A soliloquy is a speech in a play that is not intended to represent realistic speech. Instead, such a speech reveals the innermost thoughts of a character. The speech tells us what a character is thinking. The use of soliloquies is a common convention in Renaissance drama. Some of the most noted dramatic speeches are soliloquies. Another term that is sometimes used for such speeches is monologue. The prefix mono means one, and the root logo means speech. It is in contrast to a dialogue, where two or more actors are speaking to one another. The monologue, however, is slightly different from the soliloquy. A monologue could represent actual speech. The soliloquy never does.
Faustus begins with a soliloquy. Doctor Faustus is alone in his den (or study) trying to decide what occupation he should pursue. The speech is unrealistic in two ways: (1) it reveals his thoughts, and (2) the decision that Faustus makes is not actually decided so quickly. Rather, his decision would actually come after a long period of thought or deliberation. The student must remember that the actions and dialogue in drama are largely symbolic. A play must accept the limitations of time and space. In this play a period of 24 years is compressed into approximately two hours. In addition, numerous locales throughout Europe are performed on a stage of relatively small dimensions. A play, then, is representational. It represents or symbolizes realistic people and situations. But it cannot be realistic itself. Plays are far more representational than movies are. Although a movie also has the restriction of time, it does not have the restriction of place. In the live theater, the audience must accept the conventions of drama (like the soliloquy) to enjoy the play. They must accept that a stage with a few props on it can be either a kitchen or a kingdom. The audience member is required to use more of his or her imagination.
In the soliloquy Faustus examines each possible pursuit of occupation and then explains his reason for rejecting each pursuit. The following outline indicates the choices that the protagonist examines:
The first choice made by Faustus is philosophy. He is thinking that now he has graduated ("commenced") from the university, he should be a "divine in show" (line 3). That is, in his outer appearance (what he shows to others) he should appear as a priest (a divine). During the Middle Ages, the student may remember, a university education was a Church education. All students were clerics: all students were trained to be priests. However, many graduates did not become priests. Faustus, also, does not wish to become a priest.
So, Faustus thinks that being a philosopher is more suitable because philosophy is "the end of every art" (line 4). In other words, philosophy is the goal (end) of every occupation or field of study (art). The goal in studying philosophy is to examine the causes or laws of reality. To put it another way, philosophy is the study of why we are here and why life is the way it is. For Faustus, the pursuit of philosophy might possibly represent the ultimate goal of every kind of study. But, then, Faustus remembers a quote from Aristotle (the Classical Greek scholar who was also one of the greatest philosophers of all time). The quote suggests that the final or ultimate goal of philosophy is to argue well (lines 7-8). Faustus is unhappy with that. He already knows how to argue well. He has already achieved that "end" or goal (line 10). So, he asks, why should he study philosophy any further when he has already achieved the end, the final goal, of that study? Faustus is a great scholar and a great debater. But he is also overly proud in thinking that he has learned everything that philosophy can teach.
Faustus rejects the other occupations for similar reasons. He rejects the field of medicine because he has already discovered great prescriptions or medicines (line 20) that have cured plagues and other diseases. He feels that he has nothing left to accomplish in that area. The reader should note, though, three lines in particular:
Couldst thou make men to live eternally, Or, being dead, raise them to life again,
Then this profession were to be esteemed.
(lines 24-26)
Faustus is suggesting that to be able to make man live forever or to be able to make the dead come alive again would be a worthy pursuit. If the field of medicine could do this, then the occupation would be worthwhile. This idea would become widely popular a little more than 200 years later in the English novel Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley. For audiences during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, though, the sentence is ironic and perhaps also blasphemous (insulting to God). Christians believed, after all, that a person's soul could live eternally in Heaven after the body has died. In this sense, then, Faustus is declaring that he desires god-like powers. He wants to be a god. That indicates both pride and blasphemy.
Faustus rejects law because it is work for a "mercenary drudge" (line 34). A drudge is someone who does boring, tedious work. The word mercenary here suggests that he is doing such work only for money. Faustus does not have money as his ultimate goal. At least he is not greedy.
Faustus also rejects divinity because the Church preaches that "the reward of sin is death" (line 40). Death here means damnation, eternal punishment in hell. Faustus reasons that all of us are sinners. Therefore, according to that quote from the Bible, all of us will end up in hell. Faustus thinks that such a belief is too stern or too strict. He just does not believe it. He cannot accept it. "What doctrine call you this?" (line 47). Therefore, he will not bother with the field of divinity.
Once again, Faustus ignores (or chooses not to think about) another important and fundamental Christian doctrine -- the idea that God can forgive mankind and show mercy. All souls will not be eternally damned in hell. Faustus is using rhetoric to convince himself of his choice. He is using the tricks of the clever debater to prove his point, to argue his case. He is good at arguing. He is good at logic.
However, reason or logic has really very little to do with the choice made by Faustus. He chooses magic because it is his desire (note the word desires in line 52). Desire also means the passions or emotions. As mentioned in previous lectures, Christian philosophers believed that reason is superior to the emotions and capable of keeping the emotions under control. Emotions can only take control because the individual allows them to do so. Faustus chooses magic because it appeals to the passions. Magic, Faustus believes, could bring him "profit" (greed), "delight" (gluttony and lust, maybe), "power" and "honor" (pride and, possibly, envy), and "omnipotence" (blasphemy). It is not knowledge that Faustus wants. It is power. He wants to control the wind and rain (line 59). He wants to be "a mighty god" or "a deity" (lines 62-63).
This will form one of the central themes in the play.
Actually, there is more than one devil in
Marlowe's play. The devil that serves Faustus is Mephastophilis. The chief of the devils, Lucifer, also appears in the play, but only briefly.
Mephastophilis first appears in Scene 3. After deciding to apply himself to magic instead of any other occupation, Faustus conjures up (that is, he says some magic words, also known as an incantation) a devil. He specifically asks for the devil Mephastophilis to appear. Mephastophilis is a minor devil. Probably Marlowe deliberately decided that the chief of the devils, Lucifer, is too important a devil to bother with the likes of a scholar. Faustus is not, after all, a figure of great importance. He is not a king. He is not even a nobleman. In this sense, then, Marlowe is saying that Faustus is not very significant. He has no reason to be so "swollen with cunning," so proud.
The incantation (the magic words) that Faustus recites to call Mephastophilis are worth noting. The words are in Latin, but the editors have provided a translation in a footnote. Latin was the language of the Church; and, as mentioned in a previous lecture, the illiterate and superstitious people of the Middle Ages believed that Latin words were magical. Chaucer's Pardoner, you may recall, used Latin phrases to intimidate or scare the poor folk so that he could then get their money.
Toward the beginning of the incantation, Faustus says "farewell to the Trinity!" The Trinity refers to the three divine manifestations or beings of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. In essence, then, Faustus is actually saying good-bye to God. He is consciously and knowingly choosing the devil. He is choosing to reject God. He is choosing evil.
Another point worth noting is that when Faustus first asks Mephastophilis to appear, nothing happens. Faustus had called Mephastophilis to come through the power of two more important devils, Beelzebub and Demogorgon. But Mephastophilis did not respond. The powers of hell are not very strong. When nothing happens, Faustus asks, "What are you waiting for?" Then Faustus summons the devil to come through the power of Jehovah (God), holy water (water blessed by a priest and used for rituals), and the sign of the cross (a gesture symbolizing the cross on which Jesus Christ died). Then
Mephastophilis does appear. Thus, it is actually the power of God that Mephastophilis obeys. Although Faustus has just said the words, he does not realize the significance of them.
When Mephastophilis first appears before Faustus, he comes in some hideous or monstrous shape. Faustus thinks he is too ugly to look at and tells him to leave and then come back in the shape of "an old Franciscan friar" (line 25). There is a touch of humor in the next line spoken by Faustus: "That holy shape becomes a devil best" (line 26). Marlowe is here criticizing friars, commenting that although they may appear religious, they are actually quite sinful and even evil. The reader might recall the Friar in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. That character represented several of the Seven Deadly Sins (gluttony, lust, greed, and pride). And even before Chaucer, the Italian writer Dante placed a large number of friars in hell in his Divine Comedy. Thus, we can determine from the works by Dante in 1320, Chaucer in 1390-1400, and Marlowe in 1592 that for nearly 300 years (and probably much longer) the friars of the Catholic Church had been corrupt and sinful. Of course, one notable difference between Marlowe and the two medieval writers is that Marlowe is writing in Protestant England. Chaucer and Dante were Catholics. Thus, Marlowe's criticism of friars may also be a criticism of the Catholic Church as well.
One point (or theme) that is brought up in this scene and continues throughout the play is the idea of seeming power. Faustus may think that he has great power -- it may seem like he is powerful -- but his power is only an illusion. It does not really exist. Faustus even learns this right from the very start, but he is so vain, so proud, that he refuses to believe the obvious.
The idea of pride and seeming power appears in the words by Faustus right after Mephastophilis makes his first appearance (lines 28-33). Faustus comments that Mephastophilis is very humble and obedient, and that must be due to the great power of magic that Faustus has. Faustus even calls himself "conjurer laureate" (line 32), meaning the greatest of magicians. Even after one spell, Faustus has become far too proud. And, of course, his own power did not cause Mephastophilis to appear. Mephastophilis came because he feared the power of God. Thus, the lines spoken by Faustus are ironic. He does not see where the real power lies.
What makes this scene even more ironic is that Mephastophilis directly tells Faustus that he does not have any power. Faustus commands
Mephastophilis to be his servant (lines 36-37). But Mephastophilis responds that he can only obey the orders of Lucifer (lines 40-41). So, throughout the rest of the play, even though Mephastophilis follows the orders given by Faustus, the devil is actually doing so because Lucifer has commanded him to do what Faustus asks. And, of course, the only reason why Mephastophilis serves Faustus is that Lucifer wants his soul.
Mephastophilis explains this situation very carefully to Faustus. For a devil, he is quite honest. He explains that the incantation said by Faustus was the immediate or indirect cause for his appearance (line 46). But the words themselves carried no power. The words are not really magical. The devil explains that whenever a human speaks blasphemy, whenever a human curses God or speaks against God, then a devil will appear to that person in the hopes of capturing his or her soul (lines 47-49). This dialogue explains why Mephastophilis did not appear to Faustus when Faustus first called him (line 19). Only when Faustus uses the name of God to summon Mephastophilis (also in line 19), then the devil appears. Thus, it only seems like Faustus has any power to summon the devil. But, actually, he has no real power himself.
From the same scene, Mephastophilis also alludes to the story of Lucifer (in lines 62-68). Although the story of Lucifer is only briefly referred to in the Bible, other stories exist from both the Jewish and Christian traditions wherein the story of Lucifer is told in greater detail. According to some versions of the story, Lucifer was once the brightest and most beautiful of all of the angels up in Heaven. In fact, he was God's favorite angel (which is suggested in line 65 of this scene). However, Lucifer became too proud. He thought he was just as powerful as God is, and he wanted to be the ruler over all of Heaven. So, Lucifer convinced one-third (1/3) of all of the angels up in Heaven to join him in a rebellion against God. A terrible war then occurred in Heaven. Obviously, though, God was more powerful than Lucifer, and God threw Lucifer and all of the angels who joined him out of Heaven and down into the pits of Hell. Lucifer and his followers were then hideously transformed (perhaps by the flames of Hell) into devils.
The story of Lucifer is one about pride and disobedience to God (suggested in line 67). Perhaps not coincidentally, Faustus also is guilty of these same two sins.
Perhaps the most important point to note about Mephastophilis is that he and all of the other devils are "unhappy" (line 70). Often, in many modern depictions of Satan (or Lucifer) and other devils, the devil usually appears satisfied and even thrilled in his role of tempting humans in order to capture their souls. But the image of the unhappy devil coincides far more closely with the Christian notion. To be in hell, to be damned by God, is a punishment that no one can enjoy. For
Mephastophilis (and all of the other devils, including Lucifer) the torment of hell is even greater because he knows the "joys of heaven" (line 78). He knows the happiness and beauty and joy that exist up in Heaven. But he also knows that he will never be able to experience such joy and beauty ever again, for all of eternity. Thus, the devils are the unhappiest creatures in all of Hell. They are far unhappier there than any of the humans are because the devils know about the remarkable glory and bliss of Heaven. And they know they can never have that again.
Mephastophilis, therefore, is a sad and weak figure. He is even an easily frightened figure (line 82) whenever he hears any talk or even thinks about God. Faustus should learn from Mephastophilis. Faustus should realize that an eternal life in Hell can be only one of misery and torment. However, like most sinners, Faustus only thinks about his present earthly condition and proudly believes that the afterlife or Hell can hold no terror for him.
What is Hell exactly? Of course, no one can actually say. But throughout the ages in various stories, both in and out of the Bible, the idea of Hell is suggested or described. In Doctor Faustus the playwright actually suggests three different kinds of Hell. Perhaps Hell is all of these, or none of these. Even today Christians and Jews argue about what Hell may or may not be.
The idea of an eternal afterlife is one that dominates the literature of Western civilization. The ancient pyramids of Egypt, some of which date back to 3000 BC, indicate a belief in an afterlife. Throughout the greater history of Western literature, the view of the afterlife appears to be predominantly a fearful one. In Gilgamesh, an ancient epic that probably originated around 2000 BC, we find that the ancient Babylonians believed of the afterworld as a dark and gloomy place. They did not look forward to dying. The ancient Greeks believed in a similar idea. As mentioned above, Homer, writing around 800 BC, describes Hades in a way that is quite similar to the Babylonian afterlife. The ancient Jews, who describe Heaven in their literature, also describe Hell in the traditional manner that Christians also would believe in. The Classical Greek myth of Elysium as a place of paradise and Tartarus as a place of