Mephistophilis in Marlowe’s Faustus Essay examples -- Marlowe Faustus

Mephistophilis in Marlowe’s Faustus Mephistophilis is a striking central character in the play ‘Doctor Faustus’, written by Christopher Marlowe in the late sixteenth century. His role in this flamboyant yet tragic play is ultimately to aid Faustus’ downfall from renowned scholar to foolhardy prey of Lucifer. However, Mephistophilis’ motives are perceptibly ambiguous throughout ‘Doctor Faustus’; he seemingly alternates between a typically gleeful medieval devil, and a romantically suffering fallen angel. Mephistophilis first appears in ‘Doctor Faustus’ in the third scene, when he is summoned by Faustus’ experimental necromancy, as taught to him by Valdes and Cornelius. Faustus becomes intrigued by the notion of employing dark magic to supply him with what he most craves: knowledge. Mephistophilis first appears to Faustus in his true, terrifying form (suggested on the Elizabethan stage by a lowered dragon). This wholly terrifying image is in keeping with the medieval concept of the devil as a hellish supernatural being that encapsulated horror. Mephistophilis’ appearance shocks Faustus to the extent that he implores him to return in a different form, this time as an â€Å"old Franciscan friar†. This embodiment epitomises much of the confusion concerning the devil’s character: although the costume of a friar is seemingly unpretentious and reassuring (and, for Marlowe’s contemporaries, a daring anti-catholic joke), in a stage performance of ‘Doctor Faustus’ the raised hood and floor-length robe is ominous and chilling. It is this contradictory melange of qualities that make Mephistophilis such an ambiguous character throughout the play. In his first scene, Mephistophilis adopts the deflating and belittlin... ...is is a wonderfully multi-dimensional character, developed in an intriguing manner that makes the devil intensely unpredictable and thrilling. The sharp contrast between his fiendishly gleeful qualities and the aspects that suggest a romantically suffering angel fallen from grace, in my opinion, make the character much more absorbing. Perhaps Marlowe realised that the most captivating characters could never remain one-dimensional. Although many critics are unhappy with the apparent inconsistencies, I think it is the combination of the gleeful and tormented aspects of the character that make him the central masterpiece of ‘Doctor Faustus’. Bibliography ------------ - ‘Doctor Faustus’ by Christopher Marlowe (edited by John D. Jump) - www.sparknotes.com - ‘Marlowe: Doctor Faustus’ by Philip Brockbank - ‘Marlowe The Overreacher’ by Harry Levin