Dr. Faustus a Tragic Hero

Dr. Faustus a tragic hero.

In his tragedies, Marlow conceived his heroes, first of all, as men capable of great passions, consumed by their desires abandoned to the pursuits of their lusts, whether they lead to glory, butchery, and loss of kingdom or eternal damnation. The intensity of emotion gives them an elevation and a heroic interest that outlasts contemptibility or pathos. Nor are they without representational value. They linger in the mind as men absurd, exaggerated, monstrous at times, but appealingly human in moment when their passion rings true, and impressively typical of eternal struggle of passion and desire against the fixed limits of human attainment. It is in the realization of their emotions that the plays secure their great impressiveness. Tragedy has become not the presentation of history, myth or events of any sort, but the presentation of the passionate struggle and painful defeat of an extraordinary human being.

Marlowe presents a man of commanding personality who is swayed by an overpowering passion. In Dr.Faustus there is passion for knowledge; in Tamburlaine it is ambition; in the Jew of Malta there is a passion for greed of wealth. Marlovian heroes, the prototypes of Renaissance man, were mostly led by their consuming passions and had to struggle hard. They were far from being satisfied with ordinary success. They believed in all