Classical Drama 1

Dr.
Faustus By Christopher Marlow:

 Dr. Faustus is a very famous play by Christopher Marlow.
 He was knowledgeable but still Faustus wanted more knowledge.
 Dr, Faustus take help of black magic and Mephistopheles comes.
 He tries to attract Faustus towards pity things and that time seven deadly
sins come.
 According to Christianity one should avoid all these sins.
Seven Sins of Dr. Faustus:-

Following are the seven deadly sins in Dr. Faustus: -
 Pride
 Envy
 Gluttony
 Lechery
 Sloth
 Wrath
 Covetousness
Pride:-
These lines are ironic in numerous ways. In the first place, only Christ
can make Faustus “immortal.” Secondly, Helen does not literally suck
forth Faustus’s soul; instead, Faustus himself has voluntarily sold his
soul to Satan. Thirdly, Helen has no power to return Faustus’s soul to
Faustus; only Christ can do that if Faustus sincerely repents of his bad
bargain with Satan.
In this theoretic play Marlow presents a man that is well
educated but is in search of more what education can give to him. He
wants to get famous and known beyond the seas. “Pride” is the first
sin that comes to him and lead him to his downfall. He explains with
pride about his knowledge and he refers to the famous writers or
scholars in different fields and say “still Faustus the end” and feel
proud. After Mephistopheles come to him, he calls the devil to do
whatever he says but Mephistopheles explains to him that first he has
to sign an agreement with him. After the dark magic he feels prouder
about himself that Mephistopheles come to earth because of him but
when he reveals the facts to Faustus then he ignores him. Faustus
thinks that strength is actually the reflection of pride. In short, every
Statement Faustus makes in the play reveals his pride in one way or
another that may lead to his downfall.
 Envy: - (The desire for others’ traits, status, abilities, or

situation).
An early example of Envy can be found in scene iii, where Faustus
meets Mephistopheles and, after having gotten to know each other,
Faustus ask Mephistopheles that he is given all the power and wishes
that he can have.
eNotesAn early example of envy can be found in scene III, where Faustus meets
Mephistophilis and, after having gotten to know each other, Faustus asks
Mephistophilis that he is given all the power and wishes that he can have.
I'll join the hills that bind the Affric shore,
And make that country continent to Spain,
And both contributory to my crown.
The Emperor shall not live but by my leave,
Nor any potentate of Germany.
Now that I have obtained what I desire,
I'll live in speculation of this art

Till Mephistopheles return again.
These are examples of how Faustus looks at the powers of others and
wishes that he would have more power than they do. Although this
feeling brushes upon "greed" (another deadly sin), the fact remains that
envy is produced by the comparison that one person makes of himself
against the good fortune of others. Hence, envy might be a conduit to
greed. Therefore, scene III shows how Faustus does not look upon great
leaders with admiration, but with envy. One place in the play where
Faustus seems guilty of envy involves his confrontation with the Old
Man late in the drama. The Old Man, a symbol of wisdom, personifies
the opposite of envy. Rather than desiring or resenting anything that
Faustus possesses, he instead wants to share the “Good News” of
Christian belief with Faustus. He seeks to help Faustus guide his
. . . steps unto the way of life,
By which sweet path thou May's attain the goal
That shall conduct thee to eternal rest.
Rather than trying to hoard happiness and keep it entirely for himself, he
seeks to show Faustus how to attain joy that will endure forever. Instead
of heeding the Old Man’s offer, Faustus instead begins condemning
himself without ever asking for God’s forgiveness. Although his self-
condemnation might seem virtuous, the fact that he never turns to God
makes his self-criticism seem instead merely a reflection of his pride and
self-centeredness. However, rather than merely ignoring the Old Man,
Faustus actually asks Mephistopheles to torment him “With greatest
torments that our hell affords.” It is as if Faustus, unable to attain
happiness and contentment himself, is not merely jealous of the Old
Man’s peace of mind but actually tries to rob the Old Man of any joy
and solace he now possesses. This kind of envy, combined with the very
viciousness of Faustus’s desire that the Old Man should be severely
tormented, makes this moment of the play perhaps the lowest point in
Faustus’s moral decline.
 Gluttony: -
The word gluttony is derived from Latin word gallire
mean (to gulf down or swallow). Means over indulgence and over
consumption of good drink or wealth items particularly as status
symbols. Gluttony in biblical sense refers to one of the seven deadly
sins. It consists with the act of indulging excessively with food and
drinks as well as material things. In the play Dr. Faustus is a man who
likes to put issues to a deeper level, he would naturally want to
indulge in every single one of the seven deadly sins. Marlow has used
sins, redemptions and demnations to get his point across the
audience.in the play seven deadly sins are personified by displaying
them colorfully through character traits of Dr. Faustus. Gluttony
states that he is a supernatural body in drama that my mother and
father has left me, with very less wealth of inheritance and states that
I eat thirty times a day with ten snacks also. Gluttony in as a character
in the play tells Dr. Faustus about his progeny and ancestors. He tells
Dr. Faustus about his well-known royal background, about his father,
mother and grandparents, at last he says to Dr. Faustus that “wilt there
bid me to supper”. And that is where the short conversation between
Dr. Faustus and Gluttony comes to an end.
 Lechery:-
During Christopher Marlowe’s time and for centuries before then,

“lechery,” or lust, was considered one of the “seven deadly sins.” In fact,
Lechery appears as a character in Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus in
precisely that capacity. Lechery was traditionally defined as a selfish
desire to use the body of another person to achieve self-centered
pleasure. Lechery could also involve idolizing the body of another
person and thus turning away from proper worship – the worship of
God.
The clearest example of Doctor Faustus’s own lechery appears when he
asks Mephistopheles to revive and bring before him the beautiful body
of Helen of Troy, the woman whose own lust and infidelity were
traditionally blamed for the horrors of the Trojan War described in
Homer’s epic poem The Iliad. Interestingly, Faustus deliberately asks to
see Helen so that he will not be distracted from his demonic
commitments. An Old Man has just tried to win him back to the worship
of God; Faustus tries to use Helen as an antidote to counteract the Old
Man’s persuasiveness.
When “Helen” appears, Faustus not only idolizes her but expresses lust
for her:
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss:
Her lips sucks [sic] forth my soul, see where it flies!
Come Helen, come, give me my soul again.
Here will I dwell, for heaven be [sic] in these lips . . .

 Sloth: -

“sloth” was considered one of the “seven deadly sins.” In fact,
Sloth appears in as a character in Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus
in precisely that capacity. Sloth was traditionally defined as
apathy or laziness, especially in matters involving one’s own soul
and the souls of others. Doctor Faustus is guilty of sloth, as even
the opening scene of the play implies.
In that scene, Faustus demonstrates again and again that he is

incapable of the hard work and true commitment demanded by
various callings in life. He rejects one possible career after
another, partly because he cannot focus on any single one of
them. Despite his great learning, he is in some ways very
intellectually lazy.
Faustus himself seems to recognize this problem; in his very first

words of the play, he urges himself to
Settle thy studies, Faustus, and begin
To sound the depth of that thou wilt profess . . .
The irony of this statement, of course, is that for the next 64 lines
he demonstrates anything but depth or a settled attitude toward
his studies. Instead, he flits from one option to another because
he is too mentally lazy to devote himself whole-heartedly to any
single one of them.
Wrath: -
Faustus’s opening speech reveals his intellectual sloth in other

ways, too. This is particularly evident when he quotes from the
Bible (a book he should know very well since he has been
studying it for years) and either deliberately or inadvertently omits
crucial phrasing from the relevant passage. Thus, he proclaims
that “Stipendium peccati mors est” and then immediately
translates these Latin words into English: “The reward of sin is
death.
 Wrath: -
“wrath,” or anger, was considered one of the “seven deadly sins.” In
fact, Wrath appears as a character in Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus in
precisely that capacity. Wrath was traditionally associated with
uncontrolled rage or fury, especially anger rooted in selfishness rather
than motivated by righteousness.
Faustus’s own wrath is especially apparent in his treatment of the Old
Man who, near the end of the play, tries to dissuade Faustus from
continuing in his sin. Although Faustus at first seems moved by the Old
Man’s words, one bad sign is that he directs passionate anger toward
himself rather than with sincere humility toward God. Mephistopheles,
trying to take advantage of Faustus’s angry despair, offers him a knife
with which to kill himself. Suicide, of course, would lead Faustus
straight to hell, and so the Old Man pleads with Faustus to seek mercy
rather than to engage in self-punishment. Faustus is momentarily
calmed, but when the Old Man leaves the stage, Faustus quickly
relapses. He believes that he is inevitably condemned by the anger of
God, but neither here nor elsewhere in the play does he ever truly show
repentance or seek forgiveness.
When Mephistopheles responds with wrath to Faustus’s apparent

backsliding, Faustus pleads with the demon to ask Satan to pardon him.
In other words, Faustus fears the anger of Satan even more than the
anger of God. Rather than seeking pardon from God, he seeks it from
Lucifer. And then, in perhaps the most morally disgusting moment of the
play, he urges Mephistopheles to attack the well-intentioned Old Man:
Torment, sweet friend, that base and crooked age
That durst dissuade me from thy Lucifer,
With greatest torments that thy hell affords.
Notice the phrasing here: Faustus does not simply want the Old Man to
be kept at a distance or pestered by minor pains; he wants the Old Man
to suffer the “greatest torments that . . . hell affords.” This is naked, ugly
wrath. Fortunately, the Old Man responds appropriately to the torments
he suffers: he seeks God’s help (as Faustus never does).
Further evidence of Faustus’s wrath appears, ironically, in the very final
scene of the play. At precisely the time when Faustus should be seeking
God’s forgiveness, he instead expresses wrath toward the last persons he
should attack: his own mother and father. Thus, he exclaims, “Cursed
be the parents that engendered me,” but then he immediately continues,
No, Faustus, curse thyself, curse Lucifer,
That hath deprived thee of the joys of heaven.
Faustus doesn’t realize that this is no time to be cursing anyone.
Certainly, he should not blame Lucifer for his downfall, since Faustus
himself chose his own fate. Nor should Faustus waste his time feeling
angry toward himself. He should, it is true, confess responsibility for his
sins, but this is no time for wrath, even wrath directed at himself. This is
a time for humility, repentance, sorrow, and desire for forgiveness.
Faustus, however, is too swallowed up by pride to ask for God’s mercy.
He will therefore suffer God’s anger for all eternity.
 Covetousness: -
In Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, the theme of
covetousness in found in Faustus' greed for money and magic—which
will afford him great power.
Covetousness is a form of greediness. Covetousness is defined as:
inordinately or wrongly desirous of wealth or possessions, or eagerly
desirous
"Wrongly desirous" may mean that one wants what does not belong to
him or her—this kind of person might steal or cheat to get what he/she
wants. In Doctor Faustus' case, his desire extends to a willingness to sell
his soul to the devil.
After Doctor Faustus has sold his soul to the devil, he is visited by
Lucifer, and then the Seven Deadly Sins. Covetousness is one of these
sins. It speaks to Faustus:
COVETOUSNESS.
I am Covetousness, begotten of an old
churl in an old leathern bag; and, might I have my wish
I would desire that this house and all the people in it
were turned to gold, that I might lock you up in my good
chest. O, my sweet gold! (128-132)
The connection here is that "Covetousness" is a deadly sin. This is
something that Faustus has chosen to embrace. The sin is deadly, not in
this case because it takes Faustus's life, but in that moves Faustus to
freely give his soul away for covetousness. The main connection being
that it is one of the paltry rewards Lucifer holds out to Faustus after he
has sold his soul.
When Lucifer asks Doctor Faustus how he feels about what he has seen,
Faustus notes that it "feeds" his soul. Lucifer explains that hell holds "all
manner of delight," and Faustus expresses a wish...

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Dr.

Faustus By Christopher Marlow:

Seven Sins of Dr. Faustus:-

 Envy: - (The desire for others’ traits, status, abilities, or

I'll live in speculation of this art

During Christopher Marlowe’s time and for centuries before then,

Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss:

Her lips sucks [sic] forth my soul, see where it flies!

Come Helen, come, give me my soul again.

Here will I dwell, for heaven be [sic] in these lips . . .

During Christopher Marlowe’s time and for centuries before then,

In that scene, Faustus demonstrates again and again that he is

Faustus himself seems to recognize this problem; in his very first

Settle thy studies, Faustus, and begin

To sound the depth of that thou wilt profess . . .

Faustus’s opening speech reveals his intellectual sloth in other

When Mephistopheles responds with wrath to Faustus’s apparent

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