is carried off to hell.
Marlowe rejects the Christian idea that it is never too late to repent in order to increase the dramatic power of his finale, in which Faustus is conscious of his damnation and yet, tragically, can do nothing about it. Faustus’ Tragedy Act I establishes Faustus’ tragedy. The egocentric self-temptation of Act I gives way to an agonising conflict between the religiously constituted self and the aberrations of its human impulses of Act II: Now, Faustus, must Thou needs be damn’d and canst thou not be sav’d.
Faustus’ state of mind transcends his mental frame and is, possibly, rooted in his particular religious persuasion. As despair leads to the self-indulgent belief that divine providence as well as the divine wrath cannot reach him, Faustus signs the pact with the devil giving away his soul in return for his services. As Faustus reaches his rebellious or tragic death in Act V, the nature of his death and the attendant torment bespeaks a magnificent tragedy But Faustus’ offence can ne’er be pardoned:
The serpent that tempted Eve may be saved, But not Faustus The tragic conflict does not abate till the end. Faustus seeks an alternate heaven through the devilish Helen: Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again. Thus the main cause of the tragedy of Doctor Faustus is ‘aspiring pride and insolence’ for which the Lucifer of Milton also fell. His inordinate ambition and proud presumption leads him to commit the sin of practising more than heaven permits. And that is why Faustus abjures God and the Devil leading to his eternal damnation.
Understanding of Christopher Marlowe's Elizabethan tragedy, Dr. Faustus, can be framed in terms of the Renaissance philosophy and the Elizabethan tragedy, which takes a different turn on some points from the Aristotelian tragedy, for instance such as the Elizabethan tragedy's requisite death of the tragic hero. Dr. Faustus demonstrates the Renaissance philosophy that pits the dichotomy of good, angelic humanity against evil, depraved humanity. Marlowe's play also is a model of the Elizabethan tragedy.
Marlowe constructed the character of Dr. Faustus to represent within himself both characteristics of the Renaissance view of humanity as divinely good and hellishly evil. First, Dr. Faustus is presented as a scholar of all things including divinity, the highest Renaissance scholarly discipline. Then, Faustus is shown as dissatisfied with the limitations of humanity and grasping for unlimited knowledge, which is a Biblical allusion to Adam and Eve who ate of the Tree of Knowledge. Throughout the play, Faustus descends to lower and lower planes of knowledge in his pursuit for the "power" and "omnipotence" that comes from knowledge. At the beginning, Mephistopheles answers all Faustus' questions but draws the line on talk of the universe, which can be seen to stand for astronomical and cosmological studies--the very studies that science is deeply involved in today: CERN; Hubble; SoHo; etc). Faustus must be content with merely mapping the universe instead of understanding it. Marlowe ultimately shows in Dr. Faustus the futility of the quest for ultimate knowledge and the inevitable end result of abandoning moral integrity for omnipotent knowledge.
Dr. Faustus also represents a Classic Elizabethan tragedy. First, the tragic hero has a flaw or makes an error in judgment that leads to his own doom. It's hard to say whether Faustus had a fatal flaw in his character or whether he was doomed by a faulty understanding that lead to a fatally disastrous error in judgment. All along the way, Faustus has doubts and hesitations which speak for an integrity of his moral character. If he has a fatal flaw, it might be that he did not reckon the power of evil highly enough, that he thought that with omnipotent knowledge, he could free himself from the chains of evil he wrapped so blithely around himself. Adam and Eve also fell to the punishment from the lure of knowledge. Of course, quite often Faustus' fatal flaw is said to be greed and irreverent disregard for goodness. One clue to forming a literary stance on the question lies in examining his hesitations and second thoughts.
Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus is perhaps one of the best known tragedies. It definitely differs from a traditional Greek tragedy, as Faustus doesn't have a high birth status (like a king, prince etc.). Moreover, as we know, in a Greek tragedy, though the hero suffers, but everything is brought into restoration by the end. As long as the person is alive, there is an option of repentance and forgiveness of his sins by the God. But Doctor Faustus shows some deviations.
Doctor Faustus can be called as an Elizabethan form of tragedy with elements of Christianity and Renaissance. It drew inspiration but was significantly different from the Aristotelian form of tragedy. In fact, the tragedy plays by the famous playwright William Shakespeare are believed to be an advancement of Marlowe’s genius.
Now, though we understand that Faustus doesn't have a high birth status, he still enjoys respect in the society because of his unmatchable education and intelligence.
Doctor Faustus represents the modern man who is divided between the Christian faith and the Renaissance spirit. Faustus, similar to the heroes of Greek tragedies (Greeks were pioneers of tragedy plays) has one fatal error or tragic flaw (known as Hamartia) that leads to his damnation. It is his hubris or extreme pride (this is considered as the most severe of all seven deadly sins as it gives rise to the other sins). He is guilty of being too proud over his intelligence and achievements. Because of his he commits a series of other mistakes one after the other.
We see that Faustus too finally realizes his mistakes (all tragic heroes meet revelation of their faults) and begs for repentance. But it’s too late by then and he meets damnation. Through his tragic end, he gains the audience’s sympathy and provokes Catharsis. Catharis is atypical of any tragedy. In fact, the most obvious and logical conclusions of the Elizabethan (or, later famously called as the Shakespearean tragedy) is the hero’s death.
Doctor Faustus can be, hence, called as a tragedy play.
Work cited :
https://www.biography.com/people/christopher-marlowe-9399572
https://freebooksummary.com/dr-faustus-as-a-tragedy-45315
https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/discuss-dr-faustus-tragedy-125609
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