Faustus and Paradise Lost

We have finished reading Dr. Faustus and now are starting Paradise Lost. For the last scene in Faustus we read both the A and B texts. The A text is the more scholarly one now, since most believe it is the one that Marlowe actually wrote. Although the A text is more scholarly, the B text is more exciting. The B text has demons destroying Faustus and leaves no doubt of what happens to him. The A text leaves a little room for you to hope that at the last second he repented and did not actually go to Hell. The B text would make for a better play, yet the A text is better if you want Faustus to have any hope of repenting.

Paradise Lost opens with the fall of man in the garden on Eden. I think it is interesting that Faustus basically did the same things that Adam and Eve did. All of them wanted the power and knowledge that God possesses and went after that wish, even though they had all been warned not to. They all went about trying to get the power and knowledge in the wrong way and had to pay the price for their actions. I also think it is interesting that Faustus did not learn for the story of Adam and Eve. He obviously knew the Bible, yet he did not take heed of the stories that he knew so well. If obtaining the power and knowledge of God did not work for Adam and Eve, who probably had one of the closest relationships with God that humans could have, why did Faustus think it would work for him? It only goes to show that Fausts was arrogant and did not listen to sound advice becuase he thought he knew what was best. I guess it also implies that we should learn from others past mistakes and not be so foolish to think that we are better than they were and therefore will be able to succeed where others have failed; at least in the since of trying to obtain powers that no human should have.