Helloooo. So in our last English Lit lesson we read through Act 2 Scene 3 of Doctor Faustus, which included some amazing reading by me as Pride. =P
I'm blogging about the portrayal of Faustus himself in this scene, for example is he supposed to be fearful and angry or happy and playful when the seven deadly sins are putting on a wee show for him. A will also talk about how his character develops further.
Firstly the scene starts with Faustus apparently intent on repenting to god and renouncing Mephistopheles. "When I behold the heavens, then I repent and curse thee, wicked Mephistopheles". Faustus seems to now understand the idea of hell being everywhere and he can't handle it. It is strange and ironic that he blames Mephistopheles, when in fact he was brutally honest with Faustus about hell and even seemed to be warning him. So Marlowe portrays Faustus as a very changeable character, one who is stubborn and fickle. It is strange for the audience to see such a change in him, as in his previous scene he willingly finalised his agreement to sell his soul to the devil, yet now the first thing he declares is a wish to repent. Faustus then stated "I will renounce this magic and repent", again this is completely contradictory as it was the wish to gain knowledge of magic that drove Faustus in the first place.
By declaring this, Faustus seems to summon the Good and Bad Angel back onto stage and, contrary to what I said could be possible in a previous blog entry, he appears to be able to see and hear them. He even interacts with them. The Good Angel assures Faustus that he still can repent and "god will pity" him. Whereas the Evil Angel says "thou art a spirit, god cannot pity thee". This is interesting as maybe the reason Faustus can hear the angels now is because he is a spirit and is therefore beyond repenting. Faustus himself says "Who buzzeth in mine ears I am a spirit?". Although Faustus expresses wish to repent, he can't help but take the advice of the Evil Angel. "My heart's so hardened I cannot repent", this could be to symbollise that hell is controlling his decisions now, forcibly stopping him from repenting. So he goes from wanting to repent to declaring he cannot. Indeed another factor that seems to pull Faustus back from this, is his curiosity and thirst for knowledge.
He then argues with Mephistopheles as he isn't answering his questions sufficiently, he is merely repeating what Faustus already knows. As a result, Faustus then wishes to repent again, almost just to spite Mephistopheles. This is despite having resolutely said he never would earlier on in the scene. He says "Christ, my saviour, seek to save distressed Faustus' soul". However it is not god that comes to Faustus, but Lucifer, Beelzebub and Mephistopheles. This could perhaps show that he is beyond help as it is Lucifer who answers him now. Faustus is scared and threatened and this causes him to vow allegiance to Lucifer and the agreement with Mephistopheles once more. "Faustus vows never to look to heaven, Never to name god or to pray to him" etc. So within this one scene, we really see Faustus' ever changing allegiance and how spineless he really is. He is almost like a child, having mood swings which dictate his behaviour.
Finally towards the latter half of the scene, when Faustus has grovelled for forgiveness to Lucifer, he is presented with the seven deadly sins, each of which talks to him. However this appears to be a mere distraction, as when he sold his soul in Act 2 Scene 1. For example after each sin has finished introducing themselves and their characteristics, Faustus simply says "What art thou, the second" etc and just moves onto the next. So this seems a pointless exercise as Faustus' thirst for knowledge isn't being catered to, which surely would be more appropriate in order to really distract him. It is unclear, however whether Faustus is happy or angry throughout this parade. He says to Envy, "Away envious rascal!", which could be playful or serious. The nature of his reaction could be changed according to the production on stage, and therefore alter the mood of the scene. For example is Faustus reluctantly obeying Lucifer out of fear and does he really look down upon these creatures of hell? Or is he being playful with the sins as it were, and this would further show how he is so fickle in his beliefs? The comic feeling of this parade of sins could be to make light of the situation of to distract the audience and indeed Faustus himself, from the situation he has landed himself in. I personally believe Faustus is supposed to be being playful with the sins, and almost mocking them, e.g. "I'll see thee hanged." I think this is more appropriate as it emphasises the cowardly nature of his character and how he is one minute determined to repent to save his soul and the next he is none the wiser and declaring "O, might I see hell and return again, how happy were I then!". Marlowe may have been making another message about religion here, about how people's beliefs are so changeable according to the circumstance and what they stand to gain.
Cool, so in this scene Faustus is portrayed as completely fickle and pathetic really, and he is distracted easily by Lucifer, perhaps showing again that despite what he does it is hell who controls him now, even if he wants to repent he won't be able to as hell will stop him. I also think he is supposed to be reacting merrily to the seven deadly sins, as this would highlight his changeability even more, and I doubt he would be rude and aggressive to something Lucifer has sent, as he is all-powerful in terms of what happens to Faustus.
Fertig.
