DR FAUSTUS.. Tragic victim or hero..
(week 7 entry)
“The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus” by Christopher Marlowe is a story about a man who sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge. The play is a tragedy, where the protagonist dies in the end as a result of his own actions. The audience does not actually see his “death” as this event is implied and occurs off-stage and they are left to see his severed limbs and parts of his body strewn on-stage. In relation to the study of Greek tragedy, the off-stage death of the protagonists follows the format of a “sacrifice” with “great symbolic importance” and relates to a purification of the playing area (Wiles, 1997). In this instance, the sacrifice of Doctor Faustus’ life is the actual bargain he made with the devil purely for his own selfish reasons, thus resulting in his death. This would indicate that Doctor Faustus is a tragic victim; however, as defined by Aristotle in “The Poetics” a tragic hero is imperfect whose major flaw is often pride or arrogance resulting in his downfall due to his fault and the free will of his actions rather than the outcome of fate. Can a man like Doctor Faustus who sells his soul to the devil be a hero of any sort? Due to his experiences and sense of self-discovery through his ordeal and ultimately his sorrow for his flaws as well as the outcomes it has produced, it is arguable that Doctor Faustus is indeed a tragic hero whose punishment (ie. The sacrifice of his life) far exceeded the crime.
Oedipus, a tragic hero..
Through the character of Faustus, the audience is able to empathise with the trials he faces as they are part of what makes him human. In the end, Faustus is physically and spiritually wounded by his experiences, which results in his death - thus like any good tragedy, serves as a warning to its audience.
“The Tragical history of Doctor Faustus” is aptly titled because of the sad ending of its hero. In the words of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche;
“we must remember the enormous power of tragedy, exciting, purifying and releasing an entire life…” it reminds us that Faustus’ death serves to enlighten us all on another plane of truth. Marlowe created a flawed character that is a reflection of our own selves and whose actions were driven by the need in us all - the search for meaning in one’s life. The tragedy is cleansing and purifying in that we as the audience in some way participated alongside Faustus in defying the boundaries of knowledge and religion and vicariously experiencing the tragic circumstances that comes along with it. The sacrifice of Faustus’ life serves the audience well so that we can all “live” from this experience and learn from in it.
By Launcelot Roma
WORKS CITED
Greenblatt, S. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Eighth Edition. Volume 1. Norton & Company, New York, 2006
Kalaidijan W., Roof J., Watt S. Understanding Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. 2241-2268
Mayer, L. Signet Teacher’s guide to Doctor Faustus. Penguin Group USA. New York, 2006
Pozorski Aimee. A companion to Understanding Literature. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003
WEBSITE
Search engine; Answers.com - search on “Tragic Hero” and “The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus” 19 April 2007
http://www.answers.com/
“The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus” by Christopher Marlowe is a story about a man who sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge. The play is a tragedy, where the protagonist dies in the end as a result of his own actions. The audience does not actually see his “death” as this event is implied and occurs off-stage and they are left to see his severed limbs and parts of his body strewn on-stage. In relation to the study of Greek tragedy, the off-stage death of the protagonists follows the format of a “sacrifice” with “great symbolic importance” and relates to a purification of the playing area (Wiles, 1997). In this instance, the sacrifice of Doctor Faustus’ life is the actual bargain he made with the devil purely for his own selfish reasons, thus resulting in his death. This would indicate that Doctor Faustus is a tragic victim; however, as defined by Aristotle in “The Poetics” a tragic hero is imperfect whose major flaw is often pride or arrogance resulting in his downfall due to his fault and the free will of his actions rather than the outcome of fate. Can a man like Doctor Faustus who sells his soul to the devil be a hero of any sort? Due to his experiences and sense of self-discovery through his ordeal and ultimately his sorrow for his flaws as well as the outcomes it has produced, it is arguable that Doctor Faustus is indeed a tragic hero whose punishment (ie. The sacrifice of his life) far exceeded the crime.
Oedipus, a tragic hero..
Through the character of Faustus, the audience is able to empathise with the trials he faces as they are part of what makes him human. In the end, Faustus is physically and spiritually wounded by his experiences, which results in his death - thus like any good tragedy, serves as a warning to its audience.
“The Tragical history of Doctor Faustus” is aptly titled because of the sad ending of its hero. In the words of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche;
“we must remember the enormous power of tragedy, exciting, purifying and releasing an entire life…” it reminds us that Faustus’ death serves to enlighten us all on another plane of truth. Marlowe created a flawed character that is a reflection of our own selves and whose actions were driven by the need in us all - the search for meaning in one’s life. The tragedy is cleansing and purifying in that we as the audience in some way participated alongside Faustus in defying the boundaries of knowledge and religion and vicariously experiencing the tragic circumstances that comes along with it. The sacrifice of Faustus’ life serves the audience well so that we can all “live” from this experience and learn from in it.
By Launcelot Roma
WORKS CITED
Greenblatt, S. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Eighth Edition. Volume 1. Norton & Company, New York, 2006
Kalaidijan W., Roof J., Watt S. Understanding Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. 2241-2268
Mayer, L. Signet Teacher’s guide to Doctor Faustus. Penguin Group USA. New York, 2006
Pozorski Aimee. A companion to Understanding Literature. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003
WEBSITE
Search engine; Answers.com - search on “Tragic Hero” and “The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus” 19 April 2007
http://www.answers.com/