William Shakespeare 's Doctor Faustus And Tamburlaine

Christopher Marlowe wrote The Tragic History of the Life and Death of Dr. Faustus during the Elizabethan Era, and the original production is said to have occurred in 1592 (David M. Bevington i). Queen Elizabeth I’s reign was one of religious conflict, political turmoil, and brilliant works by artists and therefore, church and state cannot be considered separately when discussing Elizabethan England. Her majesty was not only the commander, but also the head of the church. Under her reign, every English citizen was required by law to attend liturgical services. Membership to the church was a birthright and an obligation, as inescapable as participation in the political body of the commonwealth (Collinson 74-75). To illustrate, Richard Hooker offers an excellent image for Marlowe’s society: church and state resembled the sides or the base of a triangle (Hooker 336). Now, specifically, Calvinism was rapidly becoming the accepted doctrine in Elizabethan England, and the religious elements present in Marlowe’s version of Faust are almost certainly rooted in Calvinism.

Shakespeare’s King Lear and Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus are two examples of early modern texts, one a tragedy and the other a morality play respectively, which deal with the theme of power at the crux of its narrative. Between both texts it is evident that different characters utilize their power or authority differently – some ‘unwisely’ whilst some ‘maliciously’. In either case, the use of power progresses the plays and drives the majority of main characters.

(…) the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air—look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire (…). What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like

Water supports a seed to grow into a beautiful flower, just as Christopher Marlowe’s works watered the seed of the Renaissance and Elizabethan literature. The Renaissance was characterized by new ideas and thinking, which created many influential writers from this time. Christopher Marlowe is known as a talented writer from the late sixteenth through early eighteenth centuries. He and many other writers of this time created new ways of writing and impacted it in other ways. Marlowe was considered the most important playwright before Shakespeare, but his entire career lasted six years because of his untimely death when he was twenty-nine. His most famous work, Doctor Faustus, is based on the Faust Legend, a German classic, in which a scholar sells his soul to the devil in exchange for more power and knowledge (Biography.com). Christopher Marlowe’s tragic play, The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus, had major influences in the development of Elizabethan literature during the mid-sixteenth century in England.

The Renaissance was the entrance to a change in the overall worldview of man. Humanistic thought began to grow more and more prevalent, and showed itself through art, architecture, and manuscripts. Humanists believe that man is autonomous, that humans are powerful enough to survive, thrive, and conquer without any spiritual help. It is a very self-centered way of thinking, destined to fail. One example of an artist who portrayed this through his work, was Michelangelo. His sculptures “men tearing themselves out of rock” give a bold humanistic statement. Man, as man, with no help is tearing himself out of rock. Man will free himself. Man is great. Leonardo da Vinci, the brilliant chemist, mathematician, musician, architect, anatomist, botanist, mechanical engineer, and artist, understood the end to which humanistic thought would lead.

The focus of this paper will be to compare and contrast the works of two playwrights. The works that will be considered are Molière’s The Would-Be Gentleman and Beaumarchais’s The Marriage of Figaro. Both considered comedies, Moliere’s is a short play that tells the tale of Monsieur Jourdain, a tradesman who desires to become a gentleman. Beaumarchais’s play, second in the Figaro trilogy, follows the series of event prior to Figaro’s wedding. Figaro and his companions scheme to ensure that his marriage occurs smoothly. Furthermore, the plays are dated 100 years apart from each other, and they deal with the representation of social hierarchy, social mobility, and gender roles in various ways. With that in mind, they become good sources to compare and contrast the changes in society that occurred within those 100 years. This paper will compare both plays to examine how Molière further endorses the social values and ideas of his time, while Beaumarchais’s presents a shift in attitude towards those values and challenges them.

As one develops, the values that he/she support mature in sync with mental, physical, and emotional developments. With this maturation, individuals create a moral code that is based on the values and beliefs that are deemed most important. Whether the creation of this code of conduct is intentional or not, it nonetheless serves as a guide for the way in which one behaves. These moral codes ensure the maintenance of order within one’s own life. By token of consideration, Raymond Chandler’s “Red Wind” follows Philip Marlowe as he subscribes to a moral code of chaotic good, wherein he behaves in a seemingly unprincipled manner. However, he does so as a mode of ultimately serving the common good. Comparatively, society as a whole also creates regulations to live by with the intention of maintaining order amongst the masses. The court of law, for example, ensures that individuals behave ethically and in favour of the common good. Without these general regulations, society succumbs to chaos. With reference to the text, the world that Marlowe lives in is one that supports moral systems that are in opposition to his own. The interaction between one’s personal values (moral code) and social sanctions (e.g. the law and societal ideals), may result in a shift in an individual’s belief system. The following essay will explore the ‘world’ that Chandler has created for the characters, Marlowe’s moral code in response to the world in which he lives, and finally, the state that Marlowe

There is constant references to the beliefs and ideas of the Catholic Church such as confession, penitence and the Virgin Mary this suggests the catholic centered society in which the play existed. It concentrates on the qualities of the catholic religion that are important in the journey to heaven. Everyman is a symbol of the human condition and how it is understood by medieval Catholicism. Whereas in the sixteenth century in which Doctor Faustus was written, saw a shift of Christian ideals. No longer was there only the

oriented pursuits. He places a great deal of emphasis on virtue. He goes on to say that heavenly

In Christopher Marlowe’s play, Doctor Faustus, the idea of repentance is a reoccurring theme with the title character. Faustus is often urged by others to repent his decision to sell his soul to the devil, but in the end he suffers eternal damnation. Faustus was resigned to this fate because he lacked the belief in his soul of God. He was once a moral and devout man, but greed led him to sin.

When William Shakespeare and Aeschylus create purpose, they create it in a direct manner. Executing it with carefully chosen language, Shakespeare and Aeschylus implement multiple layers to construct meaning and multiple interpretations. Without alienating the audience and regardless of it’s controversial theme’s, both text’s were at a time developed when devoted leaders condemned the idea of Eve and praised the Virgin Mary, Neoclassical scholars welcome the idea of feminism, reversed gender roles, and that women could be the dominant domain. The everyday couple would settle and incorporate pieces of the popular ideas of societies hierarchy of the male position, masculinity over ruled femininity, which was embedded in a tradition constructed society. This essay seeks to create an understanding of the symbolic characters of Katherina in Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of The Shrew’ and of Clytemnestra in Aeschylus’s ‘Agamemnon’. By exploring both texts in conjunction, it comes to attention that both female characters play masculine roles to be able to achieve their dominance stance. Both women not only revel the real life female, but also depicts to the audience the double bind due to the patriarchal world they live in. This essay will show how both characters use their actions as well as their words as an opportunity, yet becoming problematic due to the idea of ‘a mans world’.

The supernatural forces are at once alike and distinct in Shakespeare’s The Tempest and in Marlowe’s The Tragical History of D. Faustus. The supernatural is kind to Prospero and his daughter Miranda in The Tempest, while the devils in Dr Faustus eagerly wait for the day that Faustus would join them in Hell. In both plays, the supernatural provides recurrent waves of sounds and feelings, lending special atmospheric qualities to The Tempest and Dr Faustus. The supernatural serves as a reminder of the hierarchies that exist in both plays, and it also illuminates the human heart, revealing the characters’ thoughts and wishes. Often appearing

The play is a human tragedy for not only is Faustus tragically constituted in his boundless ambitions but, at the same time, the play questions the effectiveness of the cultural aspirations that shape his ambitions. Consequently, the play provides a complex interaction between the human dimensions of the dramatic character and the ambiguities and ambivalences of the cultural situation the character is placed in.

Both Hamlet and Faustus contain a clash of themes and traditions, all catalysed by Religion. This is used to establish a theme of deception, which greatly impacts the protagonist’s procrastination. Procrastination is considered to be Hamlet’s tragic flaw, however Faustus’s flaw is considered to be his hubris.

Things aren’t always as they appear to be. This is true in John Faustus’s case in terms of his relationship with Mephistopheles and in turn the devil himself. Poor Faustus believes it is he who has called upon the demon Mephistopheles and it is his tongue that orders the servant of hell, yet he could not be any more mistaken. In reality, Faustus is the one with strings attached to him and it is Lucifer, Mephistopheles, and the Evil Angel playing the role of the puppeteer. Nevertheless, Faustus remains a student to the ideology of Christianity throughout his adventures, even amongst the bleakest of hours. God never leaves the side of John Faustus, as He relentlessly tries to bring Faustus back onto the path of righteousness.