Hell and Humanity: Marlowe's "Faust"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines Christopher Marlowe's "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus" (also known as "Faust"). It discusses the style, structure and themes of the work and shows how they display the literary and philosophical renovations of the Renaissance. In addition, the paper discusses Marlowe's use of both poetry and prose throughout this work.

From the Paper:

"The obsession with learning and discovery did lead to world exploration and scientific progress, but it also led to foolishness because though knowledge was valued, wisdom was neglected. Marlowe expounds this idea within Faust by having Dr. Faustus want knowledge, but be blinded to wisdom, or his folly. This disregard for wisdom is seen as Faustus questions Mephistopheles in scene three. Mephistopheles has just arrived and announced that the quickest way to hell is for a person to "abjure the scriptures and his savior Christ" (l 47) and that he has come to take Faustus' soul. It is a very chilling statement of intent but Faustus ignores Mephistopheles' pronouncement and begins questioning him about hell and the devil. Even the demon has greater wisdom than Faustus, and finally replies to Faustus' questioning with "Oh, Faustus, leave off these frivolous demands"(l 80)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Marlowe, Christopher. "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus." In The Longman Anthology of British Literature. 6th ed. Ed. David Damrosch. New York: Pearson Education, 200. Vol. 1B. 1177.
• Pincess, G.M.. "Marlowe's Cambridge years and the writing of Doctor Faustus." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 33(1993) 25-10-2007<http://www2.bakersfieldcollege.edu /gdumler/English%205A/Articles/marlowe_cambridge_faustus.htm>.
• Sanders, Arnie. "Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus." English Literature: Beowulf to Dryden. 31-08-2007. Goucher College English Department. 6 Nov 2007 <http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng211/Marlowe.html>.
• Schwartz, Deborah. "Humanism and Reformation." Renaissance Literature. (1997). California Polytechnic State University English Department. 6 Nov 2007 <http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl331/humanism.html#1485>.

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