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Unit 13: Doctor Faustus: Characterization and Faustus Character

Renaissance men were in love with life and its possibilities. They lived dangerously but Notes
wholeheartedly. In other words, they were secular. Fundamentally, Faustus’ choice is that of a
Renaissance man, not a medieval man. He sacrifices eternity for twenty-four years of full life in the
here and now. That is the basic conflict in the mind of Faustus, a man caught between two worlds.

Self Assessment

Multiple Choice Questions:
11. What proves that the character of Doctor Faustus is central of the play?
(a) The attention of audience is focused upon him
(b) He was born of poor parents
(c) He was tragically treated in the play
(d) He excelled in the study of divinity.
12. The character of Doctor Faustus is a tragic hero because
(a) he was predominantly a bad man
(b) Mephistophilis had ultimate domination on him
(c) he was a sufferer of Mephistophilis excesses
(d) he has admirable aspirations.
13. Which of the following best analyse the character of Doctor Faustus?
(a) A tragic hero with limited aspirations
(b) A brilliant man with admirable aspirations
(c) A character with dual attitude
(d) A central character of the play but with bad attitude.

Fill in the blanks:
14. Faustus was born of poor parents in ......... in Germany.
15. At the beginning of the play, Doctor Faustus is no longer content with the ......... of
knowledge.
16. Aristotle stated that the tragic hero is a predominantly ......... man.
17. Doctor Faustus desire to be equated with God is a ......... in Christian terms as well.

State whether the following statements are true or false:
18. Doctor Faustus looks sometimes forward to the medieval world, and sometimes
backward to the modern world.
19. It was the glory and the ambition of the Renaissance man to have an aspiring mind.
20. Doctor Faustus was brought up by relatives who sent him to the university at
Wittenberg.

13.3 Summary
• Faustus is a brilliant man, who seems to have reached the limits of natural knowledge.
• Faustus is a scholar of the early sixteenth century in the German city of Wittenburg. He is
arrogant, fiery, and possesses a thirst for knowledge.
• As an intellectual, Faustus is familiar with things (like demon summoning and astrology) not
normally considered academic subjects by today’s universities.

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