The title character of Christopher Marlowe's play
Doctor Faustus has often been called a "Renaissance man," and the
designation seems appropriate in number of different ways. Those ways include the
following:
- He is, quite literally, a man living
during the historical period commonly thought of as "the Renaissance" (that is, the
sixteenth century, at least in England). - He exemplifes
the strong interest in classical literature and culture that was typical of that
period. - At the same time, he shows the influence of
Christian ideas, which were also extremely important during that
era. - He exemplifies the greater social mobility common
during that period. His parents were "base of stock" (Prologue, 10), but their son
nevertheless rose to great social prominence and
power. - He exemplifies the growing importance of formal
education and especially university training that was common during this time. He has
been to a university and is extremely well educated (which makes his later foolish
choices all the more difficult to understand). - He is
interested in, and even expert in, many different areas of learning -- a sense in which
we still use the phrase "Renaissance man" today. - He has
the kind of high-flying aspirations that were typical of many people during the
Renaissance -- a period (for instance) of enormous geographical
exploration. - He is a "Faustian man" in Oswald Spengler's
sense: a man always striving for another achievement, never content with what he already
has (although the achievements in this case seem ultimately
trivial). - His chief focus seems to be earthly rather than
heavenly, although the main purpose of the play seems to be to check and warn against
precisely the kinds of materialistic impulses that motivate
Faustus. - He is an "over-reacher," as was true of many
people in the Renaissance. Therefore, almost the final words of the play warn us to
. . . Regard his hellish
fall,
Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the
wise
Only to wonder at [that is, merely regard with wonder,
not actually perform] unlawful things. (Epilogue,
4-6)
No comments:
Post a Comment