Doctor Faustus Analysis Paper
Analysis Paper One
Happy endings are what we believe to be a point in a story in which the character or charactes are resuced from trouble and brought to triumph. However, what British novelist Fay Weldon suggests, is that maybe all an ending needs to be is happy, is not to be resuced from trouble, but to acknowledge the trouble, grasp it and to embrace our humanism. In Doctor Faustus, Faustus is a symbol of that humanism, and his quest for power is a symbol of the trouble every story encounters. Doctor Faustus is a perfect example of how doom can bring, to the moral consciene, a happy ending. In order to understand the need for a happy ending, one must first understand the misfourtune. The play begins with Faustus in his study contemplating the greatest source of knowledge. He considers all options and finally decides that magic is what he must seek. Although his friends Valdes and Cornelius warn him against this endevour, he summons the devil Mephastophilis to make a pact with Lucifer. Mephastophilis warns him against the dangers of hell, but Faustus continues on his quest for power and exchanges his soul for twenty four years of power and servitude from Mephastophilis. At this point in the story one can assume Faustus' pyschological desire to become all powerful, has severly shifted his moral compass. It is difficult for any character to obtain a happy ending when said character develops an unhealthy pyscological obession for more. With his newfound power, he travels the globe playing tricks and exhibiting his new power to the various world courts. Throughout the entire play Fautus comtemplates is repentence, but instead continues on with his travels and mischievousness. As the play comes to an end, Faustus thoughts begin to run wild. He begins to contemplate every possible escape from his terrible fate. This is the point in the story where the conflicted character begins to reaccess his actions and his current predicament. It is human
Happy endings are what we believe to be a point in a story in which the character or charactes are resuced from trouble and brought to triumph. However, what British novelist Fay Weldon suggests, is that maybe all an ending needs to be is happy, is not to be resuced from trouble, but to acknowledge the trouble, grasp it and to embrace our humanism. In Doctor Faustus, Faustus is a symbol of that humanism, and his quest for power is a symbol of the trouble every story encounters. Doctor Faustus is a perfect example of how doom can bring, to the moral consciene, a happy ending. In order to understand the need for a happy ending, one must first understand the misfourtune. The play begins with Faustus in his study contemplating the greatest source of knowledge. He considers all options and finally decides that magic is what he must seek. Although his friends Valdes and Cornelius warn him against this endevour, he summons the devil Mephastophilis to make a pact with Lucifer. Mephastophilis warns him against the dangers of hell, but Faustus continues on his quest for power and exchanges his soul for twenty four years of power and servitude from Mephastophilis. At this point in the story one can assume Faustus' pyschological desire to become all powerful, has severly shifted his moral compass. It is difficult for any character to obtain a happy ending when said character develops an unhealthy pyscological obession for more. With his newfound power, he travels the globe playing tricks and exhibiting his new power to the various world courts. Throughout the entire play Fautus comtemplates is repentence, but instead continues on with his travels and mischievousness. As the play comes to an end, Faustus thoughts begin to run wild. He begins to contemplate every possible escape from his terrible fate. This is the point in the story where the conflicted character begins to reaccess his actions and his current predicament. It is human