Aristotle
Political and Philosophical theories place too heavy a burden upon a writer. The inevitable result seems to be texts that are didactic and polemical, rather than imaginative and creative. Discuss any one text, which you believe disproves this assertion.
(706 Words)
Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe can be said to be a didactic text that details the death of the main character; the time leading up to that point and what becomes of his soul. It teaches us about his condemnation, not his salvation. However, contrary to this to disprove this assertion, Dr. Faustus is not just a didactic play. It is a play about Man pushing himself further, trying to have an intoxicating time and dream. He is a man that has been given three wishes and could be said to have found a genie in a bottle. What would the reader do with the wishes/genie? How would the reader strive for more than what they have got? Having the desire to have three wishes or to find a genie in a bottle is found in any person that allows not only them to be imaginative and creative but also the author.
Dr. Faustus wishes for many things and finds his genie in Mephistopheles. Dr. Faustus makes use of his newfound chances. He is a man who is a knowledge seeker. He wants to find out more than is good for him to know. This can not be wrong as a man who wants more than he has been offered. He does not want to plod along in life. He wants to eat, drink, and be merry. It is no accident that he compares himself to Colossus (IV, VII). Faustus is a scholar, books are his trade, philosophy his strength. Dr. Faustus begins by reading about the Greeks, Aristotle and ends up desiring Helen of Troy. His reading also contains maps that show Faustus exotic lands with their promise of new sensations. His study of classical authors has to be commendable as they are immense stories of biblical status.
The reader can, of course, decide to view Faustus through more modern eyes; he strives to better himself, his covetousness is soaring. This is particularly shown through the eyes of those who, in the eighteenth century, used him as an example of a positive thirst for knowledge, as a ‘striver’, as someone who anticipates the Age of Reason and tries to stand on his own two feet and work out his own salvation and try to better himself. He is motivated largely, but perhaps not entirely, by a desire for pleasure. The reader can assume that during most parts of the play, Faustus is a popular character, a great source of fun. Faustus hears renaissance voices who tell him to extend the boundaries of human knowledge, seek wealth and power, live this life because tomorrow you will be dead, such a popular theme is known as ‘carpe diem’ or ‘seize the day’.
In his superhuman aspirations, he mixes a desire for knowledge with no less strong desire for pleasure, power, and rape of overseas provinces, which were beginning to be colonized and exploited at the time. There is something of a rude soldier of fortune of him: ‘As Indian Moors obey their Spanish lords’ 1:121, draws a specific analogy between the quest for hidden knowledge and the brutal activities of their colonial powers. He acts as if he were king, he commands, dictates terms. He wants to be some sort of superhero and why not? Life for him is for living.
Faustus decides to live bravely for his time on earth, a strong man who challenges life, he goes and explores, he does not wait for life to come to him. The play mentions that he does grand things that are useful to his countrymen, but he only feels at peace when he is playing practical jokes. His last two words are ‘Ah Mephastophilis’, he dies in the arms of his deceitful friend with immense relief, also gratitude, surprise, love, forgiveness, and exhaustion. It is the happiest death in drama.
Christopher Marlowe‘s assertion to a modern reader can be very different from those at the time; this is where you can think of Faustus not only as an explorer but also as someone who wants to extend the boundaries of life. This could be a lesson for all which is relayed to the reader from Marlowe’s imaginative and creative text.
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