Do you believe in the Tragic Conflict Upsets Human Heart, Mind and Soul?

By JH Sayyar

Christopher Marlowe made a great contribution to the development of the Elizabethan plays. But the major contribution of Marlowe to English drama is to introduce tragic conflict to the Elizabethan plays. Tragic conflict means internal and external conflict of the hero in the play which may be seen through his facial expression. Marlowe’s Tamburlaine, Edward Second and Jew of Malta illustrate the external and internal conflict of the hero’s mind. The battlefield of the conflict becomes the hero’s mind where the conflict continues twenty four hours but may not be seen but may be seen through her facial expression which he cannot hide.

Similarly Dr. Faustus illustrates the spiritual conflict of Faustus heart and mind in the play. So the play Dr. Faustus is derived from the German legend John Faustus. But in the German legend there is no mention of tragic conflict. On the other hand, Dr. Faustus is full of tragic conflict of heart, mind and soul because it is the production of Renaissance Period. Renaissance means the revival of learning in literature, art, sculpture and architecture. But the prominent evil of the Renaissance period was to get limitless power through knowledge like God. In the play Dr. Faustus, Faustus quests for knowledge and limitless power that leads him to a horrible death.

In the first part of the play as we see how an intellectual pride and indomitable ambition lead Faustus to a bad bargain with devils. Faustus rejects God’s commandments intellectually and accepts the offer of the devil to allot him limitless powers like God on the earth through black magic. Therefore he exclaims in these words:

“ he surfeits upon the cursed Necromancy

Nothing is so sweet as magic is to him

Which he prefers before his chiefest bless

And this man that in his study sits.”

At last he is fascinated by these words: “ A Sound magician is a mighty God.” Hence making his decision in favor of Necromancy he feels a spiritual conflict. It is the chief thing in the play. It is all due to Faustus ‘ skepticism. Faustus is shown as insatiable and mighty as Tamburlaine. Therefore he exclaims in these words:

“ I had the fate bound fast in iron chains

and with my hand turn Fortune’s wheel about

And sooner kill the sun fall from the sphere

That Tamburlaine beslain or overcome.”

It was Tamburlaine’s desire and Faustus declares his heart desire in these words:

“ All things that have between the quite poles

Shall be at my command, emperors and kings

But obeyed in their several provinces

Nor can they raise the wind, the cloud.”

Looking at Faustus’ pitiable condition, a good angle and a bad angle appears before him to warm him about the coming dangers. The good angle says to Faustus in these words:

“ O Faustus, Lay not damned book aside

And gazed not on it, lest it tempt thy soul

And God’s heavy wrath upon thy head

Read, read scripture, that is blaspheme.”

Pondering over these words, Faustus think to repent of his past sinful decision that is directly again God. But at the same time, bad angle appears and warns Faustus in these words to make his decision strong in favor of Necromancy:

“ Go forward Faustus in that famous art

Where in all nature’s treasure is contained

But thou on earth as Jove in the sky

Lord and commander, of these elements.”

Here bad angle and good angle means: two sides of Faustus’ brain, a positive side and a negative side of thinking The good angle says Faustus to shun black art while the bad angle says to adopt black art as profession to get fame all over the world, now Faustus in a complicated situation what to do or what to do not in this critical situation. But he himself accepts that his heart turns into stone. It is due to know the secrets of the hidden things that directly belong to God.

At last his spiritual conflict increases with the passage of time when Mephistopheles refuses to answer some of his questions just to increase his knowledge appetite and his interest in Necromancy when Faustus raises the spirit of Helen for his sexual lust. So he exclaims in these words:

“ Where art thou Faustus, wretch, what has thou dome

Damned art, thou Faustus, damned despair and die.”

In this helpless situation he thinks of making suicide but an old man who was the symbol of his weak goodness stops him. The old man says to Faustus to repent of his past sins and call for God’s mercy and He will forgive your sin and avoid despondency. It is a sin in Christianity. But Faustus ahs sold his own soul by surrendering himself to the arms of sweet Helen to make him immortal by kissing her olive cheeks.

At the same time, Lucifer, Mephistopheles and Beelzebub appear before him and warn him not to think of God’s mercy because there is no mention of repenting in the pre-

written bond. Mephistopheles says to Faustus that he has sold his soul to the devils for twenty-four years just to get limitless power and knowledge, because in eyes of Dr. Faustus there was no value of physics, philosophy, divinity and law including theology.

In the broader sense Mephistopheles does nothing to lure Faustus’ heart, mind and soul. Actually he shows his sympathy with Faustus but Faustus rejects his idea and calls it just an old concept. In the closing scene Faustus is in plight and more spiritual conflict starts just before one hour of his death. At last he makes an appeal to God to forgive his sin but in vain was his repenting. Here again the good angle appears before his and sys to repent but the devils threat his to tear into pieces.

To sum up, Dr. Faustus is a beautifully written play on morality. In whish the conflict is not between man and man but between heart and mind and has to suffer the body and soul. At the end we see the sympathy of the readers turns to Faustus when he says to himself in these words:

“O soul, be changed into a little water drop.

And fall into the ocean, never be found.

My God, my God look not so fierce on me

Adders and serpents let me breathe a while!

Ugly hell, gape not, come not, Lucifer

I shall burn my books!- Ah, Mephistopheles.”

According to Maxwell, “Faustus’ sin was not forgivable because he made a direct revolt against God like Satan in Heaven and Faustus on earth and both were punished by God to teach morality and a lesson to those who break the commandments of God on earth knowing.”