Dr. Faustus

I have just finished reading Dr. Faustus by Marlowe. In the middle of the play it seems like Faustus enjoys showing off the power he has becuase of selling his soul. He doesn't hesitate to "bring back" Alexander the Great and his wife for the amusement of the king and to prove that his powers are real. Even though he doesn't mind showing off, he tells the king that he might not be able to bring them back and that his power is not as great as the king thinks. It seems that Faustus has learned some humility during the twenty-four years he has had his power. At the beginning of the play he craved "profit and delight.. power..honor..[and] ontipotence". He recieved all those things when he sold his soul, and now it seems that he is almost trying to down-play his powers.

At the end of the play Faustus is terrified of the devil coming to claim his part of the bargain. Faustus askes his friends to pray for his soul and they tell him to repent and be saved. Faustus cannot believe that God would save him after all he has done, so he doesn't really try and repent. It seems that Faustus never really believed in God, and he still doesn't becuase he never tries to ask for forgiveness. He does pray that he was a "beast" beacuse animals have no soul. He also prays that he could be killed before the devil comes to get his soul because he doesn't want to have to face the devil. The last part of the play is a warning to others who are not content with the power that normal humans can achieve on earth. If Marlowe did right that part of the play it would seem like he did believe in God, because he is trying to warn others not to do as Faustus has done. People should use this play as a warning and follow God and not make pacts with things they cannnot understand. At the end Marlowe tells of a God who would have forgiven Faustus if he had sincerely repented, which is out-of-line with Marlowe's supposed atheism. If he really did write it, then maybe he wasn't and atheist or maybe he just wanted us to think about the consiquences of our actions.