DOWNALL OF DR FAUSTUS

 

LESSON 2021 DEC DR FAUSTUS

 

The main cause of Dr. Faustus's downfall is his hubris, or overweening pride. Faustus has a pretty good life, overall, but he's still not satisfied. He wants power; he wants to be renowned the world over as a great genius. But human learning has its limitations. The capacities of the human mind are such as to preclude the kind of power over nature that Faustus craves. So he turns to the dark side for help. He starts dabbling in black magic, making him vulnerable to the overtures of the devil.

 

Lucifer plays upon Faustus's hubris and intellectual vanity by dispatching his servant Mephastophilis to make him an offer he can't refuse: twenty-four years of service in exchange for his soul. Faustus wavers before entering into the bargain, and the temptation to have everything he's ever wanted is just too great. Although Faustus knows full well that he's playing with fire, that he's placing his very soul in danger, he still goes right ahead and agrees to the diabolical deal, which he signs with his own blood. Ultimately, his overweening pride has got the better of him, and it will lead directly to his eventual downfall.

There are multiple reasons why Faustus chose the path of destruction, both internal and external. Internally, Faustus was dissatisfied with his studies in divinity, with waiting around for the afterlife, to be fulfilled by God. Faustus also had an ego, and desired to have absolute power for a period of time; although he was incredibly knowledgeable and well-read, he continually thirsted for more and was willing to sacrifice everything for it. Marlowe likely knew it was human nature to never be satisfied, and Faustus wouldn't be satisfied until he struck a deal with Lucifer. Externally, Faustus was tempted by Mephistopheles, Lucifer's servant. Mephistopheles lured Faustus into believing that the things Lucifer would provide him on Earth -- knowledge, power, renown -- would prove more satisfying than waiting on God and heaven for the rest of his life. The Evil Angel also tempts Faustus, in spite of pleas issued by the Good Angel for Faustus' repentance.

 

The focus of this study goes to the downfall of the protagonist of the play Doctor Faustus. Three causing factors of downfall emerging from the study are insatiable passion, inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality, and uncontrollable praxis of necromancy.

 

This study is to analyse the causing factors of the downfall of Doctor Faustus, the protagonist in the play. The causing factors are Insatiable Passion, Inability to Distinguish between Fantasy and Reality and Uncontrollable Praxis of Necromancy. All the three aspects become the sub-titles of discussion, conducted by means of descriptive qualitative method proposed by Baum (2009).

2.1.Downfall

Down fall is classified into two categories: personal downfall and general downfall, both of which have different causing factors .The first deals with the intrinsic and the second with extrinsic factors. The first usually comes from within and the second from without. In the first part ,man becomes the creator and in the second man powerless being[5].

Downfall simply means misfortune or great loss, either caused by internal factors or external factors. In the case of Dr Faustus, the dominant factors come from within Dr Faustus, as he is unable to identify his standing. He is a man of high learning having specification in Theology. He should have known all the things pertaining to the knowledge of God :what to do and what not to do .He faces his tragic downfall by what he has done. Several theories and concepts are taken to support the analysis of the subject matter. In general, downfall could be applied either to human beings or inanimate objects. Some downfall is on the edge of natural and non-natural. Famines, the chronic lack of food, may be caused by a combination of natural and human factors.

2.2.Passion

According to Christian (2011, 87) passion enables us to overcome obstacles.The power of passion also enables us to have self-confidence, trust ourselves and to take the risks required to live every day to its fullest.Butontheotherhand,toomuchpassionwillsurelyruinapersonashappened to Faustus. He is over energetic that he does not realize that as a human being, he is weak physically and mentally. PassionisatermappliedtoaverystrongfeelingaboutapersonorthingPassionisan intense emotion compelling, enthusiasm , or desire for anything. The term is also often applied to alively or eager interest in or admiration for a proposal ,cause, or activity or love to a feeling of unusual excitement, enthusiasm or compelling emotion, a positive affinity or love, towards a subject. It is particularly used in the context of romance

or sexual desire though it generally implies a deeper or more encompassing emotion than that implied by the term lust.

2.3.Fantasy

Fantasy is a way to tell stories about the fantastic. When set in this world, it tells a story which is impossible in the world as we perceive it (perception), when set in an otherworld, that otherworld will be impossible, though stories set there may be possible in its terms Fantasy can drive some people to act out immoral, even illegal, things. Fantasies, like anything which creates excitement and pleasure, can be addictive and so too can the acts which feed them. Like any other addiction, fantasies can be classifiedassuchwhentheyimpactdetrimentallyuponourlifeandwecannotsimply stop indulging, even though it is causing us and this is what happens to Faustus. His fantasy to rule the world is so great that he cannot think properly. Like everything in life, there are needs to be balance. Having an imagination and filling it with things that feel good can be, in many ways ,a great blessing .But if these fantasies become misplaced if they consume and create barriers between what we have and what we want, we can indeed become dissatisfied with, and desensitized to, reality and this will cause a downfall.

2.4.Reality

Realityis the stateofthings as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined.In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible Bycontrastexistenceisoftenrestricted solely to that which has physical existence or has a direct basis in it in the way that thoughts do in the brain. Reality is often contrasted with what is imaginary, delusional, (only) in the mind, dreams, what is false, what is fictional, or what is abstract. At the same time, what is abstract plays a role both in everyday life and in academic research. For instance, causality, virtue, life and distributive justice are abstract concepts that can be difficult to define, but they are only rarely equal with pure delusions. Both the existence and reality of abstractions is in dispute: one extreme position regard them as mere words, another position regard them as higher truths than less abstract concepts. This disagreement is the basis of the philosophical problem of universals. The truth refers to what is real, while falsity refers to what is not. Fictions are considered not real.

2.5.Praxis

Praxis is the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted ,practiced ,embodied, orrealised(Rees,2012:140).”Praxis”mayalsorefertotheactofengaging,applying, exercising, realizing, or practicing ideas. This has been a recurrent topic in the field of philosophy, discussed in the writings of many great philosophers. It has meaning in the political, educational, and spiritual realms.

2.6.Necromancy

Necromancy is a form of magic involving communication with the deceased either by summoning their spirit as an apparition or raising them bodily for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge. The term may sometimes be used in a more general sense to refer to black magic or witchcraft. Necromancy is more generally used as a term to describe the pretence of manipulation of death and the dead ,often facilitated through the use of ritual magic or some other kinds of occult ceremony. Contemporary séances, channelling and Spiritualism verge on necromancy when supposedly invoked spirits are asked to reveal future events or secret information. Necromancy may also be presented as sciomancy, a branch of the Ugric magic. There is much in this life that remains unseen. In Necromancy what is beneath our vision is brought to eye level and frozen in time, offering us point blank an invitation to share in a moment from an unseen world . Necromancy is a celebration of intimate moments with small things and as Roy (1997: 86) reminds us, there is a special god just for small things. Necromancy is a form of magic involving communication with the deceased either by summoning their spirit as an apparition or raising them bodily for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge. In the present day, necromancy is more generally used as a term to describe the pretence of manipulation of death and the dead, often facilitated through the use of ritual magic or some other kind of occult ceremony.