In the story “Doctor Faustus”, Faustus, the main character longs
for what so many people in the world long for which is power and knowledge. At
the beginning of the story the reader can see that Faustus is willing to do
virtually anything to get what he longs for. “How glutted with conceit of
this!/ Shall I make spirits fetch me what I please,/ Resolve me of all
ambiguities,/ Perform what desperate enterprise I will?” (Marlowe, 1604, 1616, p. 464).
One can see how this idea starts as something small and slowly grows in the
mind of Faustus until he is overwhelmed by it.
The desire for knowledge and power fit well into the social structure
at the time. This is because having the power and knowledge that Faustus wants
is something that brings him up in class based on society’s standards. Because
of the powers that he gets when Mephastophilis gives him them he becomes more
and more known in the land. “Learned Faustus,/ To know the secrets of
astronomy/ Graven in the book of Jove’s high firmament,/ Did mount himself to
scale Olympus’ top.” (Marlowe,
1604, 1616, p. 479). In this stanza the reader gets a visual on the climb
of Faustus’ power in society.
The social structure also seems to limit the way Faustus’ desires
are expressed. Because he is so focused on becoming more and more powerful when
he is struggling with whether he should repent to God he has no one to talk to.
He has no one to talk to because of his ranking in society has changed to
quickly he cannot trust anyone. The reader sees this when the good angel and
the bad angel are talking to him. “Faustus, repent, yet God will pity thee./
Thou art a spirit, God cannot pity thee./ Who buzzeth in mine ears I am a
spirit?/ Be I a devil, yet God may pity me./ Ay, God will pity me if I repent.”(Marlowe, 1604, 1616, p. 475). The reader can see Faustus’ inner struggle
with what he is doing. Perhaps if he had had someone he could share his
struggles with he would have realized the faults in his logic and would have
tried to repent sooner than at the end.
The desire of Faustus in this story is something that many people
during that time period desired. After reading the story the reader understands
that the desires of power and knowledge are not necessarily bad, it is how one
goes on about getting them. “Only to wonder at unlawful things:, Whose deepness
doth entice such forward wits/ To practice more than heavenly power permits.” (Marlowe, 1604, 1616, p. 493).
The desire is very apparent in the language of the story of Doctor
Faustus. One of the main parts that the emotion and desire shows through is
when Faustus is at his end. “O God, if thou wilt not have mercy on my soul,/
Yet for Christ’s sake, whose blood hath ransomed me,/Impose some end to
incessant pain:/ Let Faustus live hell a thousand years,/ A hundred thousand,
and at last be saved.” (Marlowe,
1604, 1616, p. 492). This is also the part where Faustus truly sees what he
has done and what is going to happen to him. The language shows the regret of
the choices that he has made.
“Doctor Faustus” is a story that shows the danger of knowledge and
power. It is a good representation of what the society’s limits were, how to
express desire, and also why these limitations can be dangerous. It also shows
readers that it is not always wrong to desire something, what makes it wrong is
what one will do to get it. Marlowe did an excellent job at using language
throughout the story to portray the feelings of Faustus. His words have become
well known for this very reason and his story will stay with society for a long
time to come.
References
Kuczyński, J. (2002). DOCTOR FAUSTUS: THE ESSENCE AND
"CULTURALIZATION" OF FASCISM. Dialogue & Universalism, 12(4/5),
75.
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