WEEK THREE
Faustus and Mephistophilis (1)
To pursue his ambitions and satisfy his thirst for knowledge, Faustus conjures the devil and questions him about hell, the devil and damnation.
Read Act 1 Scene 3 carefully, thinking about your reactions to Faustus's behaviour, attitudes and values.
Watching this video will help you to understand this very important scene.
ReplyDeleteIn this scene Faustus is at once very confident, he seems intent on his plan of world domination and power. Before, he was intent on inciting ‘spirits’, but as he begins the audience is aware that he is calling upon demons such as ‘Lucifer’ and ‘Beelzebub’ and finally ‘Mephistopheles’. This already shows the audience that Faustus becomes deeper and deeper entwined in trouble – his original small sin has suddenly become a large sin. As he denounces Heaven and God, we become aware at the seriousness of the situation. For an Elizabethan audience this would have been as extremely blasphemous, audiences would have been shocked at Faustus’ hunger for power, for which he will seemingly do anything for.
When Mephistopheles appears, we see the true nature of our main character. The demon makes no attempt at tricking Faustus and is actually the one in the situation telling unambiguous Christian truths; alluding that Faustus will be ‘deprived of everlasting bliss’ as he himself was for defying God. The fact that the demon is trying to push Faustus away from a destructive path is the opposite of what we expect. Marlowe uses this scene to clearly set up his theme of good vs evil, and here we almost perceive Mephistopheles as ‘good’ and Faustus as ‘evil’.
After Mephistopheles has spoken, Faustus choses to remain ignorant and naïve. He believes that he holds more knowledge and devilish intent than Mephistopheles, and dismisses the ‘vain trifles of men’s souls’. This quote is almost oxymoronic, as the demon has just touched on the complexity of souls, they are not to be seen as ‘trifles’ – especially to a devout Elizabethan audience. Furthermore, Faustus uses the word ‘men’s’ which implies that he does not count himself as a man or a mortal. Already he sees himself above the average human being, he already believes himself as a sort of spirit or magician. Faustus sees himself as what he wishes to become and doesn’t believe that any type of warning applies to him as he is superior.
Furthermore, when Mephistopheles leaves to propose Faustus’ deal to Lucifer, the doctor still takes no heed of all the cautions he has received. He expels that had he ‘as many souls as there are stars, I would give them all for Mephistopheles.’ Faustus doesn’t understand the severity of the situation as he is blinded by his want of power and domination. His use of a simile shows his masked poetic nature. He is overwhelmed and drawn in by the idea of power, but at this stage he has no real comprehension of what this deal will do to him.
As a result of his blatant ignorance and his sheer hunger for power, I do believe that Faustus is to blame for his suffering. His hamartia is his ignorance and naivety and his sheer want of power. These traits cause his downfall – if he had heeded the advice of Mephistopheles (that was so eagerly given) he would not have experienced his downfall. Therefore, Faustus is responsible for his own actions that caused his ultimate defeat.
I agree with this statement as in this scene we notice the ignorance, and egoistic characteristics that Faustus contains. In this scene Faustus has insulted the Devil, purely due to his looks oblivious to his status and tells him to ‘return’ when he looks beautiful once again, rather than respecting his presence. Therefore, I agree that Faustus is responsible should be held accountable for his actions and suffer the repercussions. Which may result in Faustus regretting his actions learning what is expectable in society.
ReplyDeleteOnce Faustus finds the truth of Lucifer, he does not repentance his actions, yet creates selfish plans and motives to gain power from the Devil. Which is evident in “Now that I have obtain'd what I desir'd, I'll live in speculation of this art,”. We are also revealed to Faustus’s blind thirst of power; this is as Faustus is willingly taking up business with the devil and in the meantime gambling his freedom and life. We are also exposed to the urgency of his power as he has come up with this plan instantly which would foreshadow the negative result of his actions.
In the beginning of the scene Faustus is full of confidence and ego as he believes that he is going to rule the world. He then begins to call the devil, for the audience this proves that Faustus is a evil corrupted character as in tough times even speaking of the devil wold be a sin. This would make the audience dislike Faustus therefore I predict that Marlow will give Faustus a tragic death to get the audience to enjoy the play making successful even though he may have felt differently as he was an atheist. Mephistopheles then comes and tries to talk Faustus out of making plans with the devil, he even warns Faustus telling him that after he made a deal with the devil he would never be pure again as he would be deceiving God, and can never go to Heaven. After all this Faustus decides to remain on his path as his thirst for power has not yet been cinched. This confirms to the audience that Faustus is a character of destruction. After this Mephistopheles proceeds to tell Lucifer about the deal. Therefore, I agree with the statement as I believe that Faustus’s ego, need for power and intentions is his Hamartia.
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