The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus - Chorus 1
Important Quotations
- “Not marching now in fields of Thrasymene… Nor sporting in the dalliance of love… Nor in the pomp of proud audacious deeds”
Repetition of negators. Foreshadowing his death and his eventual downfall (his transgression will be the cause of his death, similar to Victor Frankenstein, The Creature, Hamlet)
- “his parents base of stock”
His family was a part of the lower society. This was done to show the contemporary audience that anyone can be led to sin/ can transgress.
- “Of riper years, to Wertenberg
He would have been influenced by Wittenberg as he went there at a young age. It is known as a place of radical studies, and previous characters we have studied have received radical knowledge (radical knowledge = the study of humanism and the sciences)
- “fruitful plot of scholoarism…"
Metaphor, religious symbolism - Links to the original sin and the forbidden fruit. Connotations of the Garden of Eden - because both of them are led to sin. His pursuit of religious knowledge was accepted, awarding and positive. But Wittenberg foreshadows his transgression. His study at Wittenberg will be about forbidden knowledge. Plot - negative connotations.
- “sweet delight disputes”
Oxymoronic.
Use of alliteration.
- “His waxen wings did mount above his reach / and melting heavens…”
Allusions to the story of Icarus. Suggests that Faustus is similar to Icarus
Alliteration - shows that his pursuit of knowledge and his hubris will cause his downfall.
Foreshadowing - suggests that he will also be punished for having the same hubristic traits like Icarus as he tries to usurp God.
Context
Wittenberg
The contemporary audience would have associated Wittenberg University with a radical professor of moral theology, Martin Luther, who often criticised the corruption of the Catholic Church. He was a part of one of the key events that resulted in The Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation = society’s move to Protestantism away from catholicism.
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