Doctor Faustus

I enjoyed Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus much more than Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. Marlowe held my attention more and introduced new excitement throughout the play, whereas Spenser seemed to be beating a dead horse. In that I mean he reiterated over and over again the same themes. I did not notice much of a difference in themes when reading the beginning canto and the ending canto. He just had different ways of saying Catholicism is horrible and Elizabeth is wonderful. Do not get me wrong, I think Spenser’s work is important to study, but am glad Doug did not have us read it in its entirety.

                Marlowe, on the other hand, portrayed Faustus as this lost character that feared hell and Lucifer so much that he did not see the signs that he could repent, right to the end. Or, he saw the signs, but did not act upon them for fear of what Lucifer may do to him. I found it interesting that Faustus could have saved himself from an eternity of hell, and he was given multiple opportunities to do so. He studied the black arts and sold his soul, which one would think during this time period they would have burned him at the steak.

                I especially enjoyed how Marlowe set the scene with Faustus having all this knowledge but wanting more. I may be wrong in assuming this, but The Wakefield Mysteries are still fresh in my mind and as I read Doctor Faustus, I could not but help think about the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. It seemed to me Faustus craved more knowledge than he could handle, and like Eve, was so tempted by it that he could not help himself. Faustus believed that he had conquered knowledge and his “final frontier” was that of the black arts.

                I do not think Faustus fully understood what selling his soul meant when he first made the deal, as he said, “Is not thy soul thine own?” (1140). It is almost like he could not understand how someone else could possess his soul. Plus, he did not put all that high of value on his soul. Only later does the reader begin to see a change in Faustus and how he regrets selling his soul, but is too fearful to repent.

                Finally, I enjoyed how Marlowe portrayed Faustus’ physical body and his soul. Faustus, at first, had no problem selling his soul, an intangible item. However, whenever he seriously considered repenting, Mephastophilis always threatened his physical body. Faustus is more concerned with being torn to shreds right away than spending an eternity in hell. The only way Mephastophilis could keep Faustus from repenting was by threatening his physical form, as Faustus held little value in his soul and sold that fairly quickly.