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DOCTOR FAUSTUS BY CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
December 13,
2009
Consider Marlowes Doctor Faustus as a play of morality?
While the miracle plays were still going strong, another medieval dramatic form emerged in the 14th century
and flourished in the 1th!1"th centuries, a form which has more direct lin#s with $li%abethan drama& 'his is
the morality play, which differs from the miracle play in that it does not deal with a biblical or pseudo!biblical
story but with personified abstractions of virtues and vices that struggle for man(s soul& )arlow(s most
celebrated play *Doctor +austus( fulfill all the essential ,ualities of a morality play& -t is regarded as one of the
prominent morality play in $nglish literature&
-n morality plays, there is a conflict and a tussle between the good and evil forces& 'hroughout the play, the
main character moves towards eternal salvation or eternal damnation& *Dr Faustus, a moral tragedy faces
many of the same conflicting value systems as *Everyman& .owever, with much more temptation from the
seven deadly sins, +austus finds it much more difficult to be moral& +austus gets into a moral conflict with his
mind, and the good and bad angels are symbols of this&
/ood 0ngel1 2weet +austus, thin# of heaven and heavenly
'hings
3ad 0ngel1 4o, +austus, thin# of honour and wealth&
)orality plays always portrait vice characters& )ephostophilis and 5ucifer are clearly reminiscent of the 6ice
character, ta#ing the role of the tempter in a manner both sinister and comic& & -n Doctor +austus, the evil is
shown very appealing in beginning& 'he 5ucifer is shown as a great force& Doctor +austus sells his soul to
devil in return of services of spirit for twenty!four years& .e wants to become most powerful in the world& .e is
controlled by inordinate desires& 'here are heaven, hell and /od in the play, which are characters of the
)orality plays& 2even deadly sins are presented in personified form& )arlow moves towards damnation by
and by& -n the end he is left alone, he put blame to his parents who born him but then he put blame on 5ucifer
and on him self& 4ow he says
7)y /od, )y /od loo# not so fierce to me
8gly hell gape not come not 5ucifer9
8nder the circumstances Doctor +austus gives up his morality and proceeds to anti :hristianity& )arlowe
diverges from the morality tradition by ending +austus( ;ourney in damnation&
'he play can be said to be structurally based on a )orality <lay& +austus spends the play in a state of
ambiguity between repentance and despair& )ephistopheles also creates conflict by doing whatever +austus
as#s& 'his means that Dr +austus is able to commit any sin that he wants& 'he people in the society around
him give him #nowledge of what will happen to him if he does not repent, yet he won=t repent through fear of
punishment& 2o even though Dr +austus turns to worldly delights to put off confrontation of the real problem,
the problem is always there& 'his means that the conflict in Dr +austus mind hasn=t gone away, he is ;ust
trying to forget that he has a dilemma& 'he figure of the old man shows that there is still a chance for Dr
+austus to repent and to be saved& .ere is a ,uote showing that there are two sides of an argument in Dr
Faustus1
*Doctor +austus( portraits the e>treme result of a man who tries to go against the morality& 'he whole play is
wrapped with moral :hristian ideas& We are always warned through the character Doctor +austus& We are
told in the ending chorus that one should not try to do the thing which /od has forbidden, and ta#e lesson
from the end of Doctor +austus& *Doctor Faustus( by :hristopher )arlow is enriched with all these ,ualities of
a perfect morality play&
Written & Edited by_______________________________________SANJIB KR BISWAS
?2009 san;ib#rbiswas&hpage&com
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DOCTOR FAUSTUS BY CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
December 13,
2009
+919933130881 sanjib44e!er"#$ai%&'($ )tt*+,,sanjib-rbis.as&)*a#e&'($
?2009 san;ib#rbiswas&hpage&com