Renaissance Elements in Doctor Faustus
Or
Dr. Faustus as a Renaissance Play
Renaissance Elements in Doctor Faustus
Renaissance Elements in Doctor Faustus
The term ‘Renaissance’ is a French word that means ‘rebirth’, ‘revival, or ‘reawakening’. Literally, it refers to the revival or reawakening of the classical Greek (Hellenic) and partially Latin literature, arts and culture along with the classical Greek outlook towards life in the late 15th century after a long sleep in the Middle Ages. The main tenets or features of the classical Greek literature that revived and fell their influences on the writers, thinkers and artists of the 15th and 16th centuries emphasized on intellectual freedom (freedom of thought), thirst for more knowledge, craving for power and wealth, love of beauty, sensuality, comforts, luxury and music and above all the emphasis on the superiority of man (humanism). Virtually Renaissance was a revolt against absolute ecclesiastical supremacy over human affairs in favour of intellectual freedom.
Christopher Marlowe’s (1564-1593) ‘Doctor Faustus’ is a Renaissance tragedy though there are some visible native ingredients of the conventional Christian morality play. Let us bring out the Renaissance elements in the play below:
The first feature of the Renaissance spirit is that it advocates intellectual freedom (free thought) and we see that the hero of the play Doctor Faustus is endowed with this spirit. He comes out breaking away from the traditional ecclesiastical boundary of thought as the stagnant stock of traditional knowledge bothers him and hence he takes to the study of necromancy (magic) in order to quench his thirst for infinite knowledge. Faustus cries out:
”What will be shall be? Divinity adieu!
These metaphysics of magicians
And necromantic books are heaven” (Act I, Scene ii)
The second tenet advocated by Renaissance learning was greed for power. Marlowe’s hero Doctor Faustus is not an exception. He desires that he would bring the devil under his control and by means of his help; he would be the Emperor of the World. Faustus utters:
”By him I’ll be great emperor of the world
And make a bridge through the moving air
To pass the ocean with a band of men
I’ll join the hills that bind the African shore.” (Act I, Scene iii)
The third feature of the Renaissance of ancient Greek learning is the desire for wealth. Marlowe’s hero Doctor Faustus is also rich in this desire. He cries out:
”I’ll have them fly to India for gold
Ransack the ocean for ancient pearl.”
The fourth element of the Renaissance is love for beauty and lust (sensuality) which is also present in Doctor Faustus. He craves for a beautiful maid as his wife to satisfy his carnal desire. He commands his servant Mephistophelis as below:
”…………………..let me have a wife
The fairest maid that is in Germany.”
Again Faustus, though he knows that he is on the verge of imminent death yet he desires for carnal pleasure and kisses the spirit of Helen and utters:
”Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss
Come, Helen, come give me my soul again
Here will I dwell, for heaven is in these lips
And all is dross that is not Helen.”
The fifth element of the Renaissance lent to the Christian world was the craving for delicates, luxury and entertainment which our hero Dr. Faustus had grasped tightly. He searches the oceans of the world for delicious food and fruits. He says:
”And search all corners of the new-found world
For pleasant fruits and princely delicates.”
The sixth but strongest influence that the Renaissance fell on man was the sense of superiority of man (dignity of man). The Evil Angel who is the counterpart of modern man with modern outlooks encourages Dr. Faustus to assume his dignity as a man. He instigates Faustus, as:
”Be thou on earth as Jove is on the sky
Lord and commander of the universe.”
The superiority of man over all things of the universe is expressed again in the speech of Mephistophelis who incites Dr. Faustus to go forward with his study of necromancy. He utters:
”Why Faustus,
Thinkst thou heaven is such a glorious thing
I tell thee, it is not half so fair as thou
Or any man that breathes on earth.”
In addition to all these elements of the Renaissance, the playwright Christopher Marlowe was influenced by the stylistic features of classical Greek literature also. Marlowe, breaking away from the native tradition of dramatic structure, boldly adopted the Greek device such as- he introduced the Chorus, he divided the play into five acts and again the acts into several scenes. Besides this, his craving for Greek and Latin languages is also reflected in the play also. He makes ample use of Greek and Latin phrases such as- “cosummatum est” (that is finished),” “che, sera, sera” (what is to happen must happen), “Veni, veni, Mephistopheles (come, come Mephistopheles). In addition to all these, the dramatist Marlowe has made ample allusions and references from Greek and Roman mythologies such as – Diana, Helen, Amphion, Apollo etc.
Christopher Marlowe, though, was most influenced by the thought and ideal of the Renaissance, yet he could not come out from the trammel of his traditional native elements for which some ingredients of the conventional morality play are apparently visible in Doctor Faustus such as – Christian theme, comic interludes, moral ending and some personified abstract ideas as dramatic characters such as – Good Angel, Evil Angel, Wrath, Pride, Gluttony etc.
To conclude it would be reasonable to say that Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus is a good Renaissance tragedy though there is some native flavour of the morality play. 0 0 0
Renaissance Elements in Doctor Faustus, Renaissance Elements in Doctor Faustus
Read More: Significance of Dream in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Renaissance Elements in Doctor Faustus
N. B. This article entitled ‘Renaissance Elements in Doctor Faustus’ originally belongs to the book ‘World Drama Criticism‘ by Menonim Menonimus. Renaissance Elements in Doctor Faustus
Related Searches:
- Renaissance Elements in Doctor Faustus
- Renaissance Elements in Dr. Faustus
- Dr. Faustus Reflects the Spirits of Renaissance
- Characterization of Hamlet
Books of Literary Criticism by M. Menonimus:
- World Short Story Criticism
- World Poetry Criticism
- World Drama Criticism
- World Novel Criticism
- World Essay Criticism
- Indian English Poetry Criticism
- Indian English Poets and Poetry Chief Features
- Emily Dickinson’s Poetry-A Thematic Study
- Walt Whitman’s Poetry-A Thematic Study
- Critical Essays on English Poetry
- Tawfiq al-Hakim’s Novel: Return of the Spirit-An Analytical Study
- Tawfiq al-Hakim’s Novel: ‘Yawmiyyat Naib Fil Arayaf’-An Analytical Study
- Analytical Studies of Some Arabic Short Stories
- A Brief History of Arabic Literature: Pre-Islamic Period …
