Doctor Faustus - Act 1, Scene 1 Flashcards
1
Q
“[Faustus in his study]”
A
- Stage direction presents him as intelligent upon first introduction
- Structural parallel to his final soliloquy
- Composed / eloquent representation
2
Q
“Is to dispute logic chiefest end?” / “Thou hast attained the end”
A
- Epistrophe : finite nature of knowledge
- Emphasises Faustus as an intellectual figure
- Eloquent in speech
- Scholarly
- Desire for knowledge
3
Q
“[He reads]”
A
- Repetition of stage directions emphasise Faustus’ flaw
- Doesn’t know all the information he is reading creates a sense of irony as he has to reread to understand
- Emphasises he doesn’t know everything despite claiming for it to be finite
- Inferiority / hubristic
- Foreshadows his fate and harmartia
- Speaks in Latin and rejects traditional ways of thinking (intelligent)
4
Q
“Aristotle” / “Galen”
A
-Allusion to famous philosophers
- Undermines their work emphasising his hubris and arrogance
5
Q
“The reward of sin is death. That’s hard.”
A
- Element of comedy
- Misinterprets the bible emphasising his flaws
- Only uses it to justify argument
- Calvinist belief : Lutheranism v Calvinism [predetermined fate] —> predestination v decision
- Hubristic
6
Q
“If we say that we have no sin”
A
- Misquotes the bible
- Paradoxial statement
- Manipulates religion (blasphemous)
7
Q
“Necromantic books are heavenly”
A
- Antithesis emphasises the subversion of religion
- Presents Faustus as naive and foolish
- Entrancing nature of the books emphasises temptation and desire
8
Q
“O what a world of profit and delight” / “Of power of honour of omnipotence”
A
- Anaphoric repetition emphasises superficial desire for power
- Materialistic and undermines Faustus’ intelligence
- Superficial gain
- Commodification
- Necromancy is viewed as more powerful
9
Q
“A sound magician is a mighty god”
A
- Irony : usurpation of god emphasises desire for power
- Blasphemous / contradictory
- Use of magician undermines the power presenting it as fictitious and performative
- Useless and futile nature
10
Q
“To gain a deity”
A
- Usurpation : wants to exceed the limitations of man
- Transgressive
11
Q
“Heap God’s heavy wrath upon thy head!”
A
- Alliteration : emphasises God’s omnipotence and diminishes Faustus’ hubris.
- Used as a warning of Faustus’ harmartia
- Metaphor to highlight the physical weight that Faustus will receive as punishment if he angers god.
- Personifies Fautus’ internal conflict through the stock characters of the morality play
- Irony provoked as God is related to 7 deadly sins : ungodly / blasphemous
12
Q
“Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky”
A
- Allusion to Jove the Roman god of gods - subverts Christian belief.
- Transgressive / blasphemous
- Attempting to become omnipotent (desire)
13
Q
“I glutted with conceit of this”
A
- Extended Motif of consumption : emphasises the temptation
- Imperative : began to consume the lies of evil
- Subdued to the power
14
Q
“Gold” / “Pearl” / “silk”
A
- Motif of luxury
- Traded ambition and knowledge for material gain
- undermines the knowledge of Faustus
- materialistic
- Element of prestige and royalty that he desires (power)
15
Q
“I’ll have them read me strange philosophy”
A
- Irony : superficial ambition of Faustus desire : Faustus can already read strange philosophy
- Undermines his intelligence and doctorate
- Repetition of “I’ll have them” to emphasise how he is already entranced by the promise of power
