WEEK FIVE - Good and Evil
Concepts of hell,sin, God and good are very varied across different religions and cultures. In the play, Marlowe presents a variety of different versions, from very simplistic pantomime characters to more complex philosophical concepts.
Read Act 2 Scene 1. In this scene, Faustus is initially unsure but eventually signs his soul away to the devil. At one point, the forces of good and evil are literally contesting for his soul on the stage. Remember, if you find the scene hard to understand, you could use an online revision guide or support resource such as Spark notes or Shmoop.
Consider the questions below and post your comments/responses to the comments of others.
GOOD
Where is there evidence of the presence of good forces/God in the scene?
Why/how do these attempts at good fail?
What do you think Marlowe's views were on religion?
What were his intentions in writing the play? What do you think he was trying to show us about religion and the values of Elizabethan society.
EVIL
Mephistophilis explains that hell is:
| 'Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib'd |
| In one self-place; but where we are is hell, |
| And where hell is, there must we ever be.' What do you think about this definition of hell? What do these lines mean to you? Do you feel that Faustus understands this? Again, what is Marlowe conveying to the audience? |
ReplyDeleteThe good angel encouraging Faustus to focus on Heaven. The congealing blood on Faustus’ arm that spells out ‘man, flee’ is almost a sign that has come from a good, divine source. It is trying to steer him away from the evil and never-ending cycle of Hell.
These attempts fail because Mephistopheles is a devil and therefore is apt at distracting Faustus from the good that is trying to infiltrate him. The presence of evil is so much larger and more lavish that Faustus is inherently drawn towards it. Evil can promise him everything that he has ever wanted, but good cannot do this.
Marlowe was an atheist, and I believe that he makes this point very prominent in the play. Through Faustus’ disregard of God (and in fact Lucifer’s disregard) we see that God many not be omni-potent, leaving people to question their faith. I believe that Marlowe was trying to show that there is no real divine deity that has full control over us. Furthermore, he is not overly complimentary on Hell – although he allows his protagonist to be drawn to it, it is almost used as an allegory for the evil of human kind rather than anything else. Throughout Dr Faustus, Marlowe is showing a disregard of religion and its teachings, he makes his own viewpoint clear. It is as if he believes that distancing yourself from religion will ultimately be better for you because it will not put you in conflict or strife.
I believe that Marlowe’s intention for writing the play lay within the aim to persuade people form religion as well as greed. Elizabethan society was extremely focused on hierarchy, and this made wealthy people arrogant. Faustus displays this arrogance, and it is what ultimately leads to his downfall – he is too focused on his own success that he does not realise the damage that it is causing him. I also think that Marlowe wanted to dissuade people from devoting their lives to a divine God, or in fact Devil. Elizabethan society was also extremely devout and I believe that Marlowe was attempting to lead people away from this. He hints in Faustus that devoting your life to a deity or wishing to become one does serious damage to yourself – putting faith in something that may never give you conformation is displayed as dangerous and futile.
I think Mephistopheles’ definition of Hell almost rings true, he talks as if everywhere that is not Heaven is Hell, because evil is present everywhere apart from Paradise. Here Mephistopheles is hinting that Faustus’ mission is almost futile – evil is already incoherently present and menacing, he cannot hope to persuade everyone to be under his power. I do not believe that Faustus understands this, as I do not believe that he understands much of what Mephistopheles has to say. He simply wants to be able to be in control and is impatient that this seems to be taking so long. He brushes off much of what Mephistopheles has to say, though this could have ultimately prevented his tragic downfall. Marlowe is conveying to the audience that importance of not being ignorant and understanding the situation that you are in. It is the process of being cautious in uncertain situations and recognising evil in its everyday form.
There is evidence of good in this scene, the good angel is trying to get Faustus to focus on heaven and God and trying to take his mind off of Lucifer and hell.
ReplyDeleteThese attempts fail as Faustus is tempted by honour and wealth. He decides to sign the contract with Lucifer as he, can then gain a lot more, he believes that giving up a place at heaven is worth the sacrifice, he also believes that God doesn’t love him so he is better of serving the devil. This is thanks to the persistent Bad angel.
I believe that Marlowe wrote the play like this as he was an atheist. His views wouldn’t have agreed with the majority of people at the time. I think this is what made the play such a big success, he makes the main character a Satanist (something quite rare in thoughts days) who doesn’t care about heaven and pleasing God rather Lucifer instead. I believe that Marlow was trying to show use his point of view on religion. Marlowe truly believes that living a life without religion is better than a life with religion, by using Faustus he shows the audience how much more freedom and fun their lives would be if they didn’t follow the teachings of religion.
I think that by writing this play he is showing the Elizabethan audience a new view on religion a view full of negativity to show them that religion is holding them back of having fun. In the Elizabethan era was full of hierarchy, this defined who a person was and their worth. I think that by using Faustus, Marlowe critics the idea that we need money and power to make us happy, that in fact contently striving to achieve this is giving us more pain trying to achieve this than happiness when we do achieve it. However, I also think that by using this thirst for power and alliance with the devil to be the death of him, Marlowe is also complementing religion as he has noticed how God and religion makes society a happier and safer place. He may have also did this as the majority of the Elizabethan era was religious and he didn’t want to be hated because of his views.
I believe that Mephistopheles’ definition of Hell is true; he says that the only place without evil is Heaven. I think that Faustus does also believes this as however he doesn’t heed his words, as all he wants is power, money and the status. Marlowe is trying to show the audience that be trying to achieve this it wouldn’t bring you anything but sorrow.
Within the scene the character ‘Good angle’ represents good forces, and talks of God; this would enter the presence of God and Good within the scene.
ReplyDeleteThese attempts fail as Faustus is draw to the devil’s malicious ways of the Devil, and does not have the strength to look beyond that to what the Good angle has to say. The devil is persistent which makes leans Faustus to his view. As Faustus is not as spiritually grown he does not have the strength nor patients to wait till death to be rewarded for his good deeds, which would be heaven, therefore leaning even more towards the Devil’s point of view which would be an immediate reward.
Marlow wrote this play, being an atheist himself. This is obvious within the extract as the character Faustus follows Satin. This would have been unusual to see in that time as society was strongly theist. As both Marlow and his character Faustus was atheists, it would have brought it the attention it needed to grow and succeed equally; which brought Marlowe the fame in his career.
I think that Marlow was trying to show the Elizabethan audience that religion does not dictate your life. This is shown through the character of Faustus. I also think he wanted to break the barrier so people could talk about God, without being judged nor sinned. He also says that you do not need money to be happy, as it leads to greed. This message would appeal to both atheist and theist audience at the time, and by not making his atheist views the central attention of the play it allowed people to enjoy the play, without being defensive of their views.
Marlow’s definition of hell is purity; life with no evil nor sin. I agree with this definition. I believe as the play evolves Faustus would believe that there is truth to these words. I think that Marlow is trying to present to the audience you should lead a clean and healthy life and remain to have positivity in all situations and not give in to temptations as it will only bring heartache.