Dr. Faustus, Pride and Gree

A detailed Summary of Dr. Faustus, Pride and Gree

In the sixteenth century play Dr. Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus, the main character, prevails two distinct qualities: greed and pride. It is these two qualities, one even being one of the seven deadly sins, which lead to the destruction of Dr. Faustus. Faustus already had everything that any person in his time could possibly need or use. Yet, because of his desire for a power greater than he was meant to have, he sacrificed his soul to Satan. Eventually, this would lead to his destruction mortally and eternally, simply to satisfy his greed and pride.

Even before the play begins Marlowe makes obvious that Faustus is swollen with pride. The Chorus tells how Faustus is full of knowledge of theology "Till swollen with cunning, of a self conceit" (page 1, 1.0.20). He is so proud of his accomplishments that he has become conceited. Then he is compared to Icarus with "His waxen wings" which actually could have more than one symbolic meaning (1.0.21). First of all it emphasizes the danger of Faustus' pride, sense it was Icarus' pride which led him to fly so high in the sky that his wax wings melted and he fell to his death. Second this could be a comparison to Lucifer who, due

Faustus has now given his soul for far less than godly powers, and is going to spend the rest of eternity in Hell. Pride and greed have led him to his damnation and also kept him from a possible salvation. The old man in scene thirteen tells Faustus that he can still repent and save his soul,

By the end of the play Faustus' greed, pride, and soul are nearly eradicated. His greed went from wanting to conquer the world, to being satisfied with magic tricks. His pride, which at one time made him believe he was invincible, left him begging for mercy when his twenty-four years was only minutes away. And his soul would soon belong to Lucifer, who would have control over it for eternity. So the same aspects of his life which at one time made him believe he was great, now were reduced to nothing. His greed and pride led to his destruction both mortally and eternally. By selling his soul, in search of powers beyond his reach, he went from a wealthy knowledgeable member of society to an eternal servant.

Faustus' greed and pride quickly began diminishing after the deal he made with Lucifer turns out to be far less than what he expected. As soon as Faustus gained his power he was quickly denied one of his first request, a wife. "Sweet Mephistophilis, fetch me one (a wife), for I will have one" (page 23, 1.5.19-20). Even after demanding a wife he is denied of his omnipotent powers. Then later he is denied knowledge of the universe that he requests as well as anything else other than basic magic tricks which could be performed by any decent illusionist today. Anytime he demands such things Mephistophilis or Lucifer himself would simply amuse him with pleasures of the flesh in order to take his mind off what he was promised. For example, when Faustus demands an answer to "Tell me who made the world," and Mephistophilis simply replies "I will not" (page27, 1.6.

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Approximate Word count = 1264
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English