The play Dr Faustus (by Christopher Marlowe) has a very dark and gothic element. Faustus a man of humble origins, now a well-travelled scholar whose passion for greatness has to lead him along a harrowing path. Marlowe’s use of classical allusions within the play are explored This current scene is where Faustus has been summoned by the emperor so that he may himself witness these rumored feats of magic. The emperor while not overly astute,...
The play Dr Faustus (by Christopher Marlowe) has a very dark and gothic element. Faustus a man of humble origins, now a well-travelled scholar whose passion for greatness has to lead him along a harrowing path. Marlowe’s use of classical allusions within the play are explored
This current scene is where Faustus has been summoned by the emperor so that he may himself witness these rumored feats of magic. The emperor while not overly astute, is extremely proud, probably representing one of the seven deadly sins ‘ Prides’ claiming his ancestry was linked to Alexander The Great. The other character present is the knight who is skeptical and mocks the feeble performance of Faustus.
When Faustus is tasked to manifest the ‘lifelike’ bodies of Alexander the Great and his paramour, Faustus replies ‘it is not in my ability to present before your eyes the true substantial bodies’. Faustus is not even remotely humble, instead plays on the simpleminded emperor’s vanity suggesting a flimsy alternative.
Hence the knight is virulent with his verbal onslaught towards Faustus, suggesting that this magic is not even art but merely a deceit ‘I faith that’s just nothing at all’.
