Dr.Faustus as Morality Play

 Name : Hina Chauhan

 Course : M.A.

 Sem : 01

 Batch : 2018-20

 Enrollment No. :   2069108420190006

 Paper No. : 01 Renaissance literature

 Topic : ‘Dr.Faustus’ as morality play

 Email Id : hinachauhan36511@gmail.com

 Submitted to : Smt.S.B.Gardi Department Of English,M.K.Bhavnagar University.

          About Author :

                       Christopher Marlowe was born on 26 february 1564,Shakespear was also born on same year.He was educated at King’s school,and at college level he disappeared from Cambridge university;and in 1587 again he had left Cambridge,for the life of a London playwright.He was an actor,poet and playwright during the age of Queen Elizabeth.He was the Foremost Elizabethan tragedy playwright during that time.His plays are mainly known for the use of Blank verse and their Protagonists

Literary works of Christopher Marlowe :

1.     Tamburlaine The Great (His First play-1587)

2.     The Jew Of Malta

3.     Edward The Second

4.     Dr. Faustus

5.     The Massacre at Paris 

“Dr. Faustus” is the most famous of Marlowe’s plays.

About Morality Play :

           Morality play,also known as an allagerical drama popular in Europe espacially during the 15th and 16th centuries,in which the characters personify moral qualities;or abstractions and in which more lessons are taught.It mainly shows defference between Good and Evil.

The main theme of morality plays was mans fall for tamptation and then repents and at the end  sometimes killed or saved,characters were personified with vice and virtues.There were also included comic scenes in morality plays.Morality plays have an aim to teach moral lessons.

 “Morality plays were dramatized allegories of a                                            representtation”                              

                                               -M.H.Abrams

“Dr.Faustus” as Morality play

                 The play “Dr.Faustus” has many features of morality play i.e; Good and Evil,Good and Bad angels,Seven deadly sins,appearence of Lucifar, Belzebub and Mephistophilis to trap Dr.Faustus’s “Glorious soul”.

We find play “Dr.Faustus” as  morality play because the play “Dr.Faustus”is rooted in christian morality as other morlity plays, the play “Dr.Faustus” openely announce moral message as other morality play,morality plays are all about to some form of an existance continues beyond the death and the purpose of humon life is to share that future existance with God,not with Devil and we can see this feature in the play “Dr.Faustus”.

          At the beginning of Faustus’s tamptation there is the Good Angel-who urges Dr.Faustus to put aside the book of the magic.Here by the character of Good Angel Marlowe has presented the voice of Faustus’s Conscience.

         We can say that Dr.Faustus is any how in every man. We can relate him with us as he has the internal struggles and traits that we can find in ourselves.This play is a story of a self-centered renaissance age man-who had sold his soul to the devil Lucifer in order to further his knowledge and power of things beyond comman man’s normal state of being.He is a doctor and highly respected in among his fellow scholars.And his crave for more knowledge He gained a new interest in magic-and for it he had surrenderd his soul to the devil Lucifer and in trying of becoming all powerfull Faustus becomes more and more obsessed.

                    Conflict between Good and Evil was one of the main theme of morality plays,and by showing the conflict between Good and Evil Marlowe gives moral message to the audiance.In the play “Dr.Faustus” we can find a theme of sin and redemption-struggle of Faustus is related to the morality play.Morality plays shows a switch in emphasis from religeous characters to comman people.

     Morality plays are all about to religeous subject but protagonists is the average man.In the play “Dr.Faustus”-Faustus has greed for knowledge and power and he was not satisfied with what he had.He wants to overcome limitations created by God.Faustus sells his soul to 

the devil Lucifer and lives sacriligeous life of twenty four years full of vain and pleasure.

             By playing trick upon Pope he visits the German Emperor; German Emperor was impressed with Dr.Faustus and his magical power.When Dr.Faustus summons the ‘Helen of Troy’(ancient beauty)-the old man and Good angel tells him to repent and go back toGod but while he felt repentance it is too late.There is many comic scenes are in the play “Dr.Faustus” like Faustus’s the plating a pair of horns on the head of Knight,cheating of a 

greedy horse dealer and prank on the Pope.      

  On the final night before the end of twenty four years,Faustus has overcome his fear.He begs for mercy but that was too late,and after that the scholars find Faustus’s limbs and desides to hold funeral of Dr.Faustus.

                 The play “Dr.Faustus” is a morality play,but there are some elements by which “Dr.Faustus” becomes different from Morality plays and the element is that that in morality plays,all cxharacters are not concrete but abstractions; while in the play “Dr.Faustus” the protagonist Faustus is a person full of human-desires and high ambitions not an abstraction.  

    Morality plays always explains a message of Good’s victory on Evil and other virtues;there is discription of seven deadly sins according to Christianity;

                               “All unrighteousness is sin”

  

-sins are different to crimes in the play “Dr.Faustus” there is also a discription of seven deadly sins and this discription of seven deadly sins gives a moral message to stay away from this type of sins.This seven deadly sins are also known as a party of Christian ethics –it is a branch of Christian theology;concept of Right and Wrong from Christian perspective.The seven deadly sins which are described by Christopher Marlowe according to Christiasnity are-

   1.Pride      5.Sloth

   2.Greed     6.Leachery

   3.Wrath     7.Envy

   4.Gluttony

1.Pride:

                                  “ Pride offends God the most”

-this proverb suggests that “Proud of Heart” will not go unpunnished sin. In “Dr.Faustus” Faustus has already much knowledge,but his desire was not only the exellance but he also wants control other lives and nature and for this he had sold his soul to the Lucifer in exchange of 24 years. In “Dr.Faustus”,Pride is too arrogent to except for Faustus his position in which he has been born,he has the sense of his self-worth,Pride as sin appears in “Dr.Faustus” when he feels that he is more superior than others.

2.Greed:

     Greed is also the deadly sin  according to Christianity;Greed is the strong and UN-proportionate desire for something.

    “Greed is the desire for material,wealth or gain.In the play “Dr.Faustus” Marlowe has described Greed as sin commited by Faustus when he wants to get more knowledge,power and everything under control of him.

3.Wrath:

  The desire of to get other’s traits,status,abilities or situation is Wrath. Wrath is an anger turned against one’s,and leading harm own self:In Faustus Wrath is described when he is not able to do any thing in his life as he is intelligent.

4.Gluttony:

Gluttony is An excessive desire to consume more than that which one requires.

    Gluttony is an over-consumption of food or drink to the point of waste,Gluttony as sin appears in “Dr.Faustus” when Faustus wants much more power and position than others.

5.Sloth:

  The avoidance of physical or spiritual work.It is the failure to use yourtalents given by God.Sloth is described as commited sin by Faustus when he gets all the knowledge and power and then he feels laziness.

6.Leachery:

   Leachery is an excessive craving for the pleasures of body lust is all about excessive and unrestrained indulgence in sexual activity.

Any sexual activity that is indulged for enjoyment rather thanto produce children was sinful. In Elizabethan time it was believed that the Devil targets men through women like Eve in Faustus Leachery appears when dancer-who came from another world and also when Helen comes.

7.Envy:

 When Love is overcome by fury,those who commited the sin of Envy resent the fact that another person has something they see themselves as looking.In “Dr.Faustus” sin of Envy described when Faustus whishes to pull everyone down-fromhis level,and he wants to get a power of God.

           All above seven deadly sins are the reflection of Faustus as a person-Who is self-centered,who has cross all the limitations to fulfil hs desires.He is a person who is imprisoned in his own desires.and gives us message that we all are like Faustus,we all have a weakness.

          The play “Dr.Faustus” gives us moral message that ‘Quest for Knowledge’ is good thing but way to get knowledge would also be Good;otherwise it can be leads you to the tragic end like Faustus.Knowledge is good but Faustus wanted to be as Knowledgeble and Powerful as God and his this desire has made his way towards wrong direction and he moved toward the Black magic.

        We can say that Faustus was a versatile genius as well as other germon scholers.And he was Knowledge hungry man,Black Magic is also a part of his knowledge;and his Quest for Knowledge becomes the reason of his tragic end.

      

  To became all Powerfull and Knowledgeble as God Faustus takes help of Devil Lucifer and this suggests that your companion would also be Good; Evil’s company for Good intention also could be harmful.

Conclusion:

             Thus..“Dr.Faustus” is the morality play by Christopher Marlowe.  Marlowe wanted to convey many moral messeges through this play,it’s situation and it’s characters-which is concept of Good and Evil,Seven deadly sins etc.All these elements of this play teaches us Morality.