The Questing Individual, Dr. Faustus

The Questing Individual

Dr. Faustus

Faustus is the protagonist and consequently, the tragic hero in Marlowe’s play. He is a character who contradicts himself often. He is capable of tremendous eloquence and beauty, capable of possessing awesome ambition, yet he is also capable of a weird, and almost willful blindness and willingness to waste powers that he will gain at great cost. Faustus is a character that the reader becomes attached to because of his brilliant ambition. However, his ambition to know everything and be all-powerful is not only what makes him great, but also is the reason for his demise.

Faustus is a man that the reader knows of as ‘a man who has knowledge in all things human’. He is man whose goals go beyond the regular knowledge of things. This is why, despite the warnings that are given to him, he tells the devil to return to his master with an offer of his soul in exchange for twenty-four years of service from Mephastophilis and to have the powers in dark magic. When the reader is introduced to Faustus in the beginning of the play, he is about to start his life as a magician. Even though Marlowe’s play clearly foreshadows Faustus eventual doom because of his decision, there is also a clear sense of dignity and majesty to Faustus because of his overwhelming ambition to be the best and the most knowledgeable that he can be.

Faustus imagines what he will do with all his powers. He imagines piling wealth from all corners of the world, being able to reshape the world both politically and physically, and truly reaching his goal of having all the knowledge in the universe. Although his ambition is truly representative of the Renaissance mindset, the reader can see that he is blinded be greed. However, once Faustus gains the powers that he has desired for so long, he does not know what to do them. Marlowe suggests that this is because the desire for knowledge ultimately leads to god, who Faustus has obviously renounced. The more immediate reason though is that power corrupted Faustus. Once he has the ability to do everything, he has no desire to do it any longer. Instead, he travels around Europe playing tricks and doing fancy conjuration for important people. He uses his unbelievable power for simple entertainment. He even decides to upon the necromantic of the devil. He says, “Then read no more; thou hast attain’d that end: A greater subject fittteth Faustus’ wit.” He believes that he has learned enough information about all the great things