Doctor Faustus As A Tragic Hero

Elizabethan & Jacobean Drama Talim Enam
Doctor Faustus as a Tragic Hero

Doctor Faustus, a man with uncommon potentialities who sells his soul to the
devil in exchange of power and knowledge, is unarguably a medieval tragic hero of
Marlow’s dramatic masterpiece ‘The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor
Faustus’ popularly known as ‘Doctor Faustus’. The play starts, like classic tragedy,
with the protagonist at the zenith of his achievement and ends with his fall into misery,
death and damnation. Now we are going to evaluate him as a tragic hero.
Before moving on further, we should discuss something about a tragic hero. A
tragic hero is obviously a hero of a tragedy drama. According to Aristotle, a tragic
hero usually possesses a noble birth and high social standing; he is also a man of
excellent qualities, behaviour and action. A tragic hero generally commits a mistake
knowingly or unknowingly which makes him fall down from his high position and
suffers a lot on account of it and ultimately dies. Considering all these aspects, we can
consider Doctor Faustus as a good example of tragic hero.
From the very beginning of the play, we notice that Doctor Faustus is an extra
ordinary man and exceptional than other. He is supposedly the most learned man in
the world, talking about how he has mastered every field of knowledge known to man.
He is bored with theology, finding the loose translation of the quote from Romans
6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.” He has become a master physician, curing a
whole village of a plague. In medicine, his prescriptions are:
“…hung up like monuments,
Whereby whole cities have escaped the plague”
(1.1.20-21)
He is also bored with the study of law for as he says:
“This study fits a mercenary drudge,
Who aims at nothing but external trash;
Too servile and illiberal for me.”
(1.1.34-36)
Now we will see Faustus’s tragic fallows which ultimately lead him to tragic
consequence and eternal damnation. The crucial problem of Doctor Faustus is his
excessive greed. He wants more and moreabd to be a dominant person. As he says:
“All things that move between the quiet poles
Shall be at my command:”
His pride and desire makes him abnormal and this way, he signs a deal with Lucifer
despite knowing after a certain period of time his soul will be captured and he will
suffer eternal damnation.
Prepared by: Talim Enamur Rahman, BA (Hons.), MA, in English, IU, Kushtia
For many more: www.enamsnote.blogspot.com , Cell: 01722 33 59 69, 01919 87 8703 [Page 1 of 3]

His most tragic flaw is the fact that he tries to gain a forbidden knowledge. He
leaves nothing to learn except black magic. He, therefore, decides to explore the realm
of necromancy and magic. Although the Renaissance view says that from the search of
such forbidden power one become mighty and truly great, the medieval view says that
there are certain limits for man and he should never try to break those limits.
Another of Faustus’ tragic fallow is his being insolent, imprudent, audacious
and disrespectful to God. He wants to be the boss of everyone and he wants that other
obey him. This is the thing that perhaps takes away the sympathy from the audience
for him. He also thinks to be like God by gaining superhuman powers. But he can not
comprehend that he is damning himself to eternal torment like Lucifer who was once
one of the most beautiful angels until he was guilty of:
“… aspiring pride and insolence;
For which God threw him from the face of heaven.”
(1.3.68-69)
His key tragic fallow is the misuse of his new power. He originally asks the
power to do anything,
“Be it to make the moon drop from her sphere,
Or the ocean to overwhelm the world.”
(1.3.38-39)
Faustus gains the power in order to learn more about the essential nature of the
universe. But after gaining the power he involves in petty tricks and tomfoolery (udট
আচরন) around the world to show of his incredible power. Through the display of his
necromantic powers Faustus shows the true tragedy of his character.
Finally, he proved his tragic nature by trying to move above and beyond the
limitations set by God himself. Faustus knew that he had to abide by certain laws and
rules that God set aside for all of mankind. Faustus knew his limitations, and thus by
trying to break those, he damned himself to eternal torment.
Now we will see his sufferings caused by the tragic fallow. In the last scene we
can find Doctor Faustus hopeless and desperate. He wanted to get back his belief on
God and Jesus Christ. He regrets and cries:
“… or let this hour be but
A year, a month, a week, a natural day,
That Faustus may repent and save his soul!
O lente lente currite noctis equi”
(5.3.133-139)

This last line, meaning “Slowly, slowly run, O horses of the night,” sums up Faustus’
tragic nature very comprehensively. Once he didn’t believe in death or in hell; sadly,
now he realizes that those two things are the only reality he will face from then on.
Faustus, to save his soul, wants the mercy of God and one drop even half of the
of Christ’s blood. As he says:
“See, where Christ's blood streams in the firmament!
One drop of blood will save me: O my Christ!”
(5.3.257-258)
But the moments when he names the God and Christ, the Devil begins to rend
his heart. As he cries:
“Rend not my heart for naming of my Christ;”
At that moment he wants to be little drop of water which could mingle with the
ocean and get lost forever. As Faustus says:
“O soul, be chang'd into small water-drops,
And fall into the ocean, ne'er be found!”
But all of his appeals are useless; Mephistopheles appears and takes away the soul of
Faustus. This tragic end asks us, the reader, to analyze what the limits are for human
power and knowledge and ponder what would happen if one man tried to exceed those
limits.
Last of all we can say that, Doctor Faustus as a great man who does many great
things, but because of his own conscious willfulness tragedy and torment crushing
down upon his head. He finally becomes the pitiful and fearful victim of his own
ambitions and desires.
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at +8801722 33 59 69, 01919 87 87 03. You find more notes on my blog
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Elizabethan & Jacobean Drama Talim Enam

Doctor Faustus as a Tragic Hero

Your discussion is my inspiration.

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