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MEdieval Renaissance conflict in Dr Faustus

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MEdieval Renaissance conflict in Dr Faustus
SEMINAR PAPER

TOPIC : THE MEDIEVAL-RENAISSANCE CONFLICT IN DOCTOR FAUSTUS

COURSE : DRAMA FROM ELIZABETHAN TO RESTORATION AGE

Prepared by:
A*****i S**i
A0706112066
B.A.(Hons.)English
Amity Institute of English Studies and Research
Course Incharge – Dr. Dipankar Sukul

INTRODUCTION
Doctor Faustus is a play written by Christopher Marlowe. It was first published in 1604. Marlowe developed the play around the Faust legend-the story of a man who sold his soul to the devil to procure supernatural powers-which was a very popular story in Germany during the early part of the fifteenth century.
In the play, the protagonist, Doctor Faustus, is a well-respected German scholar who grows dissatisfied with his studies of medicine, law, logic and theology. He wants a career to match the scope of his ambition, a subject to challenge his enormous intellect; therefore, he decides to turn to the dangerous practice of necromancy, or magic. He makes a pact with Mephistophilis to sell his soul to Lucifer in return of twenty-four years of absolute power. Later, in his study, when Faustus begins to despair, a Good Angel and a Bad Angel appear to him; each encourages him to follow his advice.
Mephistophilis appears and Faustus agrees to sign a contract in blood with the devil even though several omens appear which warn him not to make this bond. Faustus begins to repent of his bargain as the voice of the Good Angel continues to urge him to repent. To divert Faustus, Mephistophilis and Lucifer both appear and parade the seven deadly sins before Faustus. After this, Mephistophilis takes Faustus to Rome and leads him into the pope 's private chambers, where the two become invisible and play pranks on the pope and some unsuspecting friars. After this episode, Faustus and Mephistophilis go to the German emperor 's court, where they conjure up Alexander the Great. At this time, Faustus also makes a pair of horns suddenly appear on one of the knights who had been sceptical


Cited: 1. "SparkNotes: Doctor Faustus." SparkNotes: Today 's Most Popular Study Guides. Accessed on 24th Oct. 2012. 2. "Doctor Faustus." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Accessed on 24th Oct. 2012. 3. "Doctor Faustus".CliffsNotes.com. Accessed on 21st Oct. 2012. . 4. . 5. Mukherjee, Suroopa. “Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus”. Worldview Critical Editions. Worldview Publishers, Delhi. Published in 2012 6. Michael J.Cummings. “Doctor Faustus”. Cummingsstudyguide.com. Updated in 2012. Accessed on 22nd Oct 2012
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