Why Should Doctor Faustus Be Condemned？

Chaoying+Jia

“Magic always comes with a price” （Once Upon a Time）. This is not only for characters in Storybrooke but also for Doctor Faustus in Christopher Marlowes play of the same name. Faustus paid his body and soul for 24-year Mephastophilis service. After Faustus found that Mephastophilis could not glut his desires and curiosities， he regretted signing the contract and first called Christs name for redemption. Meanwhile Lucifer showed up and introduced seven sins to Faustus， including the sins he already committed and he would commit soon （Marlowe， Scene 5）. Though the sins Doctor Faustus committed seemed petty， he should be condemned because the price of his sins needed payment.

The first sin committed by Doctor Faustus is Pride， which is also the reason why Lucifer was thrown to hell. Pride is described as an accessory to the one who possessed it. It embraced its owner but immediately despised him or her， which is like Lucifer and Faustus to God. When Faustus asked Mephastophilis how Lucifer， once loved by God， became the evil， Mephastophilis explained that Lucifer was condemned “by aspiring pride and insolence” （Marlowe， Scene 3， 67）. Lucifer declared that “I [he] will ascend above the tops of the clouds；I [he] will make myself [himself] like the Most High” （The Book of Isaiah， 14： 13-14： 14）， which showed his unwillingness to serve God and his ambition to replace God. Warren D. Smith indicated that the sins Faustus committed were far below from expectation （172）；actually， Faustus committed the same sin as Lucifer. Faustus pursued eternity but he failed to find that in logics， philosophy， and being a physician. He turned to necromancy because “a sound magician is a mighty god” （Marlowe， Scene 1， 62）. After Faustus signed the contract with Mephatophilis， he thought he would “be great emperor of the world” （Marlowe， Scene 3， 104）. However， later he addressed the Emperor as “my gracious sovereign” （Marlowe， Scene 9， 11） and addressed the Duke as “my gracious lord” （Marlowe， Scene 11， 3）. Faustus sold his soul for being supreme but in contrary he got the chance of being humble in front of aristocrats. Given Lucifer， once an angel， was suffering in hell due to his pride of being God himself， Doctor Faustus， as a common scholar， was punished to suffer being humble.

Covetousness， the second sin in line， was also committed by Faustus. One of the initial goals which motivated Faustus to learn necromancy was to “have them [people] fly to India for gold” （Scene 1， 82）， which is an apparent desire for money and luxury. Besides， Faustus also desired eternity and command over all things between unmoving poles， which almost contains everything in this world. According to St. Augustine， while the charity represents the enjoyment of oneself through God while the cupidity means the enjoyment of oneself through something other than God （88）. Faustus turned away from God and tried to make himself the source of enjoyment. Margaret Ann OBrien suggested that Faustus commitment to cupidity was his sin （4）. His wants were not limited in the secular world but intruding the dominance of God. Since Doctor Faustus daydreamed about Gods position and possession， he needed repent his ambition banned from human beings.endprint

Doctor Faustus not only committed wrath， the third sin， himself but also brought wrath inside the knight. When Faustus came to the Emperor and was asked to prove his magic， the knight did not believe it and spoke out his despise in front of the Emperor. He was certain that bringing Alexander and his paramour back was as ridiculous as that “Dianna turned me [him] to a stag” （Marlowe， Scene 9， 52）. These words made Faustus awkward and triggered wrath inside him. After proving his skill， Faustus did add the horns on the knight as he promised that “when Actaeon died， he left the horns for you [the knight]” （Marlowe， Scene 9， 53）. The knight first arose the deadly sin wrath in Faustus and was punished by having a pair of horns. However， as soon as the knight found the redundant horns， Faustus would be guilty of making the knight furious. While the knight had paid for arising wrath in other people， Doctor Faustus needed suffer under the same reason.

The dream of Envy， the fourth sin， is similar to the one of Faustus. Envy wanted any others in this world to starve so that it would be watched to become the fattest thing （Marlowe， Scene 5， 301-305）. Faustus wanted to be the most powerful person in this world and to be appreciated by other mighty people. He commanded that “the emperor shall not live but by my [his] leave， nor any potentate of Germany” （Marlowe， Scene 3， 110-111）. Their demands were void since the only consequence they could get was the temporary fulfillment of their vanity and nothing else. After achieving their respective goals， they barely had nothing left to do except demanding more until they would commit the sin of Pride and Covetousness and be punished. Though the similarities supported the reasonability of punishing Faustus， the contrast between Envy and Doctor Faustus was more sarcastic. As Envy could not read， it paid attention on the appetites；however， after reading so many books and learning so much knowledge， Faustus moved focus from appetites， the natural need， to position， the artificial need. It seemed that the books Faustus read did not help him except disguising the form of his sin. Since Envy was a deadly sin， its similar version Faustus should be a deadly sin or be punished as a deadly sin.

For Gluttony， the fifth sin， Doctor Faustus did not commit himself but helped Duchess commit it. After his magic skills being known， in winter the Duke and Duchess begged him to bring grapes， which were supposed to ripen in summer. Based on the self-introduction of Gluttony （Marlowe， Scene 5， 306-316）， its big appetite represented eating a lot while its aristocratic lineage indicated eating luxuriously. Though the command of Duke and Duchess committed Gluttony， Faustus still brought grapes for them and got well rewarded （Marlowe， Scene 11）. This thing seemed that Faustus helped them get through her thirst for grapes but actually he was helping Gluttony get into them. Like preachers spreading the bless of God， Faustus was spreading petty but deadly sins.endprint

Sloth， the sixth sin， was committed by Doctor Faustus physically and mentally. Warren D. Smith argued that it was sloth for Faustus to sleep in his chair， letting alone the coming sentence （4）. Besides physical sloth， he contained mental sloth. For all his ambitions， he could have chosen other ways to achieve them， such as persisting to be good to gain the opportunity of staying in heaven after death and obtaining eternity there. However， he chose the easier way and traded with the evil. He thought that he would be the worlds commander but he was humbler；he thought he would get a wife but he got a whore；he thought he would get all the knowledge without thinking but he got no answers from Mephastophilis；he thought he would get eternal life but he got eternal death. These contrasts suggested that he needed suffer the pain of working before enjoying the merriment of rewards. When Faustus noticed that he could not get all answers from Mephastophilis， for the first time he regretted selling his soul and tried to repent （Marlowe， Scene 5）. However， he never succeeded. Even when the old man offered Faustus another chance to redeem himself， he not only rejected but also committed the last sin， lechery.

Through the combination with Helen， a spirit， Doctor Faustus finally cut off his connection with God. W. W. Greg indicated that in this play， spirits represented devils （106）. The contract Faustus signed with Lucifer wrote that “Faustus may be a spirit in form and substance” （Marlowe， Scene 5， 96）；when Faustus regretted for the first time he shouted at Mephastophilis that “Ay， go accursed spirit， to ugly hell” （Marlowe， Scene 5， 249）；after Lucifer threatened him never to repent again Faustus said that “make my spirits pull all his churches down” （Marlowe， Scene 5， 271）. In these examples， spirits stood at the opposite side of God and existed in the hell. When the Emperor asked Faustus to bring back Alexander and his paramour， Faustus replied that “such spirits as can lively resemble Alexander and his paramour shall appear before your grace” （Marlowe， Scene 9， 44-45）. This implied that Alexander and his paramour， Helen， were not real people but spirits. At the end， the Helen， who appeared “in twinkling of as eye” （Scene 12， 80）， was a spirit. By kissing a spirit， Faustus put himself on the opposite side of God and as the old man said “excludst [excluded] the grace of heaven” （Marlowe， Scene 12， 103）. Faustus fell to the same status as Mephastophilis as Mephastophilis defined the greatest torment of hell as the loss of Gods bliss （Marlowe， Scene 4， 76-80）. When Faustus forwent the last chance to repent and kissed the spirit， he turned away from God and voluntarily threw his soul into the hell.endprint

Given the sins Doctor Faustus had committed， it is not hard to accept his condemnation. While Lucifer was thrown out of heaven due to one sin， Pride， it is benevolent for God to condemn Faustus to hell after he committed and spread sins. God endowed Faustus chances to redeem himself， but he gave those up and finally sealed the contract with devils by kissing the spirit Helen.

References：

[1]Greg，W.W.“The Damnation of Faustus.”The Modern Language Review，Vol.41，No.2，Apr.1946，pp.97-107.

[2]Kitsis，Edward and Adam Horowitz，creators.Once Upon a Time.ABC Studios，2011-2016.

[3]Marlowe，Christopher.“Doctor Faustus.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol.B，9th edition，edited by Stephen Greenblatt，Katharine Eisaman Maus，George Logan，Barbara K.Lewalski.New York.W.W.Norton & Company， 2012，pp.1128-1163.

[4]OBrien，Margaret Ann.“Christian Belief in Doctor Faustus.” ELH，Vol 37，No.1，Mar.1970，pp.1-11.

[5]Smith，Warren D.“The Nature Evil in ‘Doctor Faustus.” The Modern Language Review，Vol.60，No.2，Apr.1965，pp.171-175.

[6]St.Augustine.On Christian Doctrine：Book 3.Translated by D.W.Robertson，Jr.，1958.

[7]The Book of Isaiah.The New International Version，Biblica， 2011.endprint