The tragical history of Doctor Faustus Essay -- English Literature

The tragical history of Doctor Faustus, which followed in the wake of Tamburlaine, is acclaimed by all as Marlowe's best play in which the leaven of fertile poetry and fearless imagination works wonders. Introduction: The tragical history of 'Doctor Faustus', which followed in the wake of 'Tamburlaine', is acclaimed by all as Marlowe's best play in which the leaven of fertile poetry and fearless imagination works wonders. The idea of a passionate struggle to reach beyond the grasp of ordinary mortals as its theme Marlowe takes this old story of the medieval magician who sells his soul to the Devil for twenty four years of pleasure and the gift of all knowledge and gives it a significance as in to that of such world old myths as Eve's eating the apple and Prometheus' defiance of Gods. Hence, making the Faustus legend a symbol of humanity's splendid struggle to reach the stars, as well as a tragedy of infinite aspiration ending in agony and remorse. Inspite of the critics and scholars being one in their opinion to recognize Christopher Marlowe's 'Doctor Faustus' as one of the masterpieces of British drama there cannot be any denying the fact that the most glaring weakness of 'Doctor Faustus' lies in the lack of a well knit or an organic plot. Aristotle's definition of Tragedy: According to Aristotle 'Tragedy' in the real sense is an imitation of an action that is complete, and whole, and of a certain magnitude; The beginning, called by modern critics the incentive moment, must start the cause-and-effect chain but not be dependent on anything outside the compass of the play meaning that its causes are downplayed but its effects are stressed. The middle, or climax, must be caused by earlier incid... ...d are laid bare. Conclusion: Hence the fact remains that 'Doctor Faustus' is unquestionably a masterpiece by Christopher Marlowe and one of the greatest and the most powerful tragedy to be written before Shakespeare inspite of its flaws and limitations. But at the same time it is also clear that though the beginning of the play just like the end has been perfectly executed but the middle portion is weak and does not serve its purpose. As Levin puts it: "The structural weakness of the plot however corresponds to the anti-climax of the parable; it lays bare the gaps between the bright hopes of the initial scene and the abysmal consequences of the last". Therefore, the statement that Doctor Faustus has a beginning and an end but no middle can be accepted to some extent as the middle portion though existing is not relevant to the development of the play.