THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS

Doctor Faustus is a play written by Christopher Marlowe, based on the Faust story, in which a man sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge. “Doctor Faustus was first published in 1604, eleven years after Marlowe’s death and at least twelve years after the first performance of the play. Faustus is seen as a tragic hero since he is a character that makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw which combined with fate external forces, brings on a tragedy. This tragic flaw leading to either action or inaction is the beginning of the character’s downward sprial, which was originally caused by his great character trait. Faustus is a scholar who has great intelligence, ambition and honor; these aspects of his personality are often his weakness, as well as his greatest personality trait, leads him into conflict. He is not a villain, his aims are good but means to achieve it are not.

Faustus comments that he has reached the end of every subject he has studied. He appreciates Logic as being a tool for arguing; Medicine as being unvalued unless it allowed raising the dead and immortality; Law as being upstanding and above him; Divinity as useless because he feels that all humans commit sin, and thus to have sins punished by death complicates the logic of Divinity. He dismisses it as “What doctrine call you this? (What will be, shall be)”. Actually, he was aware of every art that mankind could be able to learn.

“Philosophy is odious and obscure,

Both law and physic are for petty wits,

Divinity is basest of the three-

Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible and vile.

‘Tis magic, magic that hath ravished me!

Then, gentle friends, aid me in this attempt” (100 – 105)

You shouldn’t finish your paragraph with a quotation. You should devote a line or two to analyse it and try to connect it to the point you want to prove, which is that Faustus is a tragic hero.

Nonetheless, he was not satisfied with everything he knew so he called upon his servant Wagner to bring for Valdes and Cornelius, two famous magicians. The good angel and the bad angel dispense their own perspective of his interest in Satan. Though Faustus is momentarily dissuaded, proclaiming “How am I glutted with conceit of this?” He is apparently won over by the possibilities Magic offers to him. Valdes declares that if Faustus devotes himself to Magic, he must vow not to study anything else and points out that great things are indeed possible with someone of Faustus’ standing.

“The miracles that magic will perform

Will make thee vow to study nothing else.” (130 – 131)

Thereafter, Doctor Faustus makes an accord with the Devil in order to achieve what he wants. Right there, Faustus, Lucifer and other devils created a circle and speak an incantation. Then a devil named Mephistopheles appears before him. Faustus is unable to tolerate the hideous looks of the devil and commands it to change its appearance. Faustus, in seeing the obedience of the devil (for changing form), takes pride in his skill. He tries to bind the devil to his service but is unable to because Mephistopheles already serves Lucifer, the prince of devils. Mephistopheles also reveals that it was not Faustus’s power that summoned him but rather anyone that abjured the scriptures would result in the devil coming to claim one’s soul. Again you are re-telling me the story, but I can´t see the point when you connect the characteristics of the tragic hero with those present in Faustus.

“I charge you to return and change thy shape,

Thou art too ugly to attend on me.

Go, and return an old Franciscan friar:

That holy shape becomes a devil best”

“How pliant is this Mephistopheles,

Full of obedience and humility,

Such is the force of magic and my spells” (Iii 25 – 33)

“I am a servant of to great Lucifer

And may not follow thee without his leave.

No more than he commands must we perform” (Iii 39 – 41)

Using Mephistopheles as a messenger, Faustus strikes a deal with Lucifer: he is to be allotted twenty-four years of life on Earth, during which time he will have Mephistopheles as his personal servant. At the end he will give his soul over to Lucifer as payment and spend the rest of time as one damned to Hell. This deal is to be sealed in Faustus’ own blood. After having cut his arm, the wound is divinely healed and the Latin words “Homo, fuge!” (Man, fly!) appear upon it. Despite the dramatic nature of this obvious divine intervention, Faustus disregards the inscription with the presumption that he is already damned by his actions thus far, therefore left with no place to which he could flee. Mephistopheles brings coals to break the wound open again, and thus Mephistopheles begins his servitude and Faustus his oath.

To sum up, Faustus’ own greed drove him to the grave and ruin. The Devil claimed his property and take Doctor Faustus to the depths forever.

Juan, I’m sorry to tell you but althugh this essay strangely displays a perfect grammar (for evidently there’s cut and paste from wikipedia for MOST of the essay) you are not proving the point you are supposed to. Bear in mind the characteristics of the tragic hero and connect them to evidence y the text. I’m quite disappointed, in fact. Mark: 4 (four)