In Christopher Marlowe’s play
Doctor Faustus, the protagonist, begins the play alleging that he will use the
power of dark magic in order to become accomplished and knowledgeable; however,
as the play progresses one can see that Doctor Faustus’ hubris overcomes him as
he uses his magic in order to create a name for himself and to self-indulge.
In the
beginning of chorus two, Doctor Faustus is using his power in order to learn,
“the secrets of astronomy,”(line 2) before he sets forth to Rome. In this first
section Faustus is using his powers to further his education, but in the next
section he uses them for jest. Faustus tricks the pope by disguising himself
and making himself invisible. This change in character is a result of his
mounting hubris that is making him less concerned with knowledge and more
concerned with his own enjoyment.
In the
third chorus and also in the ninth scene Faustus travels to Germany where he is
welcomed by the German emperor. In this section Faustus stoops to an even lower
level in search for his own personal glory by making “Alexander the Great”
appear for the emperors delight. Faustus has essentially become a jester for
the king at this point as he is now more concerned with making a name for
himself than learning and gaining vast amounts of knowledge, as he initially
intended.
Through-out
the stories progression the reader can see a great change occurring is Doctor
Faustus as he gives his soul to the devil and indulges in hubristic activities
to further his name.
My questions are do you think Doctor Faustus truly wanted
black magic in order to become more intelligent and thus a more respected
individual or do you think he just wanted power?
Anna, I think Faustus' intentions were to become respected as a man who is smarter than most and just more respectable overall. Then when the devil got his hands on Faustus, he slowly began turning to the "dark side". He went on a path with no return solely because of the devil's manipulation. I don't think Faustus would have only wanted power if Mephastophilis hadn't gotten to him. With the powers that the devil gave Faustus, he liked having the powers of God, but used them for evil and the opposite of what God would use them for. So my overall answer would be that Doctor Faustus wanted the respect at the level of God, but did not set out wanting the power only, it only became that way after interacting with the devil. Good blog post!
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