We’ve spent a lot
of time considering how dumb Faustus is with all of the bad decisions he makes,
but at this point in the play (Acts 3&4), I’m wondering what his intentions
have really become. In the beginning he was all about getting money and being
cool, truly the stuff of greatness. However, in act 3 we see Faustus freeing
Bruno from what appears to be a pretty damn corrupt Pope with the help of
Mephostophilis. At this point I’m wondering if his intentions have remained the
same, and this is a way of furthering those goals, is Faustus trying to have
fun at the expense of others, or is he legitimately trying to do good?
My vote is for
option two. It seems like Faustus is all about having fun at this point and
Bruno’s rescue is simply a byproduct of Faustus trying to mess with the Pope.
At some point it seems like Faustus begins to care less about money and prefers
to show off his powers and cause inconveniences. With the powers Faustus is
shown to have (invisibility, conjuring spirits, etc.) it would be pretty easy
for him to get as much money as he needs. However, Faustus never really does
anything about that. Instead he curses the Pope and slaps him. Clearly he’s
using those powers to their full effect.
I don’t completely
fault Faustus for his change of heart though. If I had been given demonic
powers with 24 years left to live I would likely end up trying to have fun with
it as well. If he spends those 24 years amassing a great fortune, what will
that do for him in death? Faustus is aware that there is a countdown on his
life, and I suppose is now trying to make the most of it. I can’t say he’s not
being dumb about it because he absolutely is, but it seems like a fun time.
Lastly, I’m
interested in why his limbs are so easily dismembered. The horse-courser very
easily detaches Faustus’s leg and walks away with it. Obviously when magic is
involved some weird shit is gonna happen, but in this case I’m just wondering
how Faustus is so unfazed. After his head is cut off he remarks about not being
able to die until the 24 years is up (I didn’t realize immortality was part of
the deal, but that’s cool), but generally I would consider losing a limb to be
fairly inconvenient. He seems not to stress it too much.
While I do agree that Faustus makes some stupid decisions with his life, I still sympathize with his predicament. Faustus obviously has reasons for why he believed it was a great idea to strike a deal with the devil. We can only speculate as to why. But I can understand why he spends a great deal of time messing with people. What else is he going to do after exploring the world, seeing the universe, making money, etc? I mean, come on, you can be invisible and play tricks on those who you know would be funny to watch. Do I agree with the people he picks on? Eh, not quite, but if they someone wronged him in the past, then I do understand. I would love to go play pranks on people who I don’t like. I’d have my devils go while I sit back and eat popcorn, laughing. What does Faustus have to lose anyway? He will be dead and damned to eternal hell after 24 years. He might as well get as much laughter in life while he’s alive because there won’t be any of that in hell.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is definitely a gap between what Faustus wanted (power) and what he did (pranks). I think this is telling of …something. Overall, his experiences are not what he expected— he didn’t see that whole Hell thing coming, even when it was staring him in the face when he signed up for it! He didn’t seem to understand what he signed up for until the very end, so I suppose that is also why he was able to live a seemingly care-and-purpose-free 24 years. I think if he did understand, he wouldn’t have acted so childish.
ReplyDeleteI imagine the whole limb-losing deal to be like SpongeBob Squarepants loosing arms and legs with a quick pop, but they grow right back just as easily. I think this was probably not the case when his limbs were ripped off at the very end though, since that would defeat the purpose of pain.