The Good Angel and the Evil Angel in Marlowe's Dr Faustus are physical manifestations of the good and evil impulses that battle for supremacy in Faustus's conscience. Bringing the two competing sides of Faustus's conscience alive in the form of the two angels makes the dramatic tension between them more palpable and more dramatically explicit. It is easier for an audience to empathize with and invest in a battle between two anthropomorphized angels than it is for an audience to empathize with and invest in a battle between two abstract concepts.
The angels are also dramatically significant in that they create suspense for the audience. We wonder which angel will prove the stronger influence upon Faustus, and we wonder which will be proven correct as regards Faustus' fate. The Good Angel tells him repeatedly that it is never too late to repent, whereas the Evil Angel promises that devils will tear him to pieces if he ever does repent. The Good Angel warns Faustus that his transgressive pride will bring "God's heavy wrath upon (his) head," whereas the Evil Angel encourages Faustus to enjoy his powers and "Be . . . on earth as Jove is in the sky." Faustus is constantly pulled back and forth between the two angels, and from this battle, much of the play's dramatic tension derives—and also much of its suspense.
Sunday, April 21, 2019
What is the dramatic significance of good angel and evil angel in Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What is the theme of the chapter Lead?
Primo Levi's complex probing of the Holocaust, including his survival of Auschwitz and pre- and post-war life, is organized around indiv...
-
The statement "Development policy needs to be about poor people, not just poor countries," carries a lot of baggage. Let's dis...
-
"Mistaken Identity" is an amusing anecdote recounted by the famous author Mark Twain about an experience he once had while traveli...
-
Primo Levi's complex probing of the Holocaust, including his survival of Auschwitz and pre- and post-war life, is organized around indiv...
-
De Gouges's Declaration of the Rights of Woman was enormously influential. We can see its influences on early English feminist Mary Woll...
-
As if Hamlet were not obsessed enough with death, his uncovering of the skull of Yorick, the court jester from his youth, really sets him of...
-
In both "Volar" and "A Wall of Fire Rising," the characters are impacted by their environments, and this is indeed refle...
No comments:
Post a Comment