Essay on The Five Knowledges of Dr. Faustus - 792 Words

Christopher Marlowes Doctor Faustus is a play that questions both renaissance and medieval ideas. The character of Doctor Faustus is introduced as a renaissance man with degrees in various subjects and an abundance of knowledge from his high education. Unfortunately for him, this knowledge is not sufficient and his cravings for higher knowledge and power soon corrupt his mind and lead him to his ill-fated end. The opening soliloquy introduces Doctor Faustuss areas of knowledge as debate, health, law, theology, and a desire to learn about black magic. As he goes through each of his degrees, dropping names and showing off, he shows a sense of false hope in them. Doctor Faustus shows how dissatisfied he is with his studies and explains†¦show more content†¦Rather than presenting itself as a debate among educated men about a scholarly topic, logic now presents itself within Faustus as his two sides, a Good Angel and Evil Angel. The Good Angel represents Faustuss desire to repent and return to Gods good graces while the Evil Angel represents his seemingly stronger side that only has the desire to sinfully be equal to God. In scene five and throughout the entirety of the play, the Good and Evil Angels argue over whether Faustus should choose heaven, and heavenly things (l. 20) or honor and wealth. (l. 21) This continuous inner struggle is exactly what Faustus learned about in his studies of logic. It was a debate in which two opposite sides presented their beliefs and ideas and try to sway the audience into one way of thinking or the other. Similarly, the teachings he went through to attain his law degree are also constantly present in Fautuss life even after he dismisses the ideas as a study fit only for a mercenary drudge Who aims at nothing but external trash. (Scene 1, l. 34-35) In signing a contract with Lucifer and agreeing to abide by the rules laid out by him, Faustus is agreeing to one of the most lawful ideas possible. A contract is by definition a lawful agreement between two or more parties. For Faustus to sign his soul over to Lucifer for power, he is doing exactly the idea that he released by denying the importance of law. Medicine appears as a less prominent ideaShow MoreRelatedKnowledge And Power In Doctor Faustus1116 Words   |  5 PagesKnowledge and Power in The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus and The Bloody Chamber Throughout literature, television and film you could name countless examples of different wordings of the aphorism ‘Knowledge is power’. This idea is popularly attributed to Francis Bacon’s Meditationes Sacrae, in which the phrase ipsa scientia potestas est, or â€Å"knowledge itself is power† appears. However, five years before this was first written, this concept was a belief of the titularRead More Dr. Faustus Essay: The Tragic Downfall of Dr. Faustus1048 Words   |  5 Pages The Tragic Downfall of Dr. Faustusnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp; Christopher Marlowes play, its genre an English tragedy of the sixteenth century, presents the tragic conflict of the Faust theme in the tradition of medieval morality plays. The concepts of good and evil in these plays and their psychological implications reflect a historical background in which the church dominates the ethical and moral concepts of their time. Faustus defies societys norms and embraces the devil withRead MoreEssay on quot;Dr. Faustus:quot; An Analysis of Mephastophilis1451 Words   |  6 Pagesis the devil that Faustus summons through his initial magical experiments. He is the same devil that was cast from paradise with his master Lucifer. 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