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Justice And Judgement In Christopher Marlowe's 'Doctor Faustus'

Good Essays

Part A: Question
How is justice OR judgment addressed in ONE of the primary texts from the drama module?
Christopher Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus’ is found to be both a Christian morality and a classical tragedy. Whilst the drama leans towards the Christian message of avoiding sin and repentance, towards the end it sways more towards a tragedy as Faustus is eventually damned to hell. Therefore, the theme of judgement is exemplified from a religious perspective. Also, Faustus appears to be somewhat of a renaissance man in that he chooses to disobey medieval ideologies of religion. Here, Marlowe attempts to engage the reader into making their own judgement and coming to a conclusion about Faustus. Whilst the play employs many differing themes, the Christian ideology and the clash between medieval and renaissance ideologies are most prominent.
The Christian theology is evident in the drama and most of the content of the play is in line with it, and the idea of being judged is ever present. As ‘Doctor Faustus’ is a Christian drama, it evidently has themes which are in line with the Christian faith (Hackett 82). In Christian theology, sin is an act that goes against the will of God. In the play, Faustus commits what may be considered as the most unforgivable sin by going into an agreement with Lucifer, considered the prince of the devils, and in turn relinquishes his obedience to God. However, in accordance with the Christian faith, even the worst of sins may be forgiven by Jesus

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