Comparing Christopher Marlow’s Doctor Faustus and William...

Desire for Knowledge and Power in Christopher Marlow’s Doctor Faustus and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth Plays written during the Renaissance often show how an individual is shaped by that person’s deepest ambitions, such as the desire to know, to rule, or to love, and how these aspirations can lead people down dramatic paths. Christopher Marlow’s Doctor Faustus and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth both involve noble protagonists who are portrayed as true subjects - tragic heroes; their selfhood is defined by their ambition and the decisions that they struggle with while attempting to reach their goals. Knowledge and power are the key objects of their desires: Faustus’ desire is intellectual, he seeks omniscience, and Macbeth wants to†¦show more content†¦This allusion foreshadows Faustus’ eventual downfall, in which he too will be foiled by an attempt to reach too high toward his desire for knowledge. The opening lines of Marlowe’s play show that Faustus is a philosopher and a self-reflecting person who realizes that he lacks knowledge, and who searches for the secrets of life: â€Å"[s]ettle thy studies, Faustus, / and begin to sound the depths of that thou wilt profess† (1.1-2). Faustus’ recurring tendency to refer to himself in the third person during his soliloquies underscores his subjectivity and his self-consciousness. The fact that the play begins with him alone in his study, soliloquizing about scholastic matters, immediately gives Faustus a semblance of individuality. Faustus’ individuality and personal desire for knowledge are enhanced in this scene when he states to Valde and Cornelius, Philosophy is odious and obscure, Both law and psychics are for petty wits; Divinity is basest of the three, Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible and vile. ‘Tis magic, magic that hath ravished me (1.106-110). Faustus is not satisfied with his previous knowledge, and he expresses discontent in the areas of theology, medicine, law, etc. He searches for ultimate knowledge and he wants to learn to manipulate it. His quest for knowledge fuels his desire to embark upon a new science and