Doctor Faustus Handout

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Echoes of Faustus Handout for Dr. Faustus

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English 101, Fall 2002

Jeen Yu

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“What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving, how express and admirable in action, how like an angel in apprehension, how like a god!”

Hamlet 2.2 303-07.

“I have no spur/ To pick the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting ambition, which o’er leaps itself,/ And falls on’th’other…”

Macbeth 1.7. 25-28.

“Knowledge is as food, and needs no less/ Her temperance over appetite. To know/ In measure what the mind may well contain,? Oppresses else with surfeit, and soon turns/ Wisdom into folly, as nourishment to wind.”

Raphael to Adam, Paradise Lost, Bk 7, 126-30.

“Be famous then/ By wisdom; as thy empire must extend, / So let extend thy mind o’er all the world,/ In knowledge all things in it comprehend.”

Satan to Jesus, Paradise Regained, Bk 4, 221-24.

Who therefore seeks in these True wisdom, finds her not or by delusion Far worse, her false resemblance only meets, An empty cloud. However may books Wise men have said are wearisome; who reads Incessantly, and to his reading brings not A spirit and judgement equal or superior … Uncertain and unsettled still remains, Deep-versed in books and shallow in himself, Crude or intoxicate, collecting toys, And trifles for choice matters, worth a sponge; As children gathering pebbles on the shore.

Jesus’ reply, PR 4, 318-30.

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Instructions for Activity

In small groups (of no more than 4) discuss and respond to one of the following questions (note: group members need not reach a consensus in their responses):

1. In what way can Dr. Faustus be, or not be considered a Christian tragedy? Consider the conflation of, and conflicts between, Christianity and humanism (or conflicts between medieval and Renaissance values) throughout the play, and find instances in the text to support your observations.

2. What role do the comic characters play in this tragedy, and how to their “chorused” language and action illuminate Faustus’ internal struggles?

3. Is Mephistophilis simply a “stock” (i.e., one dimensional) character? What are his motives and how might they complicate his role?

4. What are the uses of necromancy (black magic) and what re the limits of its power? (Is a “sound magician” really a “mighty god”?) Discuss specific scenes.

5. How does blood symbolize both the damnation and the (impossible) redemption of Faustus’ soul, and how does it symbolize the junction and/or the opposition between body and spirit?

6. What is the significance of geographical setting in the play( i.e., Germany/Italy)? Consider religious and ideological struggles or, more specifically, Faustus’ rejection of “authority” (which kinds?) and the larger issue of power as a corrupting influence.