Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

The Conflict between Medieval and Renaissance Values in Doctor Faustus

Good Essays
766 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Conflict between Medieval and Renaissance Values in Doctor Faustus
The Conflict between Medieval and Renaissance Values in Doctor Faustus Doctor Faustus, is a play by Christopher Marlowe, based on a folktale of Germantic people, in which a man by selling his soul to devil for passionately seeking for power, the power of knowledge for twenty-fourth years living in all voluptuousness with the servitude from Mephastophilis. In this play, it has revealed about sin, redemption or damnation, the influence of power on corrupting, the divided nature of man, and the conflict between medieval and renaissance values. However, in my following essay, I would like to focus on the subject of conflict between medieval and renaissance. The Renaissance was a movement that began in Italy in the fifteenth century and soon spread throughout Europe, influenced over all aspects of intellectual inquiry, from literature, science, art, politics to religion, etc. Nevertheless, with the advent of Renaissance, there is a clash between the medieval world and Renaissance, the medieval world placed God at the center of existence, there’s only one book you should read throughout your lifetime—the Bible. To be frankly, in the medieval academy, theology is the queen for everything; on the other hand, in the Renaissance, people pursued the idea of anthropocentric, which means it carrying a new emphasis on individuals, on classical learning, and on scientific inquiry into the nature of the world. There are apparent examples from the context of Faustus which showing the conflict between the medieval and Renaissance. For instance, the first one, in the medieval, a scholar or monks were defined or regarded as women, without being respected, it was more likely to be despised or discriminated. However, in this play, Faustus is being a “well-respected” German scholar, because in Renaissance, constantly in pursuit of knowledge is regarded as the most important thing, people should pursuit the goal of going beyond the limits of oneself. As presented in the story, Faustus goes through every field of scholarship, and grows dissatisfied with the limit of traditional forms of knowledge—logic, medicine, law, and religion—and decides that he wants to learn the necromancy, with that kind of mysterious alchemy, he can become like God, or even greater than God. In addition, Faustus is portrayed as a hero in the story, with the power of alchemy, Faustus can make people who died many years seems to revive again, doing many things that normal people can’t do. Being love and respect by the king and other people, Faustus’s self-confident, vanity, and hubris arises spontaneously, however, he’s only gradually pushing himself into an inexorable misadventure, because the pact with Lucifer will expire ultimately. Second, Faustus begins to travel around the world after armed with his new power, the necromancy, and attended by Mephastophilis; with the capability to move instantaneously, also indicated the advances in technology and transportation. With the advent of The Age of Discovery in fifteen century, not only the expansion of territory also the growth of knowledge, people at that time started to have different views on the world. Third, there’s still a shadow of conventional religions inside the works, Doctor Faustus. For example, when Faustus asks Mephastophilis the questions about the nature of the world, Mephastophilis answers all of them, but with only one exception, refusing to answer the question of who made the universe because--God made the universe. Throughout this play, it also conveys this belief continuously, as long as Faustus is willing to repent, he’s still can avoid the damnation and regain the redemption from God. Furthermore, Marlowe also use his techniques to undermine Faustus’s heroic stature; once Faustus gains his awesome powers, instead of using them to do great deeds, like God, he uses his power to playing tricks on people, such as the antlers on the knight’s head and the enchanted horse. Such magical practical jokes seems to be Faustus’s major amusement, and “Marlowe used them to illustrate Faustus’ decline from a great, prideful scholar into a bored, mediocre magician with no higher ambition than to have a laugh at the expense of a collection of simpletons”(SparkNotes Editors). After reading this works, Faustus may just be the author’s projection, reflecting that in such an unstable era of ideological convention, he is also want to pursuit for knowledge, go beyond the limits, and get rid of the shackles of the church on people's thinking. The struggles with Faustus’s mental and soul, is also probably symbolized the realistic portrait of human being with a will divided between good and bad. Showing people’ anxiety and vacillation when faced the clash between the medieval world and Renaissance.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Cited: Manchester, William. A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age. Boston: Little, Brown, 1993. Print.…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Reading Journal: A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance – Portrait of an Age.…

    • 5857 Words
    • 24 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Literature is another area where the Renaissance changed thinking about man’s nature. According the play, Everyman, people have nothing to look forward to but, sin, death, and judgment. More than 200 years later, William Shakespeare writing celebrates man’s existence, “What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason!...” Whereas, medieval Everyman sees man as powerless and the message is…

    • 535 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Middle Ages Dbq Essay

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Middle-Ages occurred after the fall of the Roman Empire around 500 C.E. and lasted until around 1350 C.E. The Middle-Ages are commonly referred to as the “Dark Ages” due to lack of education, the heavy control and domination of the Catholic Church, and the “Black Death” that killed off a third of the population in Europe. The Middle-Ages began to phase out as a new movement swept across Europe called the Renaissance. “The word ‘renaissance’ means ‘rebirth’ or ‘revival’.” The amount of impact the Renaissance had undergo for centuries. Due to the Renaissance people have seen new ways of themselves with science and cultural beliefs. The Renaissance was a time when art and Literature highly opened up to people. The purpose of this paper is to explain how the Renaissance changed the views of the world.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Middle Ages Dbq

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Middle Ages was a dreadful time in human history, According to the Background Essay it states that, “During the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope were the primary players in Europe. The custodians of culture - that is, the people who owned most of the books and made handwritten copies of the Bible - were priests who often lived a closed existence inside the walls of monasteries. Schools were few. Illiteracy was widespread.”(Background Essay). With the creation of the printing press the Renaissance had started and made people more joyful. What was mainly impacted in this era was art, literature, and science. Unlike The Middle Ages the Renaissance was an enlightenment period, allowing for education and creativity to spread quickly, with the creation of the printing press books were more affordable which allowed for more consumers. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the change of man’s view of The Middle Ages to the Renaissance.…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Many historians think that The Middle Ages is a time period of nescience, where few or no improvement took place. The Church was the midpoint of consideration, and in place of rational perspective of the world, beliefs took shape around superstition. On the other hand, following the Middle Ages there was a specific era labeled as the Reneissance where education and developments became revival. It was like a bridge between medieval times and modern history.That is why, the Renaissance was seen as a archetype of the current world and changed people’s way of life, sight of art and scientific…

    • 100 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Finding it’s dogmatic position being challenged by new ‘heretic’ theories, the church attempted to pressure Renaissance physicians and scholars into silence by persecuting and excommunicating them. They were god fearing people who also believed in their scientific vocation. This conflict between science and religion can serve as evidence to support the idea that religion did still play a fundamental role in Renaissance Europe as it shows that even the most forward thinking minds of the era were still god fearing individuals who could be blackmailed by the church due to their faith.…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Faust and Romanticism

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s tragic play Faust, we see the romantic side of the ninteenth century. In the age of romanticism we see the dominance and assertion of a more individualist society heavily based on imagination and freedom. When society became more heavily individualized poets began to take advantage of this and write plays based on individual characters like Faust. Goethe took advantage of the heavily romantic influence and spent his life righting the play Faust. The ultimate goal of Goethe’s Faust was to achieve the understanding and sympathy of all cultures which fully embodies romanticism.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Niccolo Machiavelli

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages

    From Niccolo Machiavelli 's farm near San Casciano he wrote The Prince (1513) which has been described as depicting Renaissance humanism, where secularism, history, and intellectual freedom are all stressed. This essay will maintain this notion by exploring the definition of humanism and exploring the text of Niccolo Machiavelli to see if his work, The Prince, does sustain the characteristics of humanism. The most important characteristics of Renaissance humanism that will be examined include secularism, the importance of history, and intellectual freedom. Humanism as a system of thought focuses on humans and their values, capacities, and worth. This will be mentioned on the section discussing intellectual freedom. More specifically Renaissance humanism was a cultural and intellectual movement that emphasized secular concerns because of the rediscovery and fascination of the literature, art, and civilization of ancient Greece and Rome. This will be discussed on the section about the importance of history and secularism.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Doctor Faustus

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Read the following passage from Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. Discuss Marlowe’s use of language in this passage and how it contributes to the characterization of Faustus.…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Cited: Bevington, David M. "Introduction." Doctor Faustus A- and B- texts (1604, 1616). By Christopher Marlowe. Ed. David M. Bevington and Eric Rasmussen. New York: Manchester UP, 1993. 1-102. Print.…

    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Romanticism of Faust

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Romanticism is a period during the early nineteenth century where literature and fine arts were based on imagination, personal emotion and freedom from any form of rules. One of the leading authors that exhibit this in his writing is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. One particular story that exemplifies this is Faust which was written by Goethe. In the story, the main character, Faust, actually shows parts of imagination, personal emotion and free of rules.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Redemption Of Faust

    • 2264 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Traditionally, the story of Faust is bookended by two plot points – It begins with the doctor making a deal with a devil, and ends with him dragged to Hell as punishment. However, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s two-part masterpiece Faust breaks with the established plot when Faust is forgiven and assumed to heaven. The decision to save Faust was predicated by changes in the literary and social atmospheres throughout the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. Ultimately, the redemption of Faust in the second part of Goethe’s tragedy is the result of such disparate movements as the Enlightenment, the Sturm und Drang, Weimar Classicism, German Idealism, and Romantic natural philosophy. One of the earliest examples of the story of Faust is the 1592…

    • 2264 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    On the face of it, Dr. Faustus is not an anti-Catholic play. Yet, once you have read into it certain aspects of the play - there are many anti-Catholic notions and views that Marlowe has placed within the text. If the reader has no prior knowledge of how the world was in the Sixteenth century, then they would probably not uncover Marlowe's hidden messages. There are many issues dealt with in the play, yet, they all follow a route to anti-Catholicism. All of the ideas dealt with are reminiscent of the period that Marlowe is writing in, when people did have quite 'humanist' views and were hostile towards the Catholic Church because of the lies that they had been telling.The main theme of anti-Catholicism is Dr. Faustus' rejection of God. For a sixteenth century audience to watch someone reject God and sell their soul to the devil is the most anti-religious thing that they could do. They most probably would have been petrified of what the consequences of his actions would be. Yet, at the same time, would most probably have admired his courage to stand against an establishment that had ruled their entire lives by preaching falsehoods and in effect stealing from them (through the sales of 'indulgences'). Also, right from the beginning when we are introduced to Faustus, we find him in Wittenberg - the same place in which the monk Martin Luther lived - an anti-catholic statement in itself as Luther himself opposed the Catholic regime. I believe Marlowe has intentionally set the play in Wittenberg to make a statement right from the beginning that this play is set out to make anti-Catholic notions.The play deals with sin and damnation at the heart of Christianity's understanding of the world. The play shows us that Faustus' pride, which causes him to strive for knowledge, may have seemed admirable at the turning point in the Renaissance period, but that this pride and insolence to go against God makes him despaired of God's mercy. Christian teaching at the time was that if…

    • 1299 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics