Doctor Faustus the Aristotelian Hero
Heroes envelop the idea of a noble person who fights for the rights of the "little" people. He or she commits a deed that goes above and beyond the call. This type of hero exists in the modern thought, but there also exists another hero, an Aristotelian Hero. This tragic hero starts out in the nobility of society, yet he just like any other man. This hero has but one fault and that fault, hamartia, is a fatal error or flaw that in the end causes the downfall of the hero. This downfall leads to a catharsis that causes pity and terror in the audience. Doctor Faustus resembles most of Aristotle's idea of a hero. He was man like the rest of us in that he was a regular man who was able to rise of a man of high estate. Still, he had a hamartia and that caused his downfall. Faustus does not have the complete requirements of being a hero because he does not come full circle in his ordeal. A tragic hero becomes enlightened at the end of the story, yet Faustus does not. Faustus resembles a tragic hero in that is a regular man and has high intentions, he exemplifies hamartia, yet he does not have all the requirements to make him a full tragic hero. Doctor Faustus, in trying to go beyond his current state of knowledge, has high intentions.
Faustus is a regular man who raised himself from the bottom of society to a high position in society. "Now is he born of parents base of stock"(prologue, 11). He wants to increase in wisdom and knowledge so that he may better himself in this world. He wants knowledge and power because he has learned all that a man of that time could learn. He has four degrees, yet he wants more. He throws down the books of Aristotle. "...And live and die in Aristotle's works./ Sweet Analytics, 'tis thou hast ravished me"(I, i, 5-6). Faustus believes that there is nothing he can do more on this earth. He wonders why certain things happen and why with all the degrees he has that he cannot solve everything. "Whereby whole cities have escaped the plague/ And thousand desperate maladies been cured?/ Yet art thou still Faustus and a man"(I, i, 19-21). Faustus also wonders if all this is all there is to life. "Ay, we must die an everlasting death"(I, i, 44). Faustus is but a regular man who wants by any means to increase his knowledge and power of this world and the next. Faustus lives up to his tragic hero model when it is revealed that he has a hamartia, a flaw that will cause his downfall. Faustus seems to have a strong will, a will that forces him to go towards what is right. Still, there is a part of him that wants more. This part makes him realize that there is no more on this earth that he can do. He must turn to necromancy and thing otherworldly to gain more power and knowledge. "These metaphysics of magicians/ And negromantic books are heavenly;/ Lines, circles, letters, characters--/ Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires"(I, i, 47-50). Faustus realizes that he must conjure up the s
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Approximate Word count = 1136
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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