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Doctor Faustus - Christopher Malrow
[alert-success] Dr Faustus [/alert-success]
[alert-primary] Detailed Summary [/alert-primary]
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Introduction : Doctor Faustus is the story of a German scholar who is very smart and ambitious and thinks that he wants more from life than he has right now. He thinks that he has learned everything there is to know about medicine, the law, and reasoning, and that the only thing left for him to do is learn magic.
Plot Summary: Doctor Faustus, a German scholar, convinced that he has learned everything there is nothing unknown,to him.Mastered medicine,law,logic. He then chooses to study magic. There is a Good Angel and an Evil Angel. The Good Angel tells Faustus not to do magic, but the Evil Angel says it is a good idea. Faustus goes ahead and calls on Mephistopheles. He finally decides on an offer to make Lucifer: in return he asks for his soul, he'll have 24 years of immense power and knowledge. Robin, the clown in the play, has found one of Faustus' books and is using it to learn magic on his own. He casts a number of bad spells, hilariously messes up with the book's power, and even hilariously calls up a furious Mephistopheles.Faustus goes all over Europe and uses magic, trick and amaze people.While unseen, he steals food and hits the Pope in the ears, calls up Alexander the Great to impress Charles V, and makes a knight grow antlers for making fun of him. When a group of people report to the police, Faustus uses magic to impress the Duke and kicks the angry crowd out of the palace.
Faustus realizes that time is running out and starts to worry, but he still does not change his mind. He does not do this until it is way too late. At midnight, when his time is up, a group of demons show up and drag him down to hell. The Chorus tells us of how much Faustus could have been and asks us to see the moral lessons in his fall.
Character Analysis :
🧛Doctor Faustus: Protagonist of the play.A scholar who is very smart but gets bored of worldly knowledge and decides to learn about black magic sorcery. Faustus makes a deal with Lucifer: he'll give Lucifer his life, soul in exchange for 24 years of unlimited power. He enjoys what he has learned and only realizes his mistake when his time is up. He then tries desperately to change his mind before being sent to hell.
🦇Mephistopheles: Luci's sidekick, ultimately served his purpose,collected Faustus' soul to his master(Lucifer) eventho' Faustus tried to repent for his evil desires and sins, Méphistopheles completely distracted him from his goodly deeds,and directed him towards the eternal fire,hell.
💫The Good and Bad Angels: Whenever Faustus is uncertain, and has conflicting emotions, the two angels appear and provide their input. The Good Angel offers Faustus the chance to repent, while the Evil angel attempts to convince him to sell his soul.
🃏 Robin : An Ostler steals Faustus' spell book,creates a comical subplot against his serious spells and magic. (Play's Clown)
🎩Rafe : Friend of Robin, witnesses Robin's attempt of summoning demons.
⚔️ Seven Deadly Sins, Alexander, Helen of Troy, and Alexander's Paramour ; Phantoms,Spirits,apparitions by Méphistopheles' magic appeared during the course of the play.
Themes :
🔮 Sorcery ☯️Religion 🕊️Freewill
🎓 Education 📚Knowledge 🫂Morality 📍Temptation 📍 Redemption📍 Fate
✨Sin and repentance: The play shows Doctor Faustus making the worst mistake a Christian could make: he promises the devil his soul. This creates the expectation that Faustus will go to hell after his 24 years are up. In Christianity, on the other hand, the chance for forgiveness is clear: Faustus is given many chances to change his ways and be forgiven by God. In theory, all he would have to do is ask God to forgive him, but he never did, alas !
✨Acceptance : Faustus finally accepts the consequences of the choices he made
✨Fate and Free will : Faustus had many chances to turn back to God, repent, but he didn't, it was all his fault. Eventho' he attempted to turn back to God Mephistopheles distracted him, so may be it's not his fault, Calvinist theology suggests that Faustus never really had free will and that God had already chosen his way.
Conclusion : The play,Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe ends as Faustus trying to change his mind about his deal with the devil, but it is too late. As midnight draws near, the demons if he'll come to take Faustus' soul, which he gave them as security for power. His students burns his body the next morning.The last hour of Faustus's life, spent thinking about how he can avoid his death. But he does not change his mind, so in the end, he is taken to hell to spend all eternity away from God.
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