In Dr. Faustus an individual’s collusion with the dark powers becomes the pretext for a Psychomachia in which the protagonist finally succumbs and secures his damnation. Discuss. From the start of this play Faustus is very much his own individual, his own ideas and his own voice. This is evident through his first monologue in which he describes how he plans to ‘win over’ the world and rule it. We know that he has powers but from the onset it looks like he plans to use them in the intention of doing well.
Unfortunately, he does not see that this feud only harms his kin. He causes the families’ fight to escalate, and modifies the story so much that it ultimately leads to many of the characters’ deaths. Tybalt tries everything to hurl the city of Verona into a civil war. Instead of accepting the peace between the houses that old Capulet tries to create, Tybalt can’t accept that Romeo and other Montagues gatecrashed the party of the Capulets. Tybalt tells his servant “Now, by the stock and honor of my kin, to strike him dead I hold not a sin.” (P. 55 lines 66-67) Although Romeo never harmed Tybalt, he still wants to kill Romeo because he showed up at his party because Tybalt uses Romeo as a scapegoat for all the Montagues.
Prospero’s plans for revenge originate in his previous occupation as Duke of Milan. In Act I we are told of how Prospero became neglectful of his duties as a result of his experimentation with magic. This led to his brother Antonio, gradually assuming complete control. Once in power, Antonio conspired with the king of Naples, to have Prospero and his daughter removed
Othello is the story of a Moorish general of Venice, whose life is torn apart through deceit and his own faults and insecurities, leading to tragedy. The presence of the devil is quite clear in Dr. Faustus; Faustus makes a deal with Lucifer, and has Mephostophilis, another devil, as his servant. However the presence is not quite as striking in Othello. However what I intend to look at is the possibility of Iago being a representation of the devil throughout the play. To do this I will look at the language of the play, looking at references to the devil and what they can show us.
The Reckless Ambition of a Bloody Tyrant The play Macbeth by the famous playwright William Shakespeare, is a tragedy of an ambitious nobleman in Scotland, whose eventual downfall is a product of his greedy ambition. In the play Macbeth commits a series of murders to gain the right to the throne of Scotland. He fights, kills, and challenges his way to the top, through the witches prophecies, only to find their reassuring prophecies vessels full of nothing but false hope. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth is doomed to fail from the beginning. Macbeth’s failure is a product of his own reckless ambition.
Alonso King of Naples and father of Ferdinand. Alonso helped Antonio in usurping Prospero’s dukedon in the early years. Alonso may have made some errors in the past, but he isn’t an evil-natured man, because throughout the play he seems aware of his past actions and he regrets them in the end. 1.He is also very naive because he doesn’t notice what Antonio and Sebastian are planing, which is to kill him so that Sebastian cam be king (this is shown at the end of the scene. Pg 83 L199-201 “I see... your head.” 2.In this scene alonso is devasteted because he thinks his son died when the shipwreck happened during the return journey from his daughter’s wedding in Tunis(pg 75 L102-105 “You cram... is lost-”).
Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio and Ferdinand, along with the rest of their merry men, unwillingly become pawns trapped on the island, held against their will by Prospero, with the help of Ariel. Under the guise of a great tempest, Prospero uses magical powers to overcome and imprison his enemies, and in a tormented plot for revenge his captives are separated into three groups and marooned on the island; continually harassed and bent against their will. They too seek freedom from their hellish nightmare, and although they don’t know it at the time, they have become enslaved by a very conflicted magician. It is unclear exactly what Prospero has in mind for his captors, for he seems to be making it up as he goes. It’s obvious he wants to punish his brother and co-conspirators for what they did to himself and Miranda, yet he is a just man, and as his plan unravels, an unforeseeable event takes place, prompting Prospero to change his game plan a little.
To what extent do you think that Faustus’ greatest sin is the misuse of supernatural powers given to him by Mephostophilis? Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus presents a protagonist who sells his soul to the devil in order to obtain all knowledge and power. His constant state of pondering whether to repent and is given many opportunities to do so. Faustus’ damnation during the play is dependent on many things which we see how ‘the misuse of supernatural powers’ is clearly significant. Possibly Faustus’ greatest sin is his hubris and linked to that -its constant greed, before selling his soul Faustus already had everything that any person in his time could possibly need, however because of his avoidable desire for a power greater than he was meant to have, he sacrificed his soul to the devil.
Morality in Julius Caesar Morality in Julius Caesar The removal of Caesar from office by assassination in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar attempts to justify an unethical act by focusing on the motivation behind the actor instead of the righteousness of the act itself. Throughout this play, the empirical immorality of murder is ignored. A man’s ethics are surely corrupt when the taking of another’s life for the sake of politics is merited. Therefore, Shakespeare ought not have erroneously depicted the slaying of Caesar as a satisfactory method of seizing control of ancient Rome. Brutus compares Caesar, whom was soon to be crowned, to "a serpent’s egg which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous" who must be killed while still in its shell.
205). This is achieved by his ability to play every emotion. He can make others think he is on their side and sympathize with them, when in actuality he is plotting against them. A clear example of this is when he speaks with his brother Clarence as he is being arrested as a political prisoner in Act I, Scene I. Richard has spread rumors so the king would be suspicious of Clarence and is responsible for his imprisonment but as he meets him as he is being taken away, he pretends to be sad and furthermore convinces Clarence that the queen is responsible for turning the King against Clarence. He even promises to try to free Clarence, but Richard reveals to the audience that he will make sure that Clarence is executed: Go tread the path that thou shalt ne’er return.