DR FAUSTUS AS A MORALITY PLAY:

Liturgical Drama in the beginning had three forms, Mystery, Miracle and Morality.
The morality play
is really a fusion of allegory and the religious drama of the miracle plays (Which
presents the
miracles of saints and the subjects depend upon Bible). It flourished in the middle
ages, was at its
height in the first half of the 15 century, disappeared after the second half, but
reappeared in
Elizabethan drama. In this play the characters were personified abstractions of
vice or virtues such
as Good deeds, Faith, Mercy, Anger, Truth, Pride etc. The general theme of the
moralities was
theological and the main one was the struggle between the good and evil powers for
capturing the
man’s soul and good always won. The story of whole morality play centres round the
single
towering figure. The seven deadly sins were found engaged in physical and verbal
battle with
cardinal virtues. The antics of vices and devils etc offered a considerable
opportunity for low
comedy or buffoonery. The morality play often ended with a solemn moral.
In the light of these points we may call Marlowe’s “Dr. Faustus” a belated morality
play in spite of
its tragic ending. It has been mentioned that in morality plays the characters were
personified
abstractions of vice or virtues. In “Dr.Faustus” also we find the Good and Evil
angels, the former
stand for the path of virtue and the latter for sin and damnation, one for
conscience and the other
for desires. Then we have the old man appearing, telling Faustus that he is there
“To guide’ thy
steps unto the way of life”. He symbolizes the forces of righteousness and
morality. The seven
deadly sins are also there in a grand spectacle to cheer up the despairing soul of
Faustus.
If the, general theme of morality plays was theological dealing with the struggle
of forces of good
and evil for man’s soul, then “Dr. Faustus” may be called a religious or morality
play to a very great
extent. We find Marlowe’s hero, Faustus, abjuring the scriptures, the Trinity and
Christ. He
surrenders his soul to the Devil out of his inordinate ambition to gain:
“-----a world of profit and delight’
Of power, of honour, of omnipotence.”
Through knowledge by mastering the unholy art of magic. About the books of magic,
he declares:
“These metaphysics of magicians,
And necromantic books are heavenly.”
By selling his soul to the Devil he lives a blasphemous life full of vain and
sensual pleasures just
for only twenty-four years. There is struggle between his overwhelming ambition and
conscience
which are externalized by good angel and evil angel. But Faustus has already
accepted the opinion
of Evil Angel, who says: “Be thou on earth as Jove in the sky.” Faustus is also
fascinated by the
thought:
“A sound magician is a mighty god,
Here, Faustus, tire thy brains to gain a deity.”
When the final hours approaches, Faustus find himself at the edge of eternal
damnation and cries
with deep sorrow: “My God, my God, look not so fierce to me!”
Through this story Marlowe gives the lesson that the man, who desires to be God, is
doomed to
eternal damnation.
The chief aim of morality play was didactic. It was a dramatized guide to Christian
living and
Christian dying. Whosoever discards the path of virtue and faith in God and Christ
is destined to
despair and eternal damnation--- this is also the message of Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus.
And it has
found the most touching expression in the closing lines of the play:
“Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits,
To practice more than heavenly power permits.”
Hudson has rightly said: “No finer sermon than Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus ever came from
the pulpit.”
The tradition of chorus is also maintained. We find the chorus introducing the
story just before the
beginning of the first scene and subsequently filling in the gaps in the narrative
and announcing
the end of the play with a very solemn moral. The appearance of seven deadly sins
shows that
Marlowe in “Dr. Faustus” adopted some of the conventions of the old Morality plays.
The seven

1
Deadly sins- pride, Covetousness, Wrath, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth and Lechery of good
old Morality
plays are also very much here in this play in a grand spectacle to cheer up the
dejected soul of
Faustus. And the old favourite and familiar figure of the devil is also not
missing. Mephistophilis, an
assistant to Lucifer, appears as a servile slave of Faustus in many scenes. The
comic scenes of
“Dr. Faustus” also belong to the tradition of old Morality plays. The comic scenes
were not integral
part of those plays but were introduced to entertain. In “Dr. Faustus” many comic
scenes are
depicted especially his pranks on the Pope, the planting of a pair of horns on the
head of a knight
and the cheating of a greedy horse-dealer. They throw light on the nature of the
tragedy of Dr.
Faustus. The comic episodes underline the fact that Faustus has sunk to the low
level of a sordid
fun-loving sorcerer. In “Dr. Faustus” there is only one towering figure all the
action and incidents
centre round him. Then just like the earlier Morality plays, it also suffers from
looseness of
construction especially in the middle part of the play.
Though to a great extent, “Dr. Faustus” is a morality play yet there are also some
other elements
which make it different from morality play. The difference is that in morality
plays, all characters are
abstractions, not concrete. But in “Dr. Faustus” the main character, Faustus is not
an abstraction
but as person with desires and high ambitions He is a living person like other
human beings. Then
the element of conflict is the fountain head of the entire action in the play and
the movement of the
action defines the plot of the play. Faustus heart and soul is the greatest battle
field for the internal
or spiritual conflict. Though Faustus has abjured God and has made his pact with
the devil, yet
there is a conflict in his mind between good and evil, he feels the pricks of
conscience. The growing
sense of loss and of the wages of “damnation” begins to sting him like a scorpion.
“When I behold the heaven, then I repent,
And curse thee, Wicked Mephistophilis,
Because thou hast deprived me of those joys”
This inner conflict in Faustus is the element of tragedy not of morality, on the
basis of which we
some times think that it is not a morality play. In a morality play, the moral is
always positive and
goodness always triumphs over evil, truth over lie and virtue over vice .Virtue is
always rewarded.
But in “Dr. Faustus” we find evil spreading its powerful hands over goodness and
then laying it
down.
Faustus follows the path told by evil angel and ultimately is ruined. He cannot
repent and devil is
successful in getting hold of his soul. This moral is negative which is not in
accordance with
morality plays. Moreover, in this play, Faustus plays pranks with pope and knight
and makes fun of
them. Unlike morality plays the butt of this low comedy is Pope instead of devil.
Faustus is a character ideal to be the hero of a tragedy where man alone is the
maker of his fate,
good or bad. He falls not by the fickleness of fortune or the decree of fate, or
because he has been
corrupted by Mephistophilis, the agent of Lucifer; the devil, but because of his
own will. Faustus,
being a tragic hero was dominated by some uncontrollable passion or inordinate
ambition. There is
a conflict in his mind between good and evil. He falls from high to low and this
degradation is clear
in his soliloquy, when he says:
“O soul, be changed into little water drops,
And fall into ocean, never to be found!”
Such a tragic hero cannot be the hero of a morality play. Thus we see that in spite
of its entire links
with medieval miracle plays or moralities, Dr. Faustus can never be treated wholly
as a morality
play. It is the greatest heroic tragedy before Shakespeare with its enormous stress
on
characterization and inner conflict in the soul of a towering personality. We may
call this play the
last of the Morality plays and the beginning of tragedy that was developed by
Shakespeare. We may
conclude in the words of a critic: “Dr. Faustus is both the consummation of the
English Morality,
tradition and the last and the finest of Marlowe’s heroic plays.”
Written&Composed By:
Prof.A.R.Somroo
M.A.English&Education.
0662610063,Cell:03339971417
Khangarh.