Too Far Gone?

Natalie Wilson

Dr. Jacobs

GB II

14 April 2019

Too Far Gone?

Dr. Faustus is a book written by Christopher Marlowe. In the beginning, this book appears as if it is about the main character, Dr. Faustus, wanting to practice dark magic by bringing people back from the dead. However, if one looks closer and reads farther, they will see that is not what this book is about at all. Faustus is a man full of pride and thinks of himself higher than others. This book is about deciding how far away from God one can go until they cannot return or if they can return at all. This question is portrayed by Dr. Faustus’ deal with devil and regretting what he had done later when it happened to be too late.

It is in the first scene that we see a hint of how Faustus’ personality and what he thinks of himself. As he is talking about practicing his necromantic magics, he mentions, “All things that move between the quiet poles / Shall be at my command.” (Scene 1, Pg 5) He believes that he can use his so called magic to rule and have people be at his command. This is where his pride shows. He also says, “Emperors and kings / Nor can they raise the wind or rend the clouds; / But his dominion that exceeds in this / Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man.” (Scene 1, Pg 5) Faustus goes onto say, “A sound magician is a mighty god…” (Scene 1, Pg 5) This is where his superiority stands out. He thinks that he is better than emperors and kings and goes to the length of saying he can be compared to a mighty god. Here is the start of where we begin to see how far away Faustus is already from God and the truth. His heart is not in the correct place and does not seem to care how wrong or how distant he is from the Lord.

In later scenes, Faustus admits that he is incapable of being with God. For example, he says, “Now, Faustus, must / Thou needs be damn’d, and canst thou not be sav’d: / What boots it then to think of God or Heaven?” (Scene 5, Pg 19) Faustus has come to the conclusion that his heart is so hard that he can not be saved. He is out of reach from God and has no hope of being able to go back to Him. Because of this, he has given up on even thinking of God or Heaven. Faustus states, “Whither I should fly? / If unto God, he’ll throw me down to hell.” (Scene 5, Pg 21) Faustus has it set in his mind that no matter what he does, God is going to reject him because of all the things he has ever done. He even goes so far to say, “ My heart’s so hard’ned I cannot repent. / Scarce can I name salvation, faith, or heaven…” (Scene 6, Pg 25) Faustus has said he is done with God and he will not even attempt to be redeemed. His heart is so hardened and unable to be rescued.

After Faustus refuses to repent or attempt to change his ways, in the very end, he regrets it all. In the very end of the book, the hour is upon Faustus and the devil is coming to take him to hell. Faustus says, “For vain / pleasure of twenty four years hath Faustus lost eternal joy and / felicity.” (Scene 14, Pg 54) He is finally realizing that his decision of selling his soul to the devil was wrong. He traded twenty four years of his life for an eternity in hell. Faustus continues to take back his choice to distance himself from God. In his time of despair, he says, “Perpetual day; or let this hour be but / A year, a month, a week, a natural day, / That Faustus may repent and save his soul!” (Scene 14, Pg 54-55) Faustus knows this is the end and he realizes he can not change it. He begs Lucifer to spare him. In the end, the devils come into take Faustus to hell just as he agreed to.

At the start of this book, we see a man named Faustus who wants to practice dark magic and will do anything to get what he wants. In order to gain this magic, he conjures up the devil. He makes a terrible deal with the devil that condemns him to hell for eternity. He believes that he is too far gone away from God and does not try to go back to Him. He does not think that there are any repercussions for his decision. He believes everything will be fine. At the last time before the devil is about to take him to hell, he regrets everything he had done, but at that point he was too late. There was nothing he could do. In the Bible, no matter what happens, you can always repent and God will be there. In this book, Faustus did not get the same result.