Act 1 Scene 3 Flashcards
“ gloomy shadow of the earth” - Faustus
-pathetic fallacy
- opens with descriptions of darkness showing gothic elements
- in the soliloquy he picks up imagery of the elements
“ within this circle Jehovah’s name” - F
- Jehovah was a medieval Hebrew word for god
- renaissance and medieval are combined here by combining magic and god
- similar to ‘necromantic books are heavenly’
“ fear not Faustus , to be resolute”- f
Uses his own name and tells himself to be strong
-showing his ambition and determination
- showing his arrogance
“ thou art too ugly to attend on me; go and return an old Franciscan friar, that holy shape becomes a devil best” - F
-arrogantly states the devil is too ugly for him and so turns him away to return as a friar
-these were monks of the catholic faith so here he is mocking catholics by making the devil take the form of a friar
- Protestant elizebeth succeed catholic mary in 1558 so the audience will have been largely Protestant rather than catholic
- Catholicism was banned and so this may be why marlow monks catholics
- how we catholics were still present e.g the gun powder plot when the catholics wanted to blow up parliament in 1605
-so some may have been offended
“ thou art conjure laureate that canst command great Mephostophilis ” - F
-calls himself a successful conjurer
- highly arrogant and prideful
-also foolish as we later ind out that meph came by accident
“Heavenly words” - F
-irony as its the exact opposite
- again an iconoclast
-playing with moral contradictions
“ to do whatever faults shall command” - F
- he act as though he tries to be the god
- he’s reckless in his descisions
- his aspirations are trivial
-this is imperious
“ speak “ - F
- Faustus thinks he’s in command
- changes later when meph is clearly in control as he manipulates f
“I came hither of my own accord” - meph
-speaks of himself in the 3rd person showing his arrogance
- elysium is where heroes go to die , so he suggests hell is a myth
- he is proud and suggests he isn’t scared by hell yet his monologue at the end completely contradicts this when he finally believes and realises his fate
- Faustus has no power of mEPH
- he fails to realise this because he is blinded with ego and pride
- he only has what lucifer is prepared to give him
“The word donation terrifies not him, for he confounds hell in Elysium”
-speaks of himself in the 3rd person showing his arrogance
- elysium is where heroes go to die , so he suggests hell is a myth
- he is proud and suggests he isn’t scared by hell yet his monologue at the end completely contradicts this when he finally believes and realises his fate
“ belzebub” “ where are you damned”
- he is inconsistent in his beliefs
-this shows a belief in hell despite his lack of belief before - could be that Mephs presence influences his sudden change of belief in hell
-showing he’s gullible
“ o by aspiring pride and insolence for which god threw me from the face of heaven” meph
-mirrors what will happen to f
- clearly warns F
- f hamartia is the same as meph, hubris pride
“He will spare him four and twenty years, letting him live in all voluptuousness” - F
- he wishes to sell his soul to devil to gain 25 years of luxury
- voluptuousness suggests sexual appetite that drives his desire for selling his soul
- later seen with Helen of Troy
- he’s hedonistic
“ had i as may souls as there be stars id give them all for Mephistopheles” - F
- contradictory as before souls were trifles “ vain trifles of men’s souls”
- now he’s suggesting he believes in them
- is he just trying to plese meph by showing loyalty
“ ill be great emperor of the world” -F
- overriding ambition usurps the role of God
- he aims for impossible things like making bridges in air
- wants the immediate gratification
