2. The phrase ―Faustian bargain‖
has entered the English lexicon,
referring to any deal made for a
short-term gain with great costs in
the long run.
To “strike a Faustian bargain"
is to be willing to sacrifice anything to satisfy a
limitless desire for knowledge or power.
3. • Type of work: Elizabethan
tragedy
•Setting of the play:
(TIME) · The 1580s
(PLACE) · Europe, specifically
Germany and Italy
BACKGROUND
4. Dr Faust us i s a moral i t y pl ay whi ch
i s wri t t en i n I ambi c Pent amet er &
Bl ank Verse.
Bl ank verse i s l argel y reserved
f or t he mai n scenes whi l e prose i s
used i n t he comi c scenes.
I nt eri or monol ogue –shows i nsi de t he
charact er’s mi nd and Faust us’s
exerci se of f ree wi l l .
Si mi l es, Met aphors, I rony, Cl assi cal
Style and Structure
5. Hyperbolic Language
– language which is enlarged beyond truth or
reasonableness (extravagant or exaggerated)
Hyperbolic Language example:
“Ay, these are those tat Faustus most desires.
O what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honour, of omnipotence”
Syllogism
Syllogism: 2 statements which, if true, make a 3rd
statement true.
Example: Socrates is a man; all men are mortal;
therefore, Socrates is mortal.
―. . .we must sin, and so consequently die. / Ay, we
must die an everlasting death‖ (I.i.4043).
6.
7. RISING ACTION · Faustus’s
study of dark magic and his
initial conversations with
Mephastophilis
CLIMAX · Faustus’s sealing of
the pact that promises his
soul to Lucifer
FALLING ACTION · Faustus’s
traveling of the world and
performing of magic for
various rulers
8. Good and Bad Angel
7 Deadly Sins Presence of
Lucifer and his cohorts
Vision of Hell
Chorus (1 person) to open the
play
Allegory
9. Sin
Redemption (save someone from
sin or evil)
Damnation (eternal punishment in
Hell)
Good and Evil (Angels)
Salvation (the saving of a
person from sin)
10. The Seven Deadly Sins are
seen as warning to abstain
from evil.
In Faustus they are presented
to show the delights of them,
and to distract him from
heaven.
11. Faustus has Pride for his
ambition to become a god:
“try thy brains to gain a
deity” marks him with the
sin of Pride. He has already
gained much he believes he
can do more and become
something supernatural;
showing he believes that he
is self important and the
only one worthy to be able
too. This is the same pride
which made Lucifer fall: as
Mephastophilis answers to
Faustus question on how he
fell “O, by aspiring pride
and insolence/ For which
God threw him from the face
of heaven”
12. Faustus is slightly jealous at
the beginning of the fact that
he doesn’t know all about the
world and universe like
God, in which he wishes to
become “mighty god”. He is
jealous of what God can do
and he cannot.
We see that he desired god's
position and he was envious
of god.
13. Faustus is driven by greed &
ambition, as he tries to satisfy
his appetite for knowledge and
power. Despite the fact that
Faustus is surrounded by
powerful people (the Emperor,
beautiful women) he is
unhappy, in which he tries to
bury his head in luxuries and
his greed. He craves happiness
& salvation, not greed &
damnation. Sadly Faustus
swallows in riches until his
miserable death.
Faustus is desirous not only
of money but also of every
thing of the world for which
reason he sought magic. he is
greedy and wants more.
14. Faustus mainly on one occasion
shows gluttony. This is when
he throws food at the
Pope, which symbolises
Faustus own gluttony. The
excess food means he has food
to waste. Moreover, After the
parade of the Seven Deadly
Sins Faustus exclaims “O this
feeds my soul”, and metaphor
for eating.
INCIDENTS AT THE
CHAMBER OF THE POPE AT
ROME PROVE HIS
GLUTTONOUS NATURE.
15. Faustus also presents wrath on many
occasions when he doesn’t get his
way;
“When I behold the heaves, then I
repent/ And curse thee, wicked
Mephastophilis,/ Because thou hast
deprived me of those joys”
shows he has a angry streak. Even in
Scene 7 when Faustus tries to
demand deeper knowledge from
Mephastophilis, who is unable to
answer. Faustus repeat (repetition) of
“tell me” and insults me but saying:
“these slender trifles Wagner can
decide!/ Hath Mephastophilis no
greater skill”
16. Lust is seen in Faustus. His
lust for knowledge &
power, and through his sexual
desires & pleasures. He
desires the “fairest maid”
because he is “lascivious”. He
is tempted by Helen of Troy
(sin of the flesh) which also
shows a massive fall, for
originally he wanted power &
knowledge, and can only have
and is now interested in
satisfying physical fulfilment:
“Was this the face that
launched a thousand ships”
Lust
17. Faustus implicitly
shows sloth as he
orders Mephastophilis
to his services and
does not hunt for
knowledge himself.
18.
19. The medieval world placed religion at the
center and ignored man and the natural
world. During the Renaissance there was a
new emphasis on the individual, on classical
learning, and on scientific inquiry into the
nature of the world. During the Middle
Ages, theology was the main subject of
study. In the Renaissance, though, secular
matters were at the center.
Faustus rejects the medieval ways of
thinking and accepts no limits in his quest for
power and knowledge. But Faustus pays the
price of his antireligious sentiments.
Faustus is a typical example of the fate
20. Pride is one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
According to the medieval view of the universe,
Man was placed in his position by God and
should remain content with his station in life.
Any attempt or ambition to go beyond his
assigned place was considered a great sin of
pride.
Lucifer's fall was the result of his pride when
he tried to revolt against God, and Icarus was
another example of pride. Similarly, Faustus'
first great sin is pride. He is not content with
the limitations on human knowledge and seeks
unlimited power. His punishment is the result
of his unlawful ambitions, as the chorus shows
in both the prologue and epilogue.
21. •Doctor Faustus is a Christian play, it
therefore deals with important Christian
themes and symbols.
● The idea of sin – acting contrary to the will
of God.
●The pact with Lucifer signifies the ultimate
sin: Not only does he renounce God, but he
deliberately and eagerly chooses to swear
alliance to the devil.
● However, in a Christian framework, even
the greatest sin can be forgiven if one is
SIN
22. POWER CORRUPTS
In the beginning, Faustus has heroic
plans, he wants to push the boundaries of
science and unveil the secrets of the
world (and make a little money and
become famous, too)
However, as soon as Faustus gains
limitless power, he contents himself with
playing cheap tricks for the nobility, he
becomes an entertainer. Self-Delusion?
23.
24. Blood
Blood plays multiple symbolic roles in
the play. When Faustus signs away his
soul, he signs in blood, symbolizing the
permanent and supernatural nature of
this pact. His blood congeals on the
page, however, symbolizing, perhaps, his
own body’s revolt against what he
intends to do. Meanwhile, Christ’s
blood, which Faustus says he sees
running across the sky during his terrible
last night, symbolizes the sacrifice that
Jesus, according to Christian
belief, made on the cross; this sacrifice
opened the way for humankind to repent
its sins and be saved. Faustus, of
course, in his proud folly, fails to take
this path to salvation.
25. Faustus’s Rejection of the Ancient
Authorities
In scene 1, Faustus goes through a list of the
major fields of human knowledge—
logic, medicine, law, and theology—and cites
for each an ancient authority . He then rejects
all of these figures in favor of magic. This
rejection symbolizes Faustus’s break with the
medieval world, which prized authority
above all else, in favor of a more modern
spirit of free inquiry, in which
experimentation and innovation trump the
assertions of Greek philosophers and the
Bible.
26. In Doctor Faustus the Good Angel and the Bad
Angel are allegorical characters.
Surface Level : The angels appear at
Faustus’s shoulder early in the play—the
good angel urging him to repent and serve
God, the evil angel urging him to follow his
lust for power and serve Lucifer.
Deep level :The Divided Nature of Man
they clearly represent Faustus’s divided
will, which compels Faustus to commit to
Mephastophilis but also to question this
commitment continually.
Good and Bad Angels
27. A contradictory character:
tells himself hell is not bad
￬￪
wants to go to heaven
ambitiouswastes powers
28. He is bold enough to sell his soul to the
Devil for ultimate knowledge.
He is sometimes ultimately arrogant, overly
confident.
He can be viewed as naïve.
