Category: Faust

As time has gone by many authors have chosen the Faustian Bargain as a topic for their stories and novels. What is the Faustian Bargain, and how does this have any impact on a literary work? Throughout all aspects of Literature, you can find the Faustian Deal or what is sometimes known as, “The Subsequent Fall”. Robert Stevenson, Willkie Collins, and Oscar Wilde, all wrote literary books that went into depth over the complications between morals, and a very ultimate level of power.

In Willkie Collins, “The Woman in White” you can really feel the presence of a Faustian bargain taking root. The power of mystery and suspense runs ripe all throughout “the Woman in White” and constantly keeps the reader on the edge of his seat. There is definitely something unique about this read that must be accounted for. The resemblance found between this story and the subsequent fall plays a huge role in this. The literary work shows the power struggle between knowledge and the sacrifice made to obtain it. The subsequent fall has been related to human beings all throughout time and is responsible for many folk tales and religious beliefs. It is the ferocious battle that takes place between absolute good, and pure evil. It is common in many written works and creates a formulated plot that consists of changes, suspenseful moments, and shocking conclusions. The plot found within “The Woman in White” resembles this closely and even corresponds to it. The novel uses a lot of symbolism to give the reader an insight as to what exactly the characters are feeling (Collins, “The Woman in White”). This is important because, without the symbolism presented, the full effect of the Bargain taking place would not be felt. Collins many characters and narrators to develop the storyline (Collins, “The Woman in White”). This story utilizes the power of third person omniscient as well as third person limited while correlating with first person point of view to give offer an in-depth understanding of thoughts and emotions flowing between characters while leaving some questions unanswered.

Second, Robert Louis Stevenson who is the author of, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde utilizes the Faustian Bargain to write a crime mystery that involves a more severe and self-created battle. This battle takes place between two separate characters that cannot be classified as the same person even though they cannot exist without the other (Caroll, 15). This story is filled with symbolism and metaphors that upset the balance between good and evil within the reader. By giving a physical example through Hyde of what evil a man can create, it would seem that Stevenson would like the reader to question the good and evil coexisting within themselves (Stevenson, 843). The story employs suspense and is broken into sections that require an in-depth analysis. This technique requires close reading and focus on even the most minuscule of details. The suspense is created by giving bits and pieces to a story that generates questions that don’t even need to be written. Questions such as, are we all capable of taking a life? How does something so evil coexist constantly with something that is good? Is it possible that our lives are just constant battles between love and hate (Caroll,15)? The story requires what Coleridge called “a willing suspension of belief”. The imagination of the reader and the ability to create different scenarios creates multiple climaxes in the story. The sacrifice that Dr. Jekyll makes within the story is costly to the physical, and mental health of himself and the other characters. A Faustian Bargain is made in the story and as the bargain is fulfilled, immoral actions are juxtaposed against acts of bravery and righteousness.

Finally, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, a more personal and detailed experience with the bargain itself was written by Oscar Wilde. In other literary works, the author usually gives a limited perspective due to the mysteriousness that the bargain entrails. Yet this story is unique and gives the reader a first-hand experience of what the character is experiencing. The reward and the conflict, the relief, and the struggle, and the immoral and moral battle are all on display for the reader to emphasize and understand better. The story focuses on the direct relationship between the soul and the body (Caroll, 15). It connects two of the things that make us who we are and shows that balance is needed on both ends to support a healthy and morally correct life (Caroll, 15). The story shows a reverse form of duality when compared to the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Luckhurst). By using metaphors and symbolic items throughout the story Wilde compares the conflicts that occur within our souls, minds, and bodies when a deal such as the Faustian deal takes place (Luckhurst). We see firsthand just how important our ideals and our beliefs are in defining who we are. By connecting the painting to the life of Gray, Wilde is able to make a statement that refuses to fall silent even on deaf ears. The debt that is owed and eventually paid in this story can create a new awareness of one’s lustful ideas and beliefs. The author constantly uses metaphors and symbolism to prove this to be true, and even possibly making this a sub-theme for the overall story itself.

The moral conflicts that are generated by the Faustian Bargain are what truly drive all of humanity to search for justice, while at the same time disowning it. While the deal itself is quite possibly made up, the problems that accompany it are real-world problems that humanity faces each and every day. The authors of these stories and these novels were able to see this issue and used it to question the ultimate question of all humanity, “What is Man”. Man is simply a divided soul torn between right and wrong, designed to suffer at the hands of a never-ending war between the moral and immoral presence within us. While this answer may not be fit for some, based on the proof that I have found within the presented works, our lives are built upon an equal amount of doing right as well as doing wrong. This perfect imperfection is felt by many and is very often shoved out of balance creating a conflict that is sometimes unwinnable. While this conflict does in fact lead to suffering, it may also lead to ultimate redemption, and as always, the choice lies within thyself, whether thyself is known or not.

Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus depicts a clash between the values of the medieval world and the emerging humanism of the Renaissance. During the Middle Ages in Europe, God is the center of intellectual life, and in art and literature, the emphasis revolves around the lives of the saints and the mighty instead of ordinary people. On the other hand, The Renaissance brings about a new sense of individualism and the pursuit of more secular knowledge. This clash between the old medieval piousness and the humanist Renaissance is the core of Faustus’ character.

Faustus is a contradictory character, greatly ambitious and articulate, but strangely obtuse and willing to waste his costly powers. When Marlowe introduces Faustus, he is readying to recreate himself as a magician. From the very beginning of the play when the Chorus compares Faustus to Daedalus and his waxen wings, it is evident that Faustus’ plight will end badly. Regardless of Marlowe’s foreshadowing, Faustus’ contemplations on the possibilities of his magical powers carry a sense of grandeur that goes far beyond the piousness of his medieval predecessors. His visions of reshaping Europe politically and geographically and acquiring ultimate knowledge show Faustus as the developing ego of the Renaissance humanist. The magician is arrogant and self-aggrandizing, but his ambitions are so amazing that their impressive nature work to create a feeling of sympathy for the misguided Faustus and his impossible dreams.

Early in his gain of magical knowledge, Faustus represents the spirit of the Renaissance, with its rejection of the medieval, God-centered universe, and its embrace of human possibility. The magic itself is the personification of human potentiality and the good or evil that man creates in his thirst for knowledge. With the rejection of God and his sovereignty and the desire for control over the natural world, Faustus embodies the secular spirit of the developing modern era. Marlowe uses Faustus’ rejection of the learned men who have come before him to symbolize the need of Renaissance man to find his own path. Faustus has no need for Aristotle, Galen, or Justinian, because he is his own man and only needs the knowledge he can discover for himself. In speaking out against the wisdom of his predecessors, Faustus puts aside the relics of a bygone era and steps bravely into a new world of discovery.

In spite of his vision and knowledge, Faustus exhibits an almost intentional obtuseness towards his fate. Once he decided a pact with Lucifer is the only way to achieve his goals, Faustus then willingly ignores the realities that such a pact infers. Faustus convinces himself that Hell cannot be as bad as the clerics say it is and that all he needs to survive Hell is fortitude. Even during his congress with Mephastophilis, Faustus has convinced himself that Hell does not exist, even though he is having extensive relations with one of Hell’s major denizens. Marlowe uses Faustus’ refusal to see the consequences of his pact to show how man can make himself ignore the consequences of the unbridled search for knowledge. Despite his lack of concern about his damnation, Faustus still has doubts of his vision of Hell. These doubts set a pattern of near repentance throughout the play. His pride, ambition, and feeling that God will not listen to him cause Faustus to never go through with his repentance. Marlowe seems to use Faustus’ fear of not receiving grace from God to show that forgetting the face of God creates Hell.

Not only does Faustus’ fear of God’s indifference to his plight cause him to not go through with his repentance, but Mephastophilis’ influence also sways him. Swaying Faustus is not as challenging as it should be, because although he has grand plans of power, he has a petty nature. Once he has the powers to fulfill his desires, Faustus does not know how to capitalize on them. This uncertainty is created by the fact that God grants all knowledge and power, and Faustus has turned his back on God, so he cannot truly be powerful. Absolute power corrupts Faustus; when he has the power to do anything he desires, he no longer desires to do anything. Instead of realizing his grand schemes and ambitions, Faustus travels Europe playing tricks on the peasants and performs simple conjuring tricks to impress various heads of state. He wastes his magnificent power for paltry parlor tricks, until Faustus is performing meaningless tricks for meaningless nobles. Thus, the magnificent Faustus reduces himself to nothing but a mediocre huckster; his delusions of grandeur defeated by his own petty ego.

The looming spectre of his damnation rescues Faustus from mediocrity. The knowledge of his fate restores Faustus’ articulate rhetoric, and he again embraces his grand vision. However, the vision he now sees is a vision of the torments that Hell will soon inflict upon his wretched spirit. During his final hours, Faustus’ desire for repentance finally conquers his maddening thirst for power, but it is too late for the magician. Still, Faustus’ original brilliance resurfaces during his final soliloquy, brought about by the pains of his remorse. His remorse and repentance comes to late for poor Faustus; he has seen his folly and once more become a mere man. When he proclaims that he will burn his books, Faustus finally renounces his Renaissance spirit, finally realizing the benefits of being humble and pious like those he spent his first speech renouncing. Marlow shows that Faustus has become undone because his ambitions went against the will of God.

In Marlowe’s final lines, the Chorus proclaims Faustus’ fate as a warning and an example of the dangers of man’s decreasing need for God. This warning seems to make Marlowe an advocate for established religious tenets, counseling against the terrible fate of the Renaissance man who rejects God’s grace. Although, by Faustus’ tragic magnificence Marlow suggests a different lesson: knowledge is not evil, but without wisdom, it will corrupt and destroy. Marlowe’s Faustus pays the price for all people that come after him, showing the modern man that he must hold on to his old moral self, while stepping into the new secular world.

In Victor Hugo’s poem And There Was Night, the character of Satan was an archangel before he fell. In the play of Faust, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe discusses the fall of Wagner. Both Hugo and Von Goethe show how the fall of a person can impact the rest of eternity. Both Satan and Wagner are seen as not believing in the Kingdom of Heaven or the power of God.

Satan is seen as falling from the sky which is Heaven in Hugo’s poem. He was first shown as being a fallen angel at the beginning of the poem. “He’d been falling in the abyss some four thousand years”. This means that Satan was seen as falling from Heaven even before he realized what was happening to him. He did not see this coming and did not lift his head once to see that he was near death and had betrayed Jesus. He fell from the good graces of God and was portrayed in the poem as being thrown from Heaven feet first. “Sad, his mouth open and his feet towards the heavens”. Satan was sad that he was thrown out of Heaven but he could not fight his fate.

Next, Satan is also seen as a fallen archangel in the poem when he is shown at laughing at the weather and having the spit of a condemned person who was now free of jail instead of that of an innocent person. “The suns were far off, but were still shining. The thunder then rumbled in the skies unhearing, cold. Satan laughed, and spat towards the thunder”. This shows that Satan did not have any feelings or emotions anymore toward anything in which God did. Satan was now the damned one and he was terrible toward anything or anyone who was good and for God. He was weighed down with what he had done which caused him to get kicked out of Heaven by God. “Trembled, and in the night the great fallen one, Naked, sinister and pulled by the weight of his crime, Fell, and his head wedging the abyss apart”. This shows that Satan hung his head in shame at what he had done and now the result was that h got kicked out of Heaven.

When Satan is seen as having lost his status as an archangel to becoming a monster, this causes mankind to not listen to God. “He felt himself become a monster, and that the angel in him was dying, and the rebel then knew regret”. This means that Satan had lost the power of the Holy Spirit and now had the spirit of evil within him. He also realized that his soul was not pure anymore but was black once he had fallen from Heaven. “So, “he cried, “so be it! I can see! He shall have the blue sky, the black sky is mine’. After this happened, Satan did not see or share in the light of God anymore, instead, he only shared in and became a huge part and force of the darkness of evil in the world.

Lastly, Satan was shown as being like a bird flying toward the unknown once he had fallen from Heaven. He was also shown in the poem as being like a bird that was losing its wings after not listening to its parent which was God. “One feather escaped from the archangel’s wing remained and quivered, pure and white (Hugo 6). This meant that there was still hope for Satan just as there is still hope for mankind. But Satan also found darkness for many years after he had fallen from Heaven and lost his wings. “Through the respect for the One unseen, the sage, and finds, lifting the darkness of years”. Darkness will come to those who do not obey God just as it did to Satan when he betrayed God and fell from heaven.

The character of Wagner, as shown in Von Goethe’s play Faust when compared to Satan also shows that he had fallen and did not believe in the hope of mankind. “Man views the world, as through an optic glass, on a chance holiday and scarcely then how by persuasion can he govern men”?. Wagner could be showing Faust and mankind that he thinks that so little of mankind and how mankind views the world. But this could also show how mankind can be persuaded to think other things about God and the world.

Wagner also shows how he thinks that the delivery of God to mankind makes the world far behind. “The speaker in delivery will find success alone; I still am far behind”. Wagner does not believe that God will save mankind and the world. He believes that life is limited to those who do not believe in God. “Our life is short! With earnest and zeal still as I ply the critic’s task, I feel”. For those who do not believe in God, Wagner seems to ask the question of do they see life as a part of art? Wagner also seems to think that mankind is oppressed and takes life for granted just as the devil did. “A strange oppression both of head and heart. Check’d in his progress, the poor devil dies”. Satan which is the devil did not listen to God and took his status in Heaven for granted just as mankind does. This resulted in Satan falling from heaven just as mankind does.

Wagner does seem delightful to see that mankind does seem to embrace the Holy Spirit of God and not just dwell on them. “To see in times before us how a wise man thought, and what glorious height we have achieved at last”. No matter the time in the world, mankind should believe in the power which is the Holy Spirit of God. Wagner may also feel that mankind should use his whole being to know God and His Word. “But then the world and man, his heart and brain! Touching these things all men would something know”. Wagner may have meant that nothing should stand in the way of knowing God.

Also, in comparison to Satan in Hugo’s poem And There Was Night, Wagner is shown as hating evilness in the world and among mankind. “I hate the tumult of the vulgar throng; they roar as by the evil one possess’d, and call it pleasure, call it song”. This means that evilness and darkness is not something which could be enjoyed by mankind and the world once the light and brightness of God fade away.

Lastly, in comparison to Satan, Wagner believes that mankind and the world should not let their souls be cast aside by evilness, corruption, and darkness. “Why let this thought your soul o’ercrast? Can man do more than with nice skill, with firm and conscientious will? In manhood, dost thou spread the bounds of truth, then may thy son a higher goal achieve”. This means that mankind and the world should think of their souls and not just about material things which will not get you in Heaven or the good graces of God.

Both Hugo and Von Goethe show how the fall of a person from heaven and the good graces of God can impact the rest of eternity. Satan was once in the Kingdom of Heaven and the good graces of God. Wagner was seen as having lost his belief in mankind and the world when it comes to them believing in God and his power which is the Holy Spirit. Both stories show that mankind and the world can fall and lose faith in God.

In Doctor Faustus, good and evil are presented as two polarized ideas: God and Heaven on one side, and Lucifer and Hell on the other. Contrasting representations of this division also appear, such as the old man and the Good Angel opposed to Mephistopheles and the Bad Angel. Initially, this struggle between good and evil is Faustus’ major internal conflict as he is deciding whether to make the blood bond. However, by the time Faustus views the seven deadly sins, evil persists as the dominant force and is the path that Faustus follows to his final damnation.

The struggle between good and evil begins with Faustus’ divided conscience. The Good and Bad Angels represent the conflict between his devotion to knowledge and his longing for power. They most blatantly exemplify the traits of good versus evil when the Good Angel tells Faustus to “think of heaven and heavenly things” while the Bad Angel tells Faustus to “think of honor and wealth”. However, at the end of the play, the Good Angel and the Bad Angel no longer appear. This absence represents Faustus’ commitment towards evil, symbolized through the blood bond. No longer does he reminisce about turning to God, nor does he lament the path he has chosen until the end. Rather, he resorts to a wasteful use of his powers through playing pranks and satisfying royalty, such as his tricks on the Pope and the conjuring of Alexander the Great.

The most important part of the good versus evil conflict occurs at Faustus’ turning point from good to evil. The dilemma between which paths to follow has settled towards evil by the time the seven deadly sins are paraded in front of him. Before this event, Faustus has good intentions. For example, he promises that he will “fill the public schools with silk, wherewith the students shall be bravely clad”. He is persistent in his search for knowledge even though he is naive about the eternal torment that awaits him in hell. Faustus is even repulsed enough by the physical manifestation of evil that he asks Mephistopheles to change his appearance. He commands the devil to, “Go, and return an old Franciscan friar; That holy shape becomes a devil best”. Faustus cannot bear to see the reality of hell; rather, he misinterprets it to be less evil that it actually is and even nonexistent at times. This blissful innocence can be seen in his succinct reply that hell is a myth immediately after Mephistopheles’ terrifying description of hell.

However, after making a blood bond with Mephistopheles, Faustus delights in the seven deadly sins, even when seeing them firsthand. He describes his anticipation to Lucifer: “That sight will be as pleasant to me as Paradise was to Adam the first day of his creation” (2.3.103-4). In comparison to his disgusted reaction towards Mephistopheles’ devil figure, his acceptance of evil has become evident here and will later free him from his initial claims of benevolent aspirations, demonstrated with his later pranks and frivolous feats.

Three main factors contribute to this change of nature from good to evil after the presentation of the sins. One of these is that the forbidden, ultimate knowledge which he so desires at the beginning of the play is revealed to him as being elementary and redundant. In reply to Mephistopheles’ answers on astronomy, Faustus says, “Tush, these slender trifles Wagner can decide. Hath Mephistopheles no greater skill? … Tush, these are freshmen’s suppositions’. The strongest blow may occur when he is denied the knowledge of the world’s origin. At this point, Faustus cries out in distress for his soul to be saved but is denied salvation. As a result, he realizes that his contract with the devil is irreversible.

This awareness of damnation becomes the second main contributor towards his acceptance of evil. In the middle of Faustus’ plea to Christ, Lucifer appears and destroys any hope for repentance by stating that “Christ cannot save thy soul for he is just. There’s none but I have interest in the same”. After this crucial moment, Faustus believes that no matter how hard he tries to repent, he has already sinned once and is thus permanently damned to eternal hell. Believing he cannot be saved, he tries to drown his pending damnation through pranks. For example, after having fooled the horse dealer, he laments that he is simply a man destined to die soon. His only consolation is in “confound[ing] these passions with a quiet sleep”. All of the practical jokes and feats that he performs serve merely as distractions to purge his mind from thoughts of repenting, as he knows he has chosen the path of evil.

One event that clearly shows his conformance with evil is his insistence for Helen near the end of the play. Remarkably, he openly acknowledges that he is guilty of one of the deadly sins, the only time that he does so. By demanding Mephistopheles to “let [him] crave of thee, to glut the longing of [his] heart’s desire”, he is clearly aware of the path he is taking, yet proceeds to commit the evil deed. Irrelevant now is whether he can be saved as he has willingly submitted to evil. Faustus tells Helen to “make [him] immortal with a kiss” (5.1.92) and exclaims how “her lips suck forth [his] soul”. The immortality that he is asking for is rather the eternal torment of hell, and it is possible that he sees how evil his soul has become. Furthermore, his first thought after his evil act is to ask Helen to give him his “soul” again. Thus, this realization of his irreversible damnation liberates him from any responsibilities to do good and encourages him to commit sin repeatedly.

The third influence that plays a part in Faustus’ turning towards evil is from the overwhelming presence of evil compared to good. Oddly enough, God does not appear throughout the play, while Lucifer and Mephistopheles consistently arrive at critical moments of Faustus’ doubts. The presence of the devils is important as it prevents Faustus, who initially regrets his decision, from renouncing their contract. For example, as Faustus contemplates repentance, Mephistopheles appears and threatens to tear Faustus to pieces. There is no reply from God nor is there any other counter to this evil. The closest influence we have to rival the powerful impact of evil is that of the Good Angel and the Old Man. Both are helpless at affecting Faustus’ conscience. The Good Angel asks Faustus to repent, to which he responds by immediately “cast[ing] no more doubts” in favor of signing the contract. The Old Man is condemned to torment “with [the] greatest torments that our hell affords”. Thus, calls for evil drastically outweigh any appeals for good, primarily because God does not exert any direct influence.

Faustus is torn between good and evil as he decides to exchange eternal life for power. This conflict quickly changes after he makes the blood bond and mocks the seven deadly sins. Even when given the choice for good, Faustus continually accepts evil as he is convinced of his immutable damnation. Perhaps it is not really a conflict of choice for Faustus, but rather an inevitable demise towards evil.

Doctor Faustus’ closing speech is unquestionably the most emotional scene in Dr. Faustus. His mind moves from idea to idea in desperation and he spends his final hour in vain hoping that he may be spared from his fate. He looks inward for an escape when all he really needs to do is look upward. Lucifer does not send Faustus to hell, Faustus sends himself by not accepting the gift of salvation that God freely offers him right up until the end. This denial of salvation in itself brings out the sheer tragic nature of Faustus, confirming that Faustus is a tragic hero. According to most Elizabethan tragic plays, the essential characteristics of a tragic hero must be failure of judgement and being able to evoke feelings of pity and sorrow in the readers’ mind. Faustus does evoke these feelings but for a number of reasons.

To start off, one of the most obvious forms of tragedy that Marlowe presents in the final soliloquy is the waste of time. A structuralist view on Faustus’s final soliloquy would raise comments on how Marlowe skilfully uses rhythm to underline the passage of time. The starting sentence of his soliloquy is “Now hast thou but one bare hour to live” which is a sequence of monosyllabic words, it is not entirely clear which of them are stressed so it could be said that the line is echoing the striking of the clock (‘The clock strikes eleven’). This echo effect is strengthened by the internal rhyme between ‘Now’ and ‘thou’. The monosyllabic words continue into the next line until the last word: “And then thou must be damned perpetually”. The sudden appearance of the long five-syllable word ‘perpetually’ focuses the readers’ attention on it and alerts us to what it is that Faustus most fears: an infinity of suffering. This idea that he fears perpetual torment is made crystal clear by the hyperbole “Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years, a hundred thousand, and at last be saved.”

Faustus wishes for time to stop or slow down, but the way one line of verse tumbles into the next, accelerating rather than slowing down the rhythm, seems to signal the inevitable frustration of that wish. This abundant imagery of time in Faustus’s last soliloquy authenticates its tragic nature by highlighting that even in this last moments, he is wasting time instead of repenting. On the other hand, a poststructuralist view on this could evoke ideas that Faustus has finally learnt to respect time. This is because the play is massively ambiguous about what happens in the time between the acts. These ambiguities in time perfectly link with Faustus’s ambiguities of knowledge which is what he is trying to resolve in the play. This lapse of time throughout the play contrasts with his final soliloquy which takes readers through every minute of Faustus’s intimate thoughts as he faces his damnation.

In addition to this, one of the most striking reasons his soliloquy is tragic is because of the way it reverses the dreams of power and glory that Faustus expressed in his first soliloquy. In that speech he declared his desire to be more than human, to be a “mighty god”, but now, as he faces an eternity in hell, he wishes that he were less than human: he longs to be transformed into “some brutish beast”, or the paradoxical statement expressing that his soul might “be changed into little water drops, and fall into the ocean, ne’er be found!”. The alliteration of plosives in ‘brutish beast’ creates a very sharp and shocking effect, mimicking Faustus’s unnerved and perturbed state of mind. This is tragic because of the downfall of his aspirations. Faustus’s self-assertive spirit collapses into a desire for existence; his aspiration to divinity turns into a longing for survival as he seeks desperately to escape from “the heavy wrath of God”. This desperation evokes feelings of pity from the readers, crowning Faustus as the tragic hero of the play. However, even though the last soliloquy overflows with tragic and immoral ideas, some readers might consider them to be acts that should be forgiven. This is because Faustus does nothing to harm anybody other than himself. Put in their historical context, a protestant audience would be more than willing to forgive Faustus for his jesting at the expense of the Pope. Furthermore, while Faustus’s folly is undeniable, one can argue that it need not exclude him from sympathies. Faustus’s error is a repeat of that made by Adam, the progenitor of all humanity. Faustus and Adam both transgress after being overcome by curiosity, that most human of instincts. By damning Faustus, Marlowe makes it clear that his moral failure is being unable to repent and having a lack of faith in God. In this way the play can be seen as a religious discussion commenting on what a lack of faith in God can do.

To conclude, in accord with Elizabethan tragedy, within the seeds of his greatness are the very elements of his own destruction. This is where the tragic condition lies. Faustus seeks to gain more knowledge, more understanding, and more control over his own world and thinks that with omnipotent knowledge, he can free himself from the chains of evil he wrapped so blithely around himself. Adam and Eve also fell to the punishment from the lure of knowledge. Of course, quite often Faustus’ fatal flaw is said to be greed and irreverent disregard for goodness. These attributes are brought to a tragic, as well as ironic condition when it is seen that Faustus’ destruction is not prevented by these qualities, but actually enhanced by them. Marlowe even hints that Faustus has finally realised his fatal flaw right at the end of the play through the declarative phrase “Ill burn my books”. The noun ‘books’ connote to knowledge and resolving ambiguities thus it could be said to be symbolic of Faustus’s ambitions, which ultimately lead to his downfall. Paradoxically, it could be referring to the necromantic books and the action of burning them and hoping that he won’t be dammed brings out his still delusional character because It was usual for magicians who wished to renounce their art to prove their sincerity by disposing of their books. Faustus gets himself in so deep and his tragic flaw or error in judgment is so severe that it ultimately leads to his death, thus fulfilling the fate of an Elizabethan tragic hero.

Throughout the course of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, a complex relationship develops between Dr. Faustus and the devil Mephastophilis that can be characterized by Faustus’ total dependence on his counterpart and a mutual sense of possessiveness that inadvertently reveals the despair and longing of Mephastophilis. The pact that Faustus makes with Lucifer is similar to a dark ceremony of matrimony that binds Mephastophilis to Faustus as a servant, “I, John Faustus…do give both body and soul to Lucifer…and his servant Mephastophilis,”. The devil is a servant with a certain degree of authority over his master, however, because he is the source of the man’s power, and with the lines of influence blurred, the two characters grow on one another and bring the inherent sentimentality of their personalities to the surface. It is this imbalance of power between Faustus and Mephastophilis that affects the dynamic of the play most directly.

Even though Mephastophilis is technically defined as Faustus’ servant in the contract, Faustus is completely reliant on the devil, because he is powerless without him. The doctor himself realizes that Mephastophilis is an essential conduit for his powers as he states, “By him (Mephastophilis) I’ll be great emperor of the world,” instead of saying that he would rule entirely of his own volition. It is also Faustus’ hellish partner who performs every one of the mortal’s feats of magic. When the doctor wants to harass the pope, he is able to do so only because Mephastophilis makes him invisible, and Faustus is able to summon Alexander the Great and grapes in winter because he has a devil at his side not because he has special powers or abilities. Faustus’ reliance on his partner trivializes his pact with Lucifer, because essentially the man sold his soul in exchange for the limited service of a devil as opposed to the grandiose aspirations he had in his opening monologue that “All things that move between the quiet poles/ Shall be at my command,”. The only command that Faustus actually has is over Mephastophilis, but that authority is limited by the spirit’s ultimate allegiance to Lucifer who prevents his servant from giving Faustus a wife or speaking of the world’s creator, because both acts concern the divine and are therefore out of Lucifer’s dominion. This limit of knowledge frustrates Faustus as he chides Mephastophilis, “Villain, have I not bound thee to tell me anything?” and the devil replies, “Ay, that is not against our kingdom; but this is./ Think thou on hell, Faustus, for thou art damned’. Despite these limitations, however, Faustus’ reliance on the devil endears him to his “Sweet Mephastophilis”.

While their relationship is not explicitly eroticized, there is a bond between Faustus and Mephastophilis that goes beyond the traditional master-servant relationship. When Mephastophilis tells Faustus to cut his arm so that he can sign the contract in blood, the doctor says, “…for love of thee,/ I cut my arm,” and the devil in turn plays upon this sentiment when Faustus requests a wife as he states, “If thou lovest me, think no more of it,”(V/ 150). Even though Faustus’ love for the devil comes from the power that Mephastophilis has rather than his actual personality, it has the capacity to engender a strong sense of possessiveness in both companions. Mephastophilis seems to actually want to make Faustus happy as he guides him through Rome, “And now, my Faustus, that thou may’st perceive/ What Rome containeth to delight thee with,”(VII/ 28-29). In all his time spent with the mortal Faustus, the devil Mephastophilis becomes attached to the damned man. When the angry horse-courser tries to force his way into Faustus’ chamber, Mephastophilis acts as a sort of nurse ensuring that his master’s sleep is not disturbed. After he lets the man in, it is Mephastophilis who carries on business with the horse-courser while Faustus simply wails about the loss of his “leg.” Even though Faustus’ love of Mephastophilis is a product of his lust for power, Mephastophilis’ feelings towards Faustus are rooted in the fact that the devil can relate to the mortal because he is on the verge of eternal damnation.

When Faustus asks him how he came out of hell, Mephastophilis replies that, for him, hell exists wherever he goes because he has known God and heaven and lost them for all eternity. As Mephastophilis describes his everlasting torment, a sense of compassion overtakes him and he pleads with Faustus, “O Faustus, leave these frivolous demands,/ Which strike a terror to my fainting soul,”( III/ 81-82). This plea seems uncharacteristic for one of the original denizens of hell, but Mephastophilis realizes that Faustus is at a turning point in his life where he can either damn or save his soul, and out of a deep-seated empathy for this precarious position between paradise and hell, the devil gives Faustus a chance to make the right decision. This entreaty indicates that if Mephastophilis had the chance to go back and change his existence, then he would never have renounced God, because the cost was too great. Unfortunately, Faustus is so blinded by pride that he does not heed the warning, and he starts down the same path of damnation that Mephastophilis himself had chosen in the past.

Interaction with a mortal that reminds Mephastophilis of himself causes the devil to take an introspective view, and when he fetches the coals to thin Faustus’ blood, the spirit momentarily reveals a sense of despair, “Oh what will not I do to obtain his soul!”. This outcry reveals the baseness of Mephastophilis’ existence, because he is forced to run errands for a mortal man in order to usher his relatively insignificant soul into hell. He sees the vanity of Faustus’ “frivolous demands,” which are not worth the eternity of torment that Mephastophilis is all too familiar with. As a committed servant of Lucifer, however, Mephastophilis is bound to his hellish duty and can do no more to dissuade the mortal Faustus. Even his one brief moment of commiseration would certainly not have made his master Lucifer happy. While his relationship with Faustus does not necessarily change Mephastophilis, it does reveal the complexity of his character. Even though he is an eternally damned devil, he still longs for the presence of God and eternal bliss to the point that he attempts to guide Faustus in the right direction in his stead.

One might normally think that a devil like Mephastophilis would be unequivocally evil and mean-spirited, but his relation with Faustus reveals the complexities of his character. He is eternally damned, but he does not revel in his own nefariousness, and is in fact capable of compassion. Dr. Faustus is too self-absorbed to listen to the spirit though, and he loses his soul as a result of his excess of pride. Through his pact with Lucifer, the mortal man does not gain any sort of real power or authority, but merely the minimal services of a devil who performs parlor tricks for the man. Faustus sold his soul for the illusion of power, which is demonstrated by his reliance on Mephastophilis, and he does fully realize the folly of his actions until Lucifer’s hordes drag him into hell.