Discuss the theme of Sin and Redemption in Dr.Faustus.

The predicament of Dr. Faustus cannot be restricted to the Christian concept of particularly when we see the end of the play: “Ugly hell, gape not! Come not, Luctfer! / T'll burn my books! Ah, Mephistophilis!” (V, (i1), 93). In these lines, Faustus is discarding his Renaissance curiosity for knowledge derived through books. He sacrifices the medieval Christian ideals with which he was bom. The character of Dr. Faustus has been designed by Marlowe to represent the Renaissance traits like a great yeaming for power and pelf, indulgence in sensual pleasures and defiance of the expected nonms. Add to them skepticism and a spirit of questioning against the conventional and we shall see him falling further into sinfulness. Renaissance inspired individualism, a spirit of exploration, of putting to test the orthodox dogmas of the church. In the opening speech in scene I, Faustus logically testifies to the pros and cons of all important branches of knowledge. He rejects all these one after the other as they don't offer any scope for individual growth. He first takes up logic as a prospective field but rejects it, then moves on to medicine, law and theology, citing for each an ancient authority. The authorities are: Aristotle on logic, Galen for medicine, Justinian for law and Jerome for Bible are waded through and cast off. To quote from the play:

Philosophy is odious and obscure

Both law and physic are for petty wits;

Divinity is the basest of the three

Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible and vile

‘Tis magic, that hath ravished me. (I, (i), 32)

 

In the medieval model, tradition and institutional authority were cherished above the individual will and freedom. The spirit of enquiry was not encouraged. But Faustus is convinced by the renaissance ideals, dedicated to the spirit of scientific enquiry for which he chooses to assert his will and freedom. He resolves to acknowledge no bounds, accept no traditions in his quest to understand the nature of the world. In this sense, Dr. Faustus may be termed as the first Renaissance hero. In the words of Nicholas Brooke:

The Dramatic tension of the Faustus story as Marlowe presents it lies primarily in the fact that Faustus is determined to satisfy the demands of his nature as God had made him to be himself a deity and that is forbidden: and it can only be achieved by a conscious rejection of the God who created him in his own image but denied him (as much as Lucifer) fulfillment of that image. (Brooke, Nicholas. “The Moral Tragedy of Dr. Faustus.” Critics on Marlowe. ed. Judith O’Neill. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1969, p.100)

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