Task Four

'How does Marlowe explore the Gothic themes of over-reaching ambition, sin and evil in the first Act of Dr Faustus? Personally, I find the best example of over-reaching is Faustus’ treatment of Mephistopheles. Despite the superiority of the devil in the widely believed chain of being, Faustus refuses to be treated as inferior by Mephistopheles, or even as an equal. Upon his first appearance, Faustus believes he forced Mephistopheles to be present but in reality it is a form of opportunist crime which draws him there. He also forces him to change his form and dresses evil’s representative as a Christ figure. This is ironic inversion and shows how much Faustus finds comfort in the safety of religion which he is attempting to cast aside and foreshadows his downfall. This is also evident further on in Scene Three when Faustus uses biblical passages and ‘sprinkles holy water’ whilst summoning the devil.

He makes many outlandish statements about his desires and his reasons for desiring such authority. Most of his demands are trivial; he intends to ‘wall all Germany with brass’. His plans are all self-centred and ostentatious. His main desire is to be heralded above all humans, ‘Yet art thou still but Faustus, and a man/Wouldst thou make man to live eternally?’ He tries to lift himself from the base character of everyman to become something greater. This arrogance is created through his continual use of third person although this also suggests duality in his character, and could even touch upon mental illness.

Faustus continually recognises his own faults and sin, ‘I am glutted with conceit of this!’ but instead of condemning himself he seems full of hubris. Even the opening soliloquy shows Faustus’ sense of self importance, he values his own words so highly and address’ the audience in Latin to prove his superiority. He even refers to ‘a sound magician’ as ‘a mighty god’, he does not use simile here to indicate how strongly Faustus believe he can become an equal to God.

Evil is depicted as contradictory, in this opening speech he says he turns away from medicine with which he could ‘heap up gold’, he turns from law as it will only gain him ‘external trash’ and he shares none of Valdes’ passion for ‘the white breasts of the Queen of Love’. However, once he has given his soul to Lucifer later in scene two his first material request is for a wife and is now ‘wanton and lascivious’. Throughout Act One, Marlowe could be interpreted to ridicule Faustus. His words are full of binary opposition, such as his claim that ‘necromantic books are heavenly’, this is so obviously contradictory that the audience realises that evil is clouding his mind and damaging the intelligence he had gained. Scene 4 furthers this interpretation, where Robin and Wagner acts out the first three scenes in comic form and even

Generally Marlowe creates evil through the sin and blasphemy of Marlowe. He does briefly cover other feature such as

·         the grotesque with Mephistopheles first form,

·         transformations when Wagner tempts Robin with the thought that he could ‘turn thyself to anything’  

·         and the night with Faustus’ admittance that ‘had I as many souls as stars, / I’d give the all for Mephistopheles’.

 However it is the concepts which are drawn upon rather than setting and imagery which is harder to represent in the dramatic form.