Dr. Faustus notes

Comparison betweet the first and the last soliloquy in "Doctor Faustus" (term paper)

Introduction

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) is regarded as a rebel and pioneer in the Elizabethan era. He raised the standard of revolt against the convention of writing play. Through his artistic quality he has given the blank verse a new name and approach which was considered a monotonous style. By his poetic artistry and genius, made it respond to every note in the scale of human passion, and gave it such naturalness, such ethereal beauty and suppleness, that it quickly established itself as the most suitable style for English poetic drama Doctor Faustus is the most famous of Marlowe's plays, and its hero, who sells his soul to the devil in return for twenty-four years of power and pleasure, is by far the best known of his rebellious protagonists. Marlowe based the plot of his play on The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus, an English translation of a German book (now known as the Faustbuch).
If we considered about the most important part of the play we will find that the two soliloquies have gained the most popular place. These soliloquies are not only creating an apprehension but also a feeling of horror and pity to the readers or audiences mind. There have a far-off difference between the first and the last soliloquy. These also show the fall of a scholar, a renascence spirit.

Theme

· The play opens with Dr. Faustus’ first soliloquy, where he is shown in his study, examining various fields of learning in order to decide upon his choice of the particular field in which to specialize. He runs through the four main academic disciplines he has studied – philosophy, medicine, law and theology – he dismisses each of them as an intellectual dead-end. Faustus feels that he has already achieved everything that the study of philosophy and medicine has to offer. He then rejects the law as suitable only for a ‘mercenary drudge’. For a moment, he returns to divinity as the most worthy profession, but then rejects that as well, as the passages he reads from Jerome's Bible stress only human sinfulness and the damnation that awaits it. He has gone as far as his human condition will allow him to go, but he wants to go further still, which means transforming himself into a ‘mighty god, ‘a deity’. He feels only magic will enable him to bring him what he wants. When Faustus declares that he wants to achieve something that stretched as far as doth the mind of man, he expresses an intense optimism about human ability that has often been seen as characteristic of the Renaissance.


· The play draws to a close with Faustus' final soliloquy, which is supposed to mark the last hour of his life. Faustus wants time to stop or slow down, but the way one line of verse tumbles into the next, accelerating rather than slowing down the rhythm, seems to signal the inevitable frustration of that wish. One of the most striking aspects of the speech is the way it reverses the dreams of power and glory that Faustus expressed in his first soliloquy. In that speech he declared his desire to be more than human, to be a ‘mighty god’, but now, as he faces an eternity in hell, he wishes that he were less than human: he longs to be transformed into ‘some brutish beast’ whose soul would simply dissolve into the elements when it dies or that his soul might “be changed into little water drops, And fall into the ocean, ne'er be found”. In his final soliloquy, Faustus' self-assertive spirit collapses into a desire for extinction; his aspiration to divinity into a longing for annihilation as he seeks desperately to escape from ‘the heavy wrath of God. He blames his parents at one point but after a few minutes later he has realized that this is only Faustus himself who is responsible for his own damnation. He becomes once again a tragic hero, a great man undone because his ambitions have butted up against the law of God. Who doesn’t have strong belief neither God nor Lucifer. Allegorically his fall represent the fall of renaissance.

What is soliloquy?

Literally soliloquy means talking to oneself aloud when one is alone on the stage. it is a technical device either to supply information regarding the plot or to reveal the secret working in the mind of a character. Through a soliloquy we the audience can come to know about the character in its fullest. In Dr. Faustus we can also call these soliloquies as a dramatic monologue. Here Faustus reveals his inner feelings to the readers or audiences.

Comparison between 1st and last soliloquy of Dr. Faustus:


· Stage:
Through soliloquy we can come to know about the stage. If we consider about two soliloquies we have seen that both of the soliloquies have been taken place in Faustus’ study where we have seen him sitting on a chair. This study is surrounded by lots of books of different branches, for example books of-law, logic, medicine, books of theology and also the magic book.

In last soliloquy we have find a simple difference from the former one. Here again and again Faustus is mentioning the time. So it is clear that in this stage there must have a clock.

· Character:
Both of soliloquy revels Faustus’ character but in different manner:
In first soliloquy we have seen him as a very prideful person who is celebrating his power and knowledge. He is an ambiguous character, capable of tremendous eloquence and possessing awesome ambition, yet prone to a strange, almost willful blindness and a willingness to waste powers that he has gained at great cost. . He is an arrogant, courageous self-aggrandizing, and excessive curious man; his ambitions are very much striking and for this he wants to excide his limitation.

But in last soliloquy he appears in front of us as an escapist. However he is melancholic here. His agony and fear express through his speech. A torment soul whose torture is must. Death is the only punishment for his heinous sin. Here we also find Faustus a very confusing minded person.


· Mood & tone:
While for the first time he comes at the stage, audiences have heard the arrogant and boastful tone of Dr. Faustus. A person who has no fear in mind .who thinks that he can cross every limitation and wants to become a superior in the world.

On the other in the last soliloquy his tone is very much desperate and remorseful. A person who has lost every hope of his life now becomes regretful for his wrong doing.


· Use of quotation:

Bible & other books:
There are many quotations we have find in the first soliloquy which have been directly gleaned from the books of philosophy, logic and bible. Faustus has quoted from Aristotle’s book-“Bene disserere est finis logices” whish means “to argue well is the end of the logic”.another quotation of Aristotle is “Ubi desinit philosophus,ibi incipit medicus” means “where the philosopher leaves off, there the physician begins”. There have also some lines which have been taken from the book of Justinian called “institute”.A great quotation from Bible is found here “Stipendium peccati morsest” –“the wages of sin is death”. Moreover we have also got an Italian proverb “Che sera sera” that means “What is destined to happen must happen. Nobody can prevent the operation of fate”

Mythology:
In the last soliloquy we have got the references from the Greek mythology, a marvelous story of ‘Tithonus’, which is written by a great English poet Tennyson.

Tithōnus is a character of Greek myth. Tithonus was once a beautiful man chosen as Aurora’s lover. He remembers that he long ago asked Aurora to grant him eternal life: “Give me immortality!” Aurora granted his wish generously, like a rich philanthropist who has so much money that he gives charity without thinking twice. However, the Hours, the goddesses who accompany Aurora, were angry that Tithonus was able to resist death, so they took their revenge by battering him until he grew old and withered. Now, though he cannot die, he remains forever old; and he must dwell in the presence of Aurora, who renews herself each morning and is thus forever young. Tithonus appeals to Aurora to take back the gift of immortality while the “silver star” of Venus rises in the morning. He now realizes the ruin in desiring to be different from all the rest of mankind and in living beyond the “goal of ordinance,” the normal human lifespan.

Tithonus’ voice is heard by the audience through Faustus and it also suggests a morality also. Here Faustus’ situation is almost like tithonus.


· Knowledge:

Knowledge is one of the important themes of this drama. In the first soliloquy we have seen that knowledge is everything for Faustus. He becomes a proud person only because of his enormous thirst for knowledge. His curiosity for knowledge leads him to choose the path of magic or black art. He thinks that only magic can gain the world of profit and delight, of greatness, of honor, and ultimate power. He says that-

O, what a world of prophet and delight,
Of power, of honor, of omnipotence
Is promis’d to the studious aritizan!




Most aching matter is that this knowledge has totally different dimension in the last soliloquy. Here Faustus has realized that his quest for excessive knowledge is the cause for his pride. And this pride which is considered as an odious sin is responsible for his damnation. He also has understood that one shouldn’t exceed his limitation which is decided by God. Here his whole disgust goes upon the term “knowledge”. That’s why he says that-
“I’ll burn my books!”





· Rational and irrational approach:

In the first soliloquy, in act-I scene-I, Faustus is shown in his study, logically examining various fields of learning in order to decide upon his choice of the particular field of deepest possible knowledge which will make him greater than human. He is attracted by Analytics or logic but finds that he has already attained great proficiency in it. He thinks of practicing medicine and invent some wonderful cure that will make him immortal. But the science of medicine can not bring a dead man back to life. So he turns to study low but finds out that this study suits a person who wishes to make money by undergoing hard labor like a slave and which will not benefit his soul or intellect so he also give up studying law and gives theology a last chance but feels that it is logically inevitable that all human beings must sin and so die. All the fields seem useless and unsatisfactory to him. So he turned to magic in the hope that, combined with his intelligence, it will make him godlike and bring him worldly profit and delight of greatness, of honor and unlimited power. Magic will enable him to extend his authority as far as the mind of man can go.


In the last soliloquy Faustus is in a miserable condition where he is almost insane with the fear of death and makes illogical statements. There is only one hour between him and the perpetual damnation of his soul. He appeals to the planets to stop moving so that time may come to halt and the hour of midnight may not come. He calls upon the sun to rise and spread its bright light in order to prevent the coming of midnight. Or, he would want this one hour to prolong itself so that he may get the time to repent and save his soul. So we can see that he, illogically, gives command to the universal rules when he doesn’t posses the ability to control them.



· Decision making:

In the first soliloquy we get contrasted state of mind of Dr. Faustus in terms of decision making. He is a very ambitious person who wants to be greater than human and cross every human limitation. Aiming this he lists his achievements, but finds them unsatisfactory because they do not fill his desires and so he sets his aim to turn to practice black magic in the hope to get what he wants.

When we find him very sure about his aim in the first soliloquy, we find him very confused and in a great doubt in the last soliloquy. In the state of intense fear of death he gets double vision of God’s rejection and Lucifer’s ferocious welcome to hell. In confusion he says- “O, I’ll leap up to my God!-Who pulls me down?” he is not sure which devil is holding him back to turn to God. Actually this is the conflict that takes place in his mind. Faustus thinks of God and sees a vision of Christ’s blood flowing in the sky. One drop of that blood can save his soul. Even half a drop would suffice. But the moment he names God and Christ, the devils begin to “rend” his heart. The vision of Christ fades away and Faustus sees God’s frowning forehead resulting from his disbelieve on God. Again he says- “Ah, rend not my heart for naming of my Christ! Yet I’ll call upon him: O, spare me, Lucifer!” Here he is in a great doubt because he addresses the devils, than Christ, then Lucifer again.


· Renaissance and Medieval approach:

In the first soliloquy we get the very aspect of renaissance view over the medieval view. Faustus commits sin by signing a bone with the devil Lucifer but this expresses his thirst for knowledge and power, he has a supernatural ambition, he also had interest of discovering new things, whatever he wants to de he do it, by his own will he chooses to practice black magic and announced “Divinity, adieu!”. All these combined with his love for magic, pleasure of worldly things represents the view of Renaissance.

When we look at the last soliloquy we get the clear indication of the victory of the medieval view over Renaissance where Faustus choose his path in his own will and submits himself to the devils and commits the most heinous sins which lead him to be damned in hell for ever. It is the medieval believe that God places man in his own wish, so Dr. Faustus goes in hell by God’s will. Now Faustus faces what divinity really is and what God, heaven, hell and torture is.



· Irony:

We get several ironies in comparison between the first and the last soliloquy. In the first soliloquy Faustus wants to be immortal, so he chooses the path of devils and practice the art of black magic, which caused him to commit the most heinous sins and lead him towards his fall into eternal damnation. Ironically his soul gets immortality in hell where he will be tortured for an unlimited time.

He rejects divine learning, because it is based on recognition of man’s moeality and fallibility. Leaving divinity to God,, Faustus dedicates himself to the devil. Rejecting the fatalism of doctrine “Che sera, sera” (what will be, shall be), he performs an act of his own will, but ironically what he wills to be shall be, that is, he choose the devil and damnation and he goes, in the end, to the devil and damnation.

In the first soliloquy he wants to achieve the god-like power to cross every human limits, he wants to be a demi-god, but in the last soliloquy he is desperate to escape from death by any means. For that he wishes to transform into an insect or a beast, or fag, or a little water drop that will lost in the sea and never be found.


· Feelings of audience:
It is always said that a drama is the representation of a man’s life. After reading or watching the first soliloquy a suspense arouse on audience mind that what will happen next. A great scholar has opted the path of black art .What will he do after gaining this power. How will he use this power? A tension come up on audience’s mind.

Last soliloquy has reached the audience at the acme of terror. There is only one hour left for Faustus. After that he has to live in hell forever. Faustus here realize that time will not stop and that the devil will come at the fixed hour. Here Faustus’ expression is spiritually horrific. He utters again -
“My God, my God, look not so fierce on me!
Adders and serpents let me breathe a while!
Ugly hell, gape not! Come not Lucifer!”

Though Faustus has done a great sin his damnation is must, but even a feelings of pity and sympathy provoke on audiences heart. And the most striking things is the use of language in every line. Especially this sign creates an intense feeling of empathy to the mind of audiences or readers.


· Language:

Both the soliloquies are written in blank verse and in iambic pentameter.

Marlowe actually has developed the use of blank verse. For the most part, he is here satisfied with the end stopped line, changing the fall of the stress and the eternal pause sufficiently to avoid the monotony which this meter previously had. But in both the soliloquies, there is an evident variation in his handling of it. The variation in beat and pause adds the quality of suppleness to the meter.
We also find an effective use of adjectives, adverbs and possessive pronouns.

Use of adjectives:
In first soliloquy we find adjectives like-‘every,’’ whole,’ ’ universal,’ ’ all,’ ’ wondrous,’ ’ prette,’ ’ mighty.’
In last soliloquy there are adjectives like ’ever,’ ’ perpetual,’ ’ brutish,’ ’waiting.’

Use of adverbs:
‘Eternally,’ ‘consequently’ are the two adverbs found in first soliloquy.
‘Foggy’,’ nativity’, ’smoky’, ‘perpetually’ are the main adverbs found in the last soliloquy.

Use of possessive pronouns:
In first soliloquy ‘me,’ and in the last one ‘me’ and ‘my’ are the found possessive pronouns.
We also find a confidence in the language of Dr. Faustus in the first soliloquy. But in the last soliloquy, a timidness and escaping tendency is reflected in his approach through his language.
Use of irony is also found here. There is also the use of Italian and biblical language in both the soliloquies.





Conclusion:

Marlow has able to give his audiences an impression of greatness; he made them tremble with enthusiasm. As this is a moral play so we have also got some valuable message from it. The information is that no one should excide the limitation which is decided by God. If anyone tries this then his fall or damnation is must. Especially the last soliloquy has a massive place in the history of English drama. From first to last soliloquy we have seen the diminishing of a tragic hero a prominent main character who is neither evil nor morally perfect, who moves from a state of happiness to a state of misery because of some frailty or error of judgment: this is the tragic hero, the remarkable individual whose fall stimulates in the spectator intense feelings of pity and fear.This play has grasp the heart of million of readers or audiences