Faustus the Detailed Study

Doctor Faustus is a significant and masterful play written by Christopher
Marlow. It is a unique play that it written during the beginnings of the
renaissance period and therefore neither solely Renaissance nor Medieval in
style. It is instead a great story of a man torn between the differences of the
outgoing Medieval Period and the incoming Renaissance told in a brilliant style
composed of the two distinct schools of thought. The brilliance of this play is
that it can be viewed from both a Medieval and Renaissance perspective. If Dr.
Faustus is interpreted from a Medieval perspective, it goes along with the same
principals and morals that the majority of medieval literature tried to instill;
that is, the righteousness of God and the Roman Catholic Church. In order to
make this story more effective, Marlow chooses to have Faustus deal with the
essence of evil, Lucifer, the banished angel who betrayed God. In a classic
satirical form the play shows Faustus' downfall after straying from God's plan
and enlisting the help of the devil to become greater than what God had planned
for him. Faustus also seems to want to not only stray from God and dominate
mankind, but also, supercede and overrule God's wishes to an even further
extent. In Scene 3, Lines 110-111 we read: The emperor shall not live but by my
leave, Nor any potentate of Germany. In these lines Faustus expresses his desire
to hold control over all. Even the likes of the Holy Roman Emperor shall fall to
the power of his "black magic." Although the use of magic and the
character of the devil seems more of a parable-like story to modern day readers,
to the people of the time this was a very plausible story of a man who shunned
godliness and let greed and evil get the best of him. The existence of
supernatural entities, namely devil-influenced beings such as witches and
sorcerers, was very possible if not probable. Without the answers of science the
unexplained was often chalked up to...