Absolute Power, Sin and Redemption, and the Divided Nature of Man
Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus" stands as one of the most influential and frequently referenced pieces of literature in history. The play is the story of Doctor Faustus, a man who considers study in the fields of logic, medicine, law, and divinity and instead chooses to forsake them all to practice black magic. He enters into a deal with
Mephistopheles, a servant of the devil, in which Faustus gains the services of the demon but has to give up his soul after 24 years. The play deals with several important themes. The corrupting influence of power, sin and redemption, and the divided nature of man are interwoven throughout the piece. Absolute power corrupts Faustus thoroughly. In the beginning we are introduced to a man at the top of his game. He's mastered several important disciplines and is seeking a further, more rewarding, challenge so he turns to black magic. Faustus dreams of the many amazing things he'll accomplish with his new powers. He muses on sending spirits to India to fetch him gold, ponders having them "Ransack the ocean for orient pearl," and contemplates how he will use his spirits to gain knowledge of "the secrets of all foreign kings." His ambitions even extend to the throne of Germany. When finally granted the power he so desires, Faustus proceeds to do very little with it. He starts out auspiciously enough with an adventure in a chariot pulled by dragons so that he may unlock the mysteries of astronomy. Faustus seeks to test the accuracy of maps of the coasts and kingdoms of the world as well and eventually ends up in Rome. Soon after, however, he basically lets his amazing power go to waste. He spends his time impressing various noblemen, playing petty tricks on people, and conjuring up specters of Alexander the Great and Helen of Troy. The underlying statement Marlowe is making is one of the basic tenets of modern psychology. People simply don't appreciate things they didn't have to work to gain. In the beginning, Faustus is a great man, full of ambition and at the top of his field. While he 'earns' his new-found power in a sense by forfeiting his soul, he has done no actual work to acquire it. Throughout the course of the play we see the formerly-ambitious Faustus reduced to a petty conjurer and celebrity because of the corrupting influence of his power. Instead of choosing to act on his lofty ambitions or, heaven forbid, use his power for unselfish reasons; he simply wastes his days amusing himself with practical jokes and beautiful women. Marlowe also comments on the nature of sin and redemption. Faustus essentially commits the ultimate sin by signing a pact with the devil. He chooses of his own free will to give up his eternal soul in exchange for an earthly reward. According to Christian mythology, one can be forgiven of any sin, one has only to repent and ask God's forgiveness. Despite the severity of his sin, Faustus is given several opportunities to repent his sin and be saved, and is encouraged to do so both by the good angel who appears several times and by the old man in scene 12. Each time he chooses to remain loyal to Hell. He seems to consider repenting at the very end, but Mephistopheles threatens to tear his body apart, so he chooses instead to send Mephistopheles to torture the old man whose words he finds himself unable to heed. Even though an easy answer to the problem of losing his soul exists, and he is several times reminded of it, in the end his own weakness prevents him from making the choice to repent and damns him for all eternity. The divided nature of man is literally personified in the play by the good and evil angels that appear to Faustus periodically. These characters represent opposing sides of Faustus' own psyche, as well as representing emissaries of heaven and hell. Faustus is continually undecided whether he should continue his bargain or repent and seek salvation. He is clearly afraid for his eternal soul but is unable to relinquish the amazing power his bargain has afforded him. Marlowe may have intended the two angels as literal beings, but it's obvious he also intended them as an allegorical representation of Faustus' own internal struggle. Themes are an integral part of the play, but Marlowe's work has truly stood the test of time. What is it about Doctor Faustus' story that has made it resonant to countless generations of readers since it was written? The good doctor is a character with whom readers can sympathize. This is not to necessarily say that he is a 'sympathetic' character, but simply that he's a man who faces temptation and a tough choice. Human beings face tough choices every day, and like Faustus we are forced to weigh the consequences of yielding to those temptations. Every human being faces temptation almost every day of their lives. These temptations range from the miniscule, such as being tempted to eat a slice of bread in spite of your pledge to adhere strictly to the Atkins diet, to the extreme, such as your best friend's drunken girlfriend coming on to you. The story of Faustus rings true with readers even today because of this. It speaks to every reader because there are no people who have lived without temptation. We all have our "good angel" and "bad angel," the voices inside our heads that spell out consequences of choices we're faced with. In most cases, people who give into temptation are aware of the consequences of that choice. The fact that Faustus' temptation is a far greater one than any of us is likely to face and has far greater consequences than any of us will ever be up against just makes it even more resonant. Everyone has given in to a strong temptation at some point in their lives and it makes us feel good to see someone doing the same despite the enormous consequences that follow for Faustus. Despite the fact that Faustus has committed the ultimate sin by choosing of his own free will to give up his immortal soul for an earthly reward, the possibility of salvation exists for him until the very end. We as people want to believe that the possibility of salvation and forgiveness exists for us no matter how heinous the deeds we have committed are. Marlowe's play speaks to this desire within us, telling us that, like Faustus, the possibility of repentance and forgiveness exists for us no matter how badly we screw up. It's a very comforting thought, especially to those living with guilt over some past transgression. Another reason that the story in "Doctor Faustus" is as relevant today as it was when Marlowe wrote it is Faustus himself. Some may see him as a tragic hero, and it's very possible to consider him in this light, but it's also not much of a stretch to call him a villain. Men like Faustus exist even today, people who are willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want regardless of the consequences to themselves or to others. Ken Lay in the recent Enron scandal comes to mind as an example of this. Mr. Lay was perfectly willing to practically destroy the lives of thousands of people by taking their hard-earned money and squandering it on yachts and other expensive trifles. He, in effect, sold his soul. Faustus' selfish deeds remind us that people like him exist in real life. When Faustus is corrupted by his power and basically squanders it we are both angry at his inability to find a way to d 9o good with his powers and pleased that he is getting what he deserves. Society likes it when people who commit evil deeds have it blow up in their face. We want to see justice served, whether it be Faustus' eternity in hell or Mr. Lay's recently-handed-down prison sentence, it feels good to know that evil people are punished. "Doctor Faustus" has truly stood the test of time as a great piece of classical literature. Countless indications of its influence exist even today, ranging from the film "The Devil's Advocate" to the good and evil angels that appear on the shoulders in Warner Brothers cartoons. Marlowe's use of complex themes and subtle commentary on the nature of man coupled with the underlying messages that speak to the human psyche have established "Doctor Faustus" as a pinnacle of the writer's craft and a treatise on the human condition.
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