DR.Faustus as Renaissance Spirit.
M.K.BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
SEM-1
Name : Bhumi
V Joshi
Roll No : 3
Enrollment No : PG14101020
Paper Name : The Renaissance Literature
Batch Year : 2014 -2016
Email Id : bhumivjoshi108@gmail.com
Assignment Topic :
Christopher Marlowe as a Elizabethan dramatist of Elizabethan age. Give the example of the work which express most perfectly the Renaissance spirit.
Christopher Marlowe as a Elizabethan dramatist of Elizabethan age. Give the example of the work which express most perfectly the Renaissance spirit.
We try to define this topic in following
sequence like…
Preface
The Elizabethan age
Marlowe as dramatist
Abut Play
Dr. Faustus –as morality play
Dr. Faustus – as a Christian tragedy
Tragic dilemma
The heroic character – Doctor Faustus
Importance of soliloquies
Epilogue
Preface :
· The Elizabethan age :
After the period of
· The Religious Toleration
· The Social Contentment
· The Enthusiasm
There are many other characteristic also
like..
· The spread of knowledge
· An age of the drama
· The Renaissance:
The Renaissance is considered a journey
from ‘darkness to light’ which brings development in all fields.
“The Renaissance means…people are
awakening towards these words and these words are itself describe the meaning
of the Renaissance. These words are “ Humanism, Rebirth, Revival, Discover, and
Enlightenment.”
Renaissance is also known as the “Revival
of learning.”
Example:
Spenser’s “ Faerie Queen” fully reflects renaissance spirit while
Marlowe is regarded as the true child of the Renaissance.
Marlowe created subject matter in his
drama in high level. He provided Universal
appeal in his drama. Reader
may find other qualities in his works like…
1. Its Pictorial Quality
2. Its Ecstatic Quality
3. Its Vitalizing Energy
Using such imagination, he describes the
fact of life. Marlowe wrote many plays but he is famous for his four plays
which are as below:
1. Tamburlaine
2. Dr. Faustus
3. The Jew Of Malta
4. Edward 2
Through all his plays, he develops his “Mighty Line”. In his all plays, he uses different themes
and neve repeat.
In The History of Doctor Faustus,
Marlowe gives beautiful plot or the flows of the drama and the play represents
the whole features of Elizabethan age or Renaissance. Marlowe gives both a
theological and human motivation to Dr. Faustus experience of painful suffering
because of both religious and human impulse. Marlowe Creates unrealizable
ambition :
“The greater the man tries to be, the
less he becomes in fact.”
About the play :
Dr. Faustus - the play is still read
in 21st century only
because of his two most famous soliloquies.“ The ego-centric self-temptation Act-1
reflects the conflict between religious and human impulses. In the beginning of
first soliloquy of scene-1 of Act-2, Faustus declares his own tragedy.”
Faustus has quest for knowledge and never
accept the limitation of human. His fall down is necessary part because of his
own ‘Error of Judgement’ to choose necromancy and himself suffers from
spiritual pain and intense suffering from both religious and human impulses.
MEDIEVAL VERSUS RENAISSANCE:
According to Leo Krischbaum..
“Faustus is a wretched creature who for
lower values gives up higher values
In his first soliloquy, Faustus considers and rejects the medieval way of thinking. He resolves full renaissance spirit to accept no limits, traditions, in his quest for knowledge, wealth, and power.
In his first soliloquy, Faustus considers and rejects the medieval way of thinking. He resolves full renaissance spirit to accept no limits, traditions, in his quest for knowledge, wealth, and power.
“The aesthetic dimension is as central to
Faustus as the factual or the rational.”
Marlowe brings Renaissance attitude
through the character of Dr. Faustus who is convincing since he dies seeking
not the mercy God but the extinction of the humane state that has come to be
invested with boundless aspirations of Renaissance and awareness.
“Doctor Faustus is the strong of a
Renaissance man who had to pay the medieval price for being one.”
- R. M. Dawkins
- R. M. Dawkins
Marlowe seems hostile towards the great
ambition of Faustus and also suggest that..
“ Modern spirit, thought ambitious and
glittering will lead only to a Faustian dead end.”
Being a renaissance man, Faustus himself
responsible for his fall because he himself choose the wrong option and lead
himself the tragic end
because Human has chance to choose.
“Marlowe keep his tragic hero squarely
in the medieval world, where eternal damnation is the price of human pride.”
- Dawkins.
- Dawkins.
Dr. Faustus – As a Morality play :
Dr. Faustus – the play of human
presumption, temptation, damnation and fall being the essential narration of
the morality play.The drama concerns with the destiny of man excepting the all allegorical
interplay between the force of good and evil.
Examples:
· Conflict between good and evil
· Creation of good and bad Angels
· Old man as good counsel
· Seven deadly sins
Dr. Faustus – As a Christian tragedy:
Dr. Faustus has both elements Christian
morality and classical tragedy. Faustus is a tragedy of Christian terms because
he gives into temptation and damned to hell. The most important sin is to have
‘Hubris’ – too much excessive pride and ambition which can be contrasted with
the Christian virtue of humility.
In Christianity, there is always the
possibility of repentance, at still last moment. Marlowe rejects the idea of
Christianity that it is never too late to repent in order to increase the
dramatic power of his final in which Faustus is conscious of damnation and yet
tragically, can do nothing about it.
TRAGIC DILEMMA:
Faustus dilemma is essentially that
while religious precludes human possibilities than sin and repentance, the
Humanist though and learning gives him no solace being in itself self-limiting.
The tragic dilemma in Faustus does
not in his choice inseparable coexistence within his human condition.
“ Faustus wants to go beyond the human
nature.”
THE HEROIC CHARACTER- DR. FAUSTUS:
(1) Faustus – A Renaissance Hero :
It is proved by Faustus that he is a
renaissance hero to give his soul to Satan himself for the sake of gaining
greater knowledge for four and twenty years.”Faustus goes against the medieval
ideas and tries to prove that..
“Man can rise above the current set of
limitations.”
Faustus is superhuman in his ambitions and
always thinks and always trying to gaining knowledge.
“Why he should be limited in power by the
human condition?”
Ultimately he gets the damnation for his
soul. but throughout his life, he is stand for the representative of The
Renaissance Hero.
(2) Dr. Faustus –As a tragic hero
Faustus always believes that…
“ Experience only thing that using of it
one can become the knowledgeable.”
His wish to be powerful and superior leads
him to be damnation for forever. Because of his too much ambitious behavior and
quest of human nature, he is ready to sell his soul to Satan. Faustus Is the
master of all study fields like… Necromancy, history science and technology and
all fields. He wants to be like –God by getting great knowledge power. He
doesn’t accept the limitation and reaches gradually towards his tragic end.
Hero is one who not only has
many good aspects, but many flaws."One is not hero through great qualities;
but through flows. Faustus repents a great man with stature and personality,
but it is also a man with many sins.”
Faustus never listen the advice of the Old
man or good Angle also. Faustus starts struggle
with his own destiny and he says that…
“ Kill me but can’t destroy my spirit!”
Faustus has hope that God-Almighty save
his soul at last moment but it is too late for him, though he doesn’t allow
himself to burst out screaming and crying for salvation and repentance.
“ The most important thing is not to
stop questioning.”
The most important that Mephistopheles
also warns him doing sign on paper by his blood.
“ [W]hy this is hell, nor am I out of
it.
Think’st thou that I, who saw the face
of God,
And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,
Am not tormented with ten thousand hells
In being deprived of everlasting
bliss?”(3.76-80)
IMPORTANCE OF SOLILOQUIES :
In the
first monologue ,Dr. Faustus seems scholar but so egoist person to audiences or
readers. Because he uses
the words of Greek and Latin language and his loud voice pitch of language
proves him as more knowledgeable person. Common people can’t imagine his
knowledge and scholarship also. He only believes that Seeing is believing.In first monologue, he fully challenge to
his fate or destiny whatever we called being the knowledgeable and has the
power of excessive pride.
In the last monologue, we find the
same person with the different personality so humble, modest and kind towards God . Language
is also different .His excessive pride melt and now is suffering from spiritual
pain and human impulses.
”My
heart is hard ended;
I can’t repent.”
At the end of the play ,in last scene Faustus realize that............
“Power comes with responsibility.”
Marlowe gives the chance to his character- Dr. Faustus to select Blasphemous choice of black
magic is a splendid beginning; and his final moments to dread and despair are a
powerful conclusion.
EPILOGUE:
Renaissance describes the light to
come out from the darkness and to do something new which has no boundary
itself. The play- “Dr. Faustus” reflects the whole feathers of the Elizabethan
Age. Seeing the spirit of facing any situation after selecting one, Faustus
never takes step back describes the Renaissance spirit. Thus we may conclude
that“ Marlowe is the dramatist of Elizabethan age and his work Dr.
Faustus has the spirit of Renaissance spirit.”
You have published your assignment two times. But your explanation was good you have taken appropriate quotations overall work is good.
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