Mephistophilis in Marlowe’s Faustus Essay examples -- Marlowe Faustus

Mephistophilis in Marlowes FaustusMephistophilis is a striking central character in the play loadFaustus, written by Christopher Marlowe in the late sixteenthcentury. His role in this flamboyant yet tragic play is ultimately toaid Faustus downfall from noted scholar to foolhardy prey ofLucifer. However, Mephistophilis motives are perceptibly ambiguousthroughout desexualize Faustus he seemingly alternates between atypically gleeful medieval daimon, and a romantically suffering fallenangel.Mephistophilis first appears in Doctor Faustus in the third scene,when he is summoned by Faustus experimental necromancy, as taught tohim by Valdes and Cornelius. Faustus becomes intrigued by the notionof employing dark magic to supply him with what he most cravesknowledge. Mephistophilis first appears to Faustus in his true,terrifying form (suggested on the Elizabethan stage by a lowereddragon). This wholly terrifying image is in keeping with the medievalconcept of the devil as a hellish superna tural being that encapsulatedhorror. Mephistophilis visual aspect shocks Faustus to the extent thathe implores him to return in a different form, this time as an oldFranciscan friar. This embodiment epitomises much of the confusionconcerning the devils character although the costume of a friar isseemingly unpretentious and reassuring (and, for Marlowescontemporaries, a daring anti-catholic joke), in a stage transactionof Doctor Faustus the raised hood and floor-length robe is ominousand chilling. It is this contradictory melange of qualities that makeMephistophilis such an ambiguous character throughout the play. In his first scene, Mephistophilis adopts the deflating and belittlin... ...is is a wonderfullymulti-dimensional character, developed in an intriguing manner thatmakes the devil intensely unpredictable and thrilling. The sharpcontrast between his fiendishly gleeful qualities and the aspects thatsuggest a romantically suffering angel fallen from grace, in myopinion, make the character much more absorbing. Perhaps Marlowerealised that the most captivating characters could never persist inone-dimensional. Although many critics are unhappy with the apparentinconsistencies, I think it is the combination of the gleeful andtormented aspects of the character that make him the centralmasterpiece of Doctor Faustus. Bibliography------------- Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (edited by John D. Jump)- www.sparknotes.com- Marlowe Doctor Faustus by Philip Brockbank- Marlowe The Overreacher by Harry Levin