Symbolism and themes of dr.faustus

SYMBOLISM
 Symbolism is the use of
symbol to represent ideas
or qualities

SYMBOLS
 SYMBOLS ARE OBJECT, CHARACTERS
FIGURES OR COLORS USED TO
REPRESENT ABSTRACT IDEAS OR
CONCEPT.
 Symbols
I. Blood
II. Good and evil angel,
III.Fausts’s rejection of ancient authority

BLOOD
I. Signing on blood symbolizing the
permanent and supernatural nature of
pact.
II. Blood congealing symbolizing his own
body revolt.
III.Running of Christ ’s blood across the sky
symbolizing sacrifice of jesus.

FAUSTUS ‘S REJECTION OF
ANCIENT AUTHORITIES
 Rejection of
I. Logic ( Aristotle )
II. Medicine ( Galen )
III.Law ( justanian )
IV. Theology ( jerum‘s bible ),
symbolizing Faustus ’ s break with the
medieval world.

GOOD AND EVIL ANGEL
 The angels appear at Faustus’s shoulder
early on in the play—the good angel urging
him to repent and serve God, the evil
angel urging him to follow his lust for
power and serve Lucifer. The two
symbolize his divided will, part of which
wants to do good and part of which is sunk
in sin.

Pride, and Sin
 Faustus' first great sin is pride. He does
not stop there. Reflecting the Christian
view, pride gives rise to all of the other
sins, and ends ironically with the proud
man's abasement. Faustus goes quickly
from pride to all of the other sins,
becoming increasingly petty and low.

Damnation
 Damnation is eternal. Christians
developed the idea of judgment after
death so If Faustus dies without repenting
and accepting God, he will be damned
forever. As we learn from Mephostophilis,
hell is not merely a place, but separation
from God's love.

Salvation, Mercy, and
Redemption
 Hell is eternal, but so is heaven. For a
Christian, all that is necessary to be saved
from eternal damnation is acceptance of
Jesus Christ's grace. Even after signing away
his soul to the devil, Faustus has the option of
repentance that will save him from hell. But
once he has committed himself to his own
damnation, Faustus seems unable to change
his course. While Christianity seems to accept
even a deathbed repentance as acceptable for
the attainment of salvation, Marlowe plays
with that idea, possibly rejecting it for his
own thematic purposes.

Valuing Knowledge over
Wisdom
 Faustus has a thirst for knowledge, but he
seems unable to acquire wisdom. Faustus'
thirst for knowledge is impressive, but it is
overshadowed by his complete inability to
understand certain truths. Because of this
weakness, Faustus cannot use his
knowledge to better himself or his world.
He ends life with a head full of facts, and
vital understanding gained too late to save
him

SUPERNATURALISM
 Faustus hands over his soul for the ability to
perform magic. Although he imagines using
magic to make himself as powerful as a god and
as wealthy as a king, when it comes right down to
it Faustus's magic often amounts to little more
than fancy tricks. He uses it to make the images
of dead people appear in order to amuse himself
and his friends, or to humiliate people, including
peasants who have done nothing to harm him.
And the townsfolk who use magic do silly things
like steal dishes and bogart some booze. In the
end, magic in Doctor Faustus, however
incredible, appears to be no more useful than the
man who wields it.

Symbolism and themes of dr.faustus

Symbolism and themes of dr.faustus

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