An Analysis of Doctor Faustus as a Tragedy

Usually as a tragedy，the final fate of protagonist always makes readers contemplate on what on earth resulted in his tragedy.We can analyze this question from many perspectives like theme and the background of Doctor Faustus .Doctor Faustus is a knowledgeable person but not satisfied with his current status in his life.So he desires to challenge God and wants to possess the ability to perform magician，which can help him do anything he wants. However，in the end， Faustus paid a high price for his desires and behaviors without gaining anything.

As far as I’m concerned，there are several aspects that contribute Doctor Faustus a tragedy.First， the conflicts with the time spirit and religion. Second， the conflicts with traditional value.Third，he conflicts between desires and rationality of person. Faustus lost the balances of desire and rationality of person. In addition， even though as a doctor he is not content with what he has at present and is eager at something powerful that he can use to do something great or useful.In my interpretation， it is the struggle or the fight between rational and desire in his inner heart that make him suffer a lot or even become a tragedy. Just as the two angels in the play contrast with each other.When Faustus made decisions，the good angle and bad angle are also separately represents the rational and desire of a person. In addition， god and devil are also on the behalf of rationality and desire of a person.

1.Conflicts with time spirit and religion

Faustus is so ambitious in knowledge in the time of renaissance that he yearns for gaining all kinds of knowledge for freeing himself ultimately and surpassing the ultimate limitation of human beings.His endless aspiration of knowledge represented the inner desire of person.In addition， Faustus is also a disobedient of God. He longs for being a demigod and breaks the rules of religion and traditional convention.However，what he longed for and did totally disobeys with the time spirit of renaissance，when harmony spirits are advocated.During that period，people are encouraged to obey rules and limitation.To the contrast， according to Faustus：“All things that move between the quiet poles shall be at my command：emperors and kings are.... tire my brain to get a deity！” his ambitious has exceeded the authority of god. However，In the medieval world people placed God at the center of existence.So Faustus’s challenges to the authority of God and even ambition for being a demigod lead to his tragedy.

2.Conflicts with traditional value

In ancient or traditional value， limitations and order are being highly accentuated. In traditional concept that even the universe is also limited.Faustus as one of the activist are eager to break up the traditional concepts of limitation and order. Faustus is a profound person in all kinds of field and is unsatisfied with law，medical science，philosophy and theological.He changed into being interested in magician which can help him knowing anything without limitation.Thus，he can gain the supreme power and strength of human beings. In the first act of play，F(xiàn)austus in his study expressed his negative attitude towards the four subjects of the medieval and renaissance period. In his mind，all this subjects have their own limitations in their fields. Medicine can cure people to some degrees but cannot make human beings eternal.Philosophy cannot bring authentic benefits to person and law are just controlled by those who are rich and theological is just a subject that deceives those who believe in.He hopes that magician can help him to realize something beyond limitations. “I’ll have them fly to India for gold， ....and make swift Rhine circle fair Wittenberg.” all those indicate that Faustus’s inspiration of breaking the principle of limitation and exploration for breakthrough. Therefore， Faustus decided to only pay attention to magician which he regarded as limitless.What he pursued at that time were contradictory with the value of that time.

3.Self-contradictory： Desire versus rationality

When Faustus feels disappointed with all the fields like medicine，law， philosophy， theological and begins to be interested in magician.It means that he begins to have some desire.Because，In his mind， magician can help him do anything he wants and even be the demigod. At that time，his desire plays a more important role than rational for him.So even he made a contract with devil Mephistophilis for serving him for twenty-four years at the cost of his soul.He made his decision just for his own desires without considering any other results. So his regardless of rational leads to his final tragedy.Furthermore， even he possesses the ability to perform some magician which can help him do almost things， he forgot what he wanted initially.He didn’t make use of these magician to do something meaningful rather than just made some trifles and play jokes on others.He is just indulged in satisfying his own desires without any limitations of rational. After his possess of magical ability， he didn’t insist on his previous ambition for doing something useful and special， which makes him feel regret in the end. When getting the ability to perform magic power，he just soaks himself in his own greedy and desire. We can imagine， if he make use of his power to do something special or meaningful for others，he won’t feel terrify for going to the hell. Because he has realized the value of his life. It is his squander of his power that makes him so frightened with the cost.

These three aspects can be regarded as the main reason for this tragedy.Furthermore，some tragic flaw of Faustus’ personality also contribute to his tragedy.For example， greedy， much curiosity with new things，great ambition，desire. Though he is a profound person in many fields， he still thought what he knows are useless for big things.Therefore，he turn to thing that seems to be useful.However，what he thought are magical are also useless for him.

Work cited： Marlowe， Christopher. Doctor Faustus. Beijing： China translation and publication corporation， 1994.