Maybe I'm not doing a close enough reading, but what is Faustus' purpose for making a deal with the devil? I understand he wants power etc. But doesn't he know that its wrong? As far as he knows, he could die in three days, or next week, or next month. How much power and evil doing does he plan on doing with an uncertain amount of time left? I am also a little confused as to who Mephistophilis is, is he a demon? I'm thinking he is even though he is referenced as the devil, but he is not Lucifer.
I also couldn't help but thinking about several movies that were based off of this book. Anyone think of Ghost Rider???? He sold his soul to the "devil" who was actually Mephisto so his father wouldn't die of cancer. He later died of stunt gone wrong. The devil tricked him. Anyone think about the movie, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus??? Where Dr. Parnassus has sold his soul to the devil and continue to make deals with him throughout the movie? Or what about the ever popular Pirates of the Caribbean??? (I'm pretty sure most people know what the pirates sold their souls for all that gold in the 1st movie).
Faustus seems to be a really educated man. Well not seems to be, but he is. He has all of this education, yet he makes poor decisions. How many times do the angels have to show up for him to realize that he needs to repent his sins to God. Faustus even knows a lot about religion, yet he sells his soul to the DEVIL!!!!!!! Can he not make an educated decision? Scholar 1, Scholar 2, and the two clowns (aka buffoons) know he is making the wrong mistake.
From the previous movies I mentioned and other books, most of these pieces are all similar in some way. Someone sells their soul, they get what they want, after a while they see the fault in their ways. The play even says that misery loves company, that is the only reason why the devil wants his army to be bigger, so more people will be miserable with him. Power and gold seem cool now, but what about what's gonna happen after I die? I don't want my soul to be miserable forever. That's why I don't understand Faustus' way of thinking.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you full heartedly. I think his easy willingness to just sign a contract, in blood, is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Also, I found it even crazier when he asks what Hell is like and got a some-what scary answer, he literally told Mephostophilis that he needs to basically buck-up. Clearly, Fautus is a pompous guy.
However, he is not completely clueless. In his contract with the devil he signed that he would ask for a numerous amount of things from the devil in return for his soul in twenty and four years. I would ask for a little more, but he did in fact have a set time limit.