Dr.Faustus_ A spirit of Renaissance

Christopher Marlowe 's

Doctor Faustus

Doctor Faustus _ A spirit of Renaissance

Christopher Marlowe is considered unanimously the founder of English tragedy and he is highly marked by his achievements in new kind of tragic heroes, newness , insertion of Renaissance elements,Machievalian approach, sensuous pleasure, tragic conflict, high seriousness, hyper ambitions etc. These achievements lend a unique stature and loftiness to his writing composition as he is the the child of Renaissance that is why he is the the mouthpiece of his age and presents in his writings Man centric themes in which man is in a perpetual spiritual and inner conflict which is is eating into to his soul and vitals.

Nous we switch on to Doctor Faustus in which the leading charactor Faustus is a tragic hero who goes on fighting against his inner conflict which is the direct result of his sky high ambition of getting unlimited knowledge, power and authority. He goes beyond the human limitations.And resultantly faces the tragic dilemma. All these concepts are the the productive influences of Renaissance and Machievali and through Doctor Faustus, Marlove has the intention to put forth his keen observation of the Man with whom the tragic century is associated. Though many scientific, agricultural and industrial progress were made yet winnow from religion dispersed human soul in different extremes which include spiritual conflict, inner conflict and pricking of consciousness.

Doctor Faustus is actually a Renaissance man who has unsatiable thirst for the knowledge and power. Though he has attained almost all kinds of knowledge yet he is unsatisfied. He wants more and more knowledge. This is the characteristic of Renaissance age as after the mediaeval age, the age of transition revolutionized all the fields of life and all the knowledge was in the hands of man. Doctor faustus judges all the departments in which he has a high hand. But he finds out that all this cannot immortalize him or can never bestow him what he creeps. So he picks up necromantic art and decides to be a Mighty God on Earth as Jove in the sky. Tendency towards black magic is another trait of Renaissance because at that time religion was in question and the question was being raised regarding liberation or domination.

FAUSTUS chooses necromantic art and his vote casted in favour of this black art costs him a lot because he is a secular and knows very well that practice of magic is an unpardonable sin. This voice of his inner working plays an essential role here. It is another Renaissance influence that man of Renaissance age was dissected in two extremes. However, Faustus ,at the early stage of the drama ,has an inclination towards black art but gradually he manages to be an evil incarnation himself. He calls Mephistopheles and makes a pact with Lucifer of the life of 24 years of sensuous pleasure by selling his soul. His demand for sensuous pleasure proves him a Renaissance hero. However, there is a theme of the Loss of soul.  This state of spiritual lose makes him an actual renascence figure who is too much engrossed in sensous and physical desires that he goes to an extent of losing his spiritual solace and soul. He confines himself within the limits of this world and deviods of external Bliss. To him Hell is just a myth of old wives.

Gradually he falls from the Olympian position of being a salt of Earth to the degraded one. He leads a life sensuous pleasures. We find pagon interests in him. As being a Renaissance man, he talks about beauty, nature and adventure. He accomplishes this desire for beauty , love and journey with the help of Mephistophilis. Here, we can refer to his darling words for Helen, while he is suffering inflicted pain as Death is stealthily creeping towards him. As he says,

Helen come and make me immorta with thou kiss.

 The exact time approaches when we find out that now Faustus is fully apprised of the arrival of inevitable Doom and damnation, he starts screaming like a child and seek the help of God and Christ. It is the moment when he is in utter damnation and disappointment. But Satan along with his disciples reaches and tears away the soul of Faustus and he is left with nothing but a fatal and tragic end.

At the end, we can assert that Marlowe has successfully delineated the tragic figure who is the true picture of Renaissance man who faces his sureshot tragic end because of his hyper ambition and segregation and escape from religious institution and is doomed to external condemnation and is gradually devoid of solace of mind and soul.