View on Play Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

       ‘ Knowledge is power, but power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’

                                  “Dr. Faustus” the tragic history of whole life and death of Dr. Faustus is written by English dramatist Christopher Marlowe. In this play there is a simply story of Dr. Faustus who was born of lower class parents , in which how a common man sells his soul to the devil for more power, knowledge and position in his life.The story base on down fall of Dr. Faustus and  Christianity.

Character :

Doctor Faustus

                        Faustus is the protagonist of the play.  He is a proud, ambitious, and self-confident man; and in the prologue, the chorus compares him to Icarus.  Like Icarus, Faustus is excessively proud and tries to exceed the human limitations. 

                      He represents the spirit of the Renaissance, with its rejection of the medieval religious viewpoint and its strong belief in the power of man and in his ability to understand the world and to change it.  Faustus has a great desire for knowledge and power.  He wants to know about the nature of the universe, about the far places of the world.  He is also a typical Renaissance man in his admiration for such Classical figures as Alexander the Great and Helen of Troy.    

                               Faustus intentionally blinds himself to the implications of his pact with Lucifer.  He ignores the injunctions of the scholars, the Good Angel, and the Old Man.  He also ignores the signs that appear to him as he was signing the contract.  However, Faustus is beset with doubts and keeps vacillating between repentance and his insistence on the pact with the devil.  His eventual fall means that man cannot ignore his limitations or ignore religion.  Faustus can be a symbol of the 

             Western civilization in its search for power and knowledge at the expense spiritual loss.        

Mephostophilis

                              He is the loyal servant and representative of Lucifer.  He successfully tempts Faustus toward damnation. He becomes Faustus’ servant and constant companion for twenty-four years, as part of the pact with the Lucifer.

                                  Mephostophilis has a personality.  He expresses the pains and sufferings of hell.  He knows the source of his misery: He has tasted the vision of God and now he is deprived of it.  He is aware of the great loss and deplores his fate. Upon Faustus' insistence to know about the nature of hell, Mephistophilis says that it is not a place, but a state of being.  Anywhere where God is not, is hell. 

                                   Paradoxically, although he tries all his best to win Faustus’ soul forever, he still reminds him that hell is real, and that he is a cautionary example: He is in hell and knows its torments.  But Faustus does not heed this example of pride and punishment.

SEVEN DEADLY SINS:

To Sum up:   
                       Conquering time, space about hell, about creation of the worlds, stars, planets, history, philosophy, religion, art, music, literature and architecture.Faustus believed, more in devil’s power than God’s power.