Some of the cardinal thoughts that Marxism maintains are that human existences are non free and independent agents, moving as persons with limitless picks, but ‘it is non the consciousness of work forces that determines their being, but the societal being that determines their consciousness ‘ ; this links to the drama when we are shown that Faustus tries to turn away from old mediaeval ways of being in his pursuit for more cognition. Faustus is a adult male who is fated to fall even before the drama begins- the way he chooses and the treaty he makes with the Satan are an inevitable result and will take to his devastation. However, some could be argue that the picks Faustus makes are so out of his ain free will and deduce from his dissatisfaction with the universe around him and his demand to cognize more. Or possibly it is God himself who controls Faustus ‘ destiny. It could be said he is an unforgiving power and made adult male to neglect and disobey, and so possibly Faustus has no existent pick at all and lives life harmonizing to God ‘s bid as outlined by the Calvinist religion.
In many ways, we could see Faustus as a adult male trapped between two complex thoughts. On one degree, he is a Renaissance adult male who wants to cognize more than his society licenses, similar to Icarus whose ‘waxen wings did mount above his range ‘ . Faustus is a adult male who wants to dispute boundaries ( the construct of evildoing is a cardinal one in Gothic literature ) ; he is dissatisfied with all the subdivisions of acquisition, ‘Wouldst thou make adult male to populate eternally…/Then this profession were to be esteemed ‘ and in many ways, it seems he feels alienated from the universe ; that per se, he is entirely and segregated from his closed minded society. It is the possibility of sorcery which erases this sense of disaffection and fills the hole that society has created. It ‘s as if the whole universe has been opened up to him, ‘t is charming, charming that hath ravished me ‘ . On the other manus, he is trapped within a Calvinist mentality in which he has no free will and populate his life harmonizing to a foreordained set of regulations. Marlowe presents Faustus as fighting between an ideal of individuality and the demand to set to the societal constructions of his society. There is an inexplicit demand to conform to the ideals of his ain society deeply embedded in its spiritual belief, and the societal constructs of dishonoring wealth and position, as Faustus himself says ‘heap the gold…/What a universe of net income and delectation! ‘ Faustus ‘ desire to achieve this power by turning to sorcery requires him to dissent from God and from the established order, yet this was n’t praised in Marlowe ‘s epoch. As Marx himself said, ‘Religion is the opiate of the masses’- faith is used to lenify the people and to do them dependant on it, yet Faustus ‘ desire to dissent from God shows that he will non let this to go on to him.
Faustus ‘ battle between conforming to either a Medieval or Renaissance society is mirrored in the signifier of the drama. Marlowe has fused together features of a morality drama and a calamity. He offers a didactic lesson in the Epilogue, ‘Regard his beastly autumn, /Whose fiendful luck may cheer the wise…/To practise more than heavenly power licenses ‘ to warn us of God ‘s power and that if you refuse human restriction, you will be punished. However, typical of calamities, Faustus is condemned and dragged down into snake pit, he will hence populate a life of ageless agony. It seems Marlowe has produced a morality calamity in which Faustus is presented as a tragic hero, and so we are encouraged to sympathize with his predicament. Although we know from the beginning that Faustus is destined to fall, there are times in the drama when we believe that he may be saved ; for illustration, when the Old Man tells Faustus ‘I see an angel hovers o’er thy caput ‘ it is as if God is at that place protecting him, yet this is all an semblance.
Through the construction and administration of scenes we get a existent sense of Faustus ‘ deficiency of power in the drama. Mephistopheles is on phase for the bulk of the scenes, at times accompanied by Lucifer ; but God is ne’er at that place. Alternatively, Marlowe uses the Good Angel and the Old Man to stand for him ; yet they, unlike the evil characters, have no authorization over Faustus. At the start of the drama after Faustus has dismissed all the subdivisions of acquisition, and decides to turn to necromancy, the Good and Evil Angels appear. They both refer to Faustus ‘ pick, promoting him in their separate ways ; yet the Good Angels words are penalizing, ‘…lay that damned book aside…/And heap God ‘s heavy wrath upon thy caput! ‘ unlike the Evil Angel ‘s, ‘Go frontward Faustus in that celebrated art… ‘ whose words are luring and tempting ; this is farther emphasized through the initial rhyme. It seems the Good Angel offers entry, unlike the Evil Angel who offers progress- and this is what Faustus wants. The structural placement of the Angel ‘s words is besides important as the Evil Angel speaks last and so his words echo in our, and Faustus ‘ heads. It appears that Faustus is offered a pick through what the Angel ‘s say to him, yet due to the construction, it seems Faustus has no existent pick at all.
Similarly, in Act 2 Scene 3, Faustus seems disappointed with Mephistopheles replies to his inquiries about how the universe was created and so the Angel ‘s appear once more, and this clip the Good Angel has the last words, ‘Repent and they shall ne’er level thy skin’- it seems Faustus has the ability to turn to God once more, ‘Ah Christ, my Saviour! ‘ yet he does non come ; merely Lucifer and an array of the seven lifelessly sins. This highlights that even through the repositioning of the Angel ‘s words, there is still no opportunity of Faustus being saved. God does non come- possibly this links to God being an unforgiving power, or that he is undistinguished against Lucifer. Yet, we could reason that God is at that place at times in the drama when Faustus needs aid most. As Mephistopheles encourages Faustus to subscribe his psyche over to the Satan, the words ‘Home fuge ‘ which translate to ‘O fly adult male ‘ appear on his arm. We can associate this to the mention to Icarus in the Prologue which reminds us of Faustus ‘ disdainful nature, and the fact that he will be damned. More significantly, possibly this lettering is a mark from God, warning Faustus to halt in this evil art and salvage his psyche before it ‘s excessively late.
In many ways, it can be argued that Dr Faustus is a drama which is greatly influenced by the societal, historical and economic forces of Marlowe ‘s society. Faustus ‘ dissatisfaction with the universe and the subdivisions of larning derives from the really stiff and spiritual society which was present at the clip. Society seemed to concentrate more explicitly on faith and the regulations of behavior it proposed instead than giving people the ability to research the universe and detect new and interesting ways of life.
Yet, we could reason that the picks Faustus makes throughout the drama are so out of his ain free will, that Faustus is in control of his destiny and that there is no supreme power stating him what and what non to make. Or possibly we could reason the complete antonym ; that everything Faustus chooses to make throughout the drama which consequence in him being dragged to hell are all portion of a foreordained way which is ineluctable, as suggested by the Calvinist religion. Possibly what Marlowe aims to foreground in his drama, is that Faustus ‘ turning to God and subscribing his psyche over to the Satan is fated to go on due to the society Marlowe has created for him ; and that throughout the drama, Faustus is in fact controlled by higher, more powerful figures, i.e. God, therefore proposing that he has no control over his ain life or the awful decease he is destined to endure.
