Dr. Faustus Essay Free Will and Personal Responsibility

Free Will and Personal Responsibility in Faustus It can be argued that Doctor Faustus is damned from the moment of conception. His innate desire for knowledge inevitably leads to his downfall. He represents the common human dissatisfaction with being human and the struggle of accepting our lack of omnipotence and omniscience. Marlowe manipulates this struggle between the aspirations of one character of his time and the implications to Christianity in relation to its doctrine of heaven and hell. Indeed, Doctor Faustus asks for more than what was intentionally made available to him through Gods plan, yet it was Gods gift to him of his intellect, that tempted him to search beyond his appointed realm of knowledge. Faustus, through†¦show more content†¦In Faustus first speech he declares his desire to enter into the underworld of scholarship outside of the Christian realm, through experimentation with sorcery, incantations, etc.: These metaphysics of magicians and necromantic books are heavenly; Lines, circles, letters, characters- Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires. (I.i, lines 47-50) He believes that all other areas of scholarship such as philosophy, law, medicine, and divinity are ineffectual, thereby leaving black magic as the consummate learning experience since it will bestow upon him great power: O, what a world of profit and delight, of power, of honor, and omnipotence . . . a sound magician is a demi-god! (I.i, lines 51-60) Divinity, adieu! he says (I.i line 49). Faustus confidence and almost cockiness in his decision cannot be doubted. After signing his contract with the devil, his blood congeals too quickly thus implying his natural physical hesitance to this deed. In other words, if man is made in the image of God, despite his fall and original sin, there remains a measure of divinity in him, which is displayed by his blood congealing too quickly and thereby impeding this unholy act. Nonetheless, Doctor Faustus is unaware of this fact. Already he has contradicted and insulted his colleagues, family and so forth by his contract. This is known to Faustus. However, whether he has consciously and seriously contemplated these negativeShow MoreRelatedAnnotated Bibliography: Plagiarism39529 Words   |  158 Pages1868. Granitz, N. and Loewy, D. (2007). Applying Ethical Theories: Interpreting and Responding to Student Plagiarism. Journal of Business Ethics, 72(3), 293-306. Luke, B. and Kearins, K. (2012), Attribution of words versus attribution of responsibilities: Academic plagiarism and university practice. Vaccine, 30(50): 7131-7133. Rushby, N. (2013), Plagiarism. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44:  3 4. Vitse, C. L. and Poland, G. A. (2012), Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, scientific misconduct