Dr.

Faustus as a Morality Play:

The play can be largely called a morality play. By selling his soul to the devil, Faustus
lives a blasphemous life full of sterile and sensual pleasures for only 24 years. He
insults the Pope with the Holy Fathers of Rome. There is a sharp conflict in his soul
between his ambition and conscience, between the good angel and the evil angel who
breaks out of this internal struggle. Yet, at the end Faustus yields to the temptations of
Evil angel, thus paving the way of eternal curse (Naeem, 2010: 4-5).

As the last hour approaches, Faustus realizes, with the utmost pain and horror, that his
sins cannot be ignored and nothing can save him from eternal curse. Before the demons
grab his soul into the burning hell, the scourges of the very tormented soul find the
most effective expression in his last soliloquy (Tilling, 1996: 70): "My God, my God,
look not so erce on me!.....".

The main goal of the morality play was educational ethics. It was a dramatic guide to
Christian life and Christian death. Whoever ignores the path of virtue and renounces
faith in God and Christ is destined to despair and eternal curse. This is the message of
Marlowe's play "Dr. Faustus", too. The most palpable expression has been found in the
sad choir in the final lines.

In moral plays, abstract figures of vices or virtues were embodied. Thus in Dr. Faustus,
we also find the good angel and the evil angel, the first symbolizing the path of virtue
and the last of sin and curse. Then, the old man symbolizes the forces of righteousness
and morality.

The comic scenes of Dr. Faustus belong to the tradition of miraculous plays and ancient
morals, especially the first scene of the third chapter, where we found Faustus playing
despicable tricks on the Pope and the fourth scene of the fourth act, where the entire
horse player was overwhelmed by shock and deceived by Faustus.

These are the characteristics taken to prove that Dr. Faustus is a morality play with the
justification of humbleness, belief and compliance to the law of God. In the first act,
Faustus had the opportunity to inquire from Mephostophilis about everything he
wanted to have information about such as hell. At the moment the play begins, he has
no fear of death and tells Mephostophilis afterwards that he thinks hell fable.

We may assume too that he thinks the solitary place we go to post death is paradise. At
the end, it is believed that paradise and hell exist and that one may be and stay there
forever. Faustus can also be considered an atheist because during some acts he denies
the existence of God and believes that the religion is a fake rite, so he says to God that
he wants to weep but his tears are depleted by the devil.
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As he, at last, asks for mercy and wishes to repent to his creator, he is forbidden and
obliged to be eternally in hell. In this play, we are familiarized with Faustus' sacred
beliefs and in what way they are related to cultural studies. The play was made during
the era of Shakespeare and what was known about heaven and hell might differ from
what we think today.

Some Themes Related to Morality in the Play:

- Temptation & Sin:

Extremely indulged in Christianity, the play surveys the appealing temptation of sin, its
results, and the probability of salvation for a sinner similar to Dr. Faustus. His journey
may be looked at with regard to the possible path from temptation to sin to redemption:
his aspiration is lured by the possibility of infinite knowledge and power, he commits
sins to attain this, and then refuses probable salvation and redemption. He is so trapped
in his longing for power that he ignores the results of his dealings with Lucifer.
Surrendering to his temptations, he refuses God all for Lucifer and Mephastophilis, a
sin if there is sin.

In depicting his sinful conduct, Marlow exposes the passive impacts of sin on Faustus
himself. In spite of his initially noble aspirations, Faustus finishes up utilizing his
magic for practical jokes, tricks, and calling for a pretty woman. Faustus was some
time ago a respected scientist, yet after dealing with Satan, he looks like just a shadow
of his previous self. Whereas Faustus and the others harm themselves through sins, yet
he has the option of salvation all through the play. As the Good Angel told him, it is not
late to repent and thus have God's mercy. However, Faustus is convinced not to repent
by the Evil Angel, principally by persuading him that he is already cursed that he will
never be able to return to God. Both angels may be looked at as representing the
opposition of redemption and the temptation of more sin. Most of the play, Faustus
gives his ears to the Evil Angel, but looks as if he repents in the last scene. The
question about whether he truly repents at the end or not is arguable and has significant
insinuations for whether the play implies that at some point it is too late for a sinner
like Faustus to repent and have redemption. However, whether he repented too late or
did not truly repent, he refuses the opportunity of salvation and is cursed in the end
because of his sins.
- Flash and Spirit:

The struggle between flash and spirit is robustly portrayed in Dr. Faustus. Flash is
connected to man's physical desires and lusts, whereas spirit concerns faith and God.
Flash regards worldly joys more significant, whereas spirit resists these lusts and
desires. Faustus evaluates flash more than spirit.
- Good & Evil:

The issue of good and evil is the most significant one shown in Dr. Faustus. The
struggle between good and evil turns the man to be hesitant and remain puzzled like
Dr. Faustus in that he must agree either to good or evil and which way is the good and
which way is the bad for him.

- Pride & Sin:

The factor of pride and sin is the most significant one in Dr. Faustus' fall. Pride
affiliates to the 7 deadly sins. Regarding himself better than all others, he falls in the
trap of pride and promptly take on sin to realize and achieve his lusts and desires,
leading him to hell.

- Salvation & Damnation:

In the Christianity, salvation is essential for every Christian to be saved from hell. If a
person fails to have salvation, he will be cursed forever. Actually, salvation concerns
repentance, but Dr. Faustus rejects to repent, causing his damnation and eternal
punishment in hell.

- Knowledge & Wisdom:

Dr. Faustus is eager for knowledge. He studies almost all branches of knowledge as
well as religion, yet he still feels hungry for more knowledge that is the reason behind
adopting the prohibited knowledge "the black magic". Here, wisdom fails him.

- Man’s Lust & Power Limitations:

Dr. Faustus like any other human being has a lot of desires and lusts such as the lust for
wealth, beauty, power... etc, yet when he decides to take the incorrect way to have his
desires and lusts fulfilled, he has no success. After selling his soul to Satan for his
desires to be fulfilled, he thought that he could do anything in his power, but afterwards
he recognized his limitations as a human when he utilized his black art or black magic
just to entertain the dukes. He was unable to create something like God, showing his
power limitations.

- Greed:

Like any other protagonists of Marlow’s plays, Dr. Faustus forgets his responsibilities
and duties to God and other creatures, but rather he tries to hide his weak personality.
He was in a tragic series of greed.
Conclusion

From the above mentioned material, we can conclude that Christopher Marlowe is an
English playwright as well as a poet from the Elizabethan time. He is the first
Elizabethan tragedy writer of his time.

Marlowe follows the typical model of moral play remarkably in the personalities and
characters he utilizes: a lot of whom are figurative characters. For instance, Good as
well as Bad Angels may be considered such characters. The first one evidently signifies
the good power which attempts to direct Faustus towards repentance, and the evil
power which leads him to curse.

Nevertheless, if one takes a glance at the play text, one will observe that the Good and
Evil Angels often emerge temporarily, and frequently serve as a pause for Faustus'
discourse. Afterwards, they vanish once more. This thing implies that their
personalities are not real, but the incarnation of Faustus' ideas and suspicions.

Despite all its connections to the wonders or morals of the Middle Ages, Doctor
Faustus may not ever be treated as a morality play. It is the greatest heroic tragedy
because of its enormous pressure on characterization and internal strife in the soul of a
lofty character. We can conclude that Dr. Faustus is both the fulfillment of the English
moral traditions and the finest and final of Marlow's heroic plays. As a morality play, it
proves humility, belief and compliance to God's law. As a heroic play, it rejoices power,
beauty, wealth and knowledge as well as it seems to be a supplement to "Tamburlaine
the great" plays.

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