Christopher Marlowes Doctor Faustus Essays -- The Life and Death of D

From the outset of Marlowe's play 'Doctor Faustus,' it is clear that Faustus is a man who is unwilling to accept the limitations of human knowledge. In seeking to become more than a man, with no regard for the spiritual consequences, he becomes an example to the religious audience of Marlowe's time of what happens when a man pursues knowledge undeterred by moral boundaries. From the outset of the play, Faustus appears to be driven by his thirst for knowledge. The chorus introduces him as 'gluttedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦with learning's golden gifts,' and led by his desire to further expand his knowledge he 'surfeits upon cursed necromancy.' Here, I noticed that imagery connected with food and overindulgence is used to illustrate the scholastic gluttony that seems to control Faustus' actions, as though by learning he were feeding a hunger. His own words at the beginning of the play, which are interspersed with the names of works he has studied and phrases in foreign languages, immediately convey his strongly academic nature. Showing the importance Faustus attaches to learning, his first request of Mephastophilis is for knowledge relating to the whereabouts of hell, and he later continues to question the demon on astrology and philosophical issues. He also receives a number of books from both Mephastophilis and Lucifer, which he vows to 'keep as chary as my life,' and uses his twenty four years before damnation to continue his studies, seeking to 'prove cosmography' and becoming renowned for his 'learned skill' as 'his fame spread forth in every land.' Born from 'parents of base stock' and rising to greatness beyond the normal scope of man, I think that Faustus could be seen as a Renaissance hero were it not for the misdirecti... ...ic consequences of his actions. This is reinforced by the judgement of the chorus, who provides the moral framework with which the audience is encouraged to view Faustus. I think that the prologue and epilogue, features of Morality Plays, are particularly important in ensuring that the audience is given the intended impression of the central character, whose fate, the chorus insists at the play's closing, is deserved due to his acting on the desire to 'practice more than heavenly power permits.' When Faustus is finally dragged away to hell at the close of his twenty four years of demonic power, he serves as a reminder to Marlowe's audience of what happens to those who disobey God. Essentially therefore, I agree that the play's message concerns the dangers, in this case spiritual, that a thirst for knowledge poses when coupled with a lack of morality.