Dr.Faustus_Summary
Dr.Faustus is a German scholar who is expert in everything; logic, medicine, law and religion. However so expert in everything he is, he soon gets bored of the knowledge and ability he is limited to and wants more. Later, he believed that magic would show him more of the world that he or anyone has experienced, therefore he lets his greed to lead him to black arts. In the end he summons a devil, Mephastophilis and sells his soul for 24 years of service of the devil. For 24 years, Mephastophilis ables Dr.Faustus to become even richer, smarter and popular. He gets to own several yachts, houses, helipads, wife and more. Nevertheless, time was passing and his deadline was approaching. Dr.Faustus begins to dread his death, regrets his choice and begs the devil for mercy, but when the clock strikes twelve, his body gets destroyed and falls into hell.
Poem Analysis
Mrs.Faust is an allegory poem written by Carol Ann Duffy who is a british laureate poet and a playwright. This poem is newly interpreted with both female and omniscient perspectives on the male character of the original story called “Dr.Faustus”. In the story, Dr.Faustus is a German scholar who is expert in every aspect of studies. However, this expertise brings him great boredom, leading him to be interested in the black arts that he had never experienced before. Having to summon a devil named Mephastophilis by accident, he sells his soul for 24 years of service of the devil. For 24 years, Dr.Faustus receives unlimited power to obtain anything he wants; wealth, honor and love etc., regardless if they are morally right or wrong. As he approaches the last day of his contract, Dr.Faustus regrets what he has done. However eventually, he falls in to hell with the devil. By having Dr.Faustus’ wife as the main character of the poem, Duffy portrays the depraved life of people caused by inextricable lifestyle in wealth and honor.
The story begins from the point where Dr.Faustus meets Mrs.Faust and begins to enjoy his luxurious life that he obtained by making a deal with a devil. Mrs.Faust lists out the things Dr.Faustus and herself own, such as cars, boats, computers and mobile phones. In line 14, Duffy describes these objects as the “latest toys” which could only be bought with a big amount of money at the time. This symbolizes the wealth and status of the Dr.Faustus’ and from this, the audience can see Mrs.Faust is showing off her wealth and power. On the other hand, since the listing sequence technique creates a fast tempo when it is read out loud, it is also possible to suggest that Duffy intends for different interpretations. For example, the fast tempo represents how fast and easy it was for Dr.Faustus to obtain what he wanted through the devil’s power. Furthermore, it also represents how fast the pace of Dr.Faustus’ life went, that in the end, there was nothing truly valuable left. These different interpretations of the fast tempo affects the audience to detect different moods from the poem.
In the second paragraph, Mrs.Faust describes Dr.Faustus’ worsened desire for more, better luxury. At the beginning of the paragraph, Mrs.Faust lists out the positions that Dr.Faustus obtains such as Member of Parliament, Cardinal and Pope etc. where he can affect other people either positively or negatively. However, later when Dr.Faustus reaches a level where “he knew more than the god”, he begins to do things that only harm other people. For example, investing bombs and surfing the internet for young girls. This seems to show the hatred of Mrs.Faust toward Dr.Faustus’a unmoral acts.
However, the audience can detect two ironies from this. Firstly, it is ironic to spot hyperbolic deification in Mrs.Faust’s saying, transforming Dr.Faustus into a God like person such as the Pope. This is because Mrs.Faust’s hatred toward Dr.Faustus’ unmoral acts was previously shown already, which seems to be a contrasting idea. Furthermore, it is also ironic that Dr.Faustus served as the Pope and simultaneously as a servant who sold his soul to a devil. These two ironies provoke the readers into thinking harder with more attention, then from their confusion, being able to image how complicatedly corrupted the lifestyle of Dr.Faustus is.
Meanwhile, Mrs.Faust herself enjoys the luxurious lifestyle, too. She travels to places all around the world such as Rome, China, Thailand and Africa and does not refuses any surgeries as long as they can make her look young and beautiful. However, when she turns 40, she becomes a teetotal and Buddhist then returns home alone. This may indicate the reflection of Mrs.Faust being greedy of luxury but soon repenting and returning home, which shows a contrasting characteristic against Dr.Faustus. Nevertheless, as she witnesses the devil taking down Dr.Faustus to hell, Mrs.Faust lists out the symbols of wealth that would be all hers now that Dr.Faustus is gone. For instance, the yachts, several houses and the credit card she can use to buy a kidney to fix her illness. This act of Mrs.Faust shows her return to her greedy side and being corrupted into even deeper greed this time. At the same time, this is also where Duffy lets the audience to realize the connection with the theme, the inextricable luxury followed by corrupted lifestyle.
In conclusion, Carol Ann Duffy’s allegory poem Mrs.Faust portrays the corrupted lifestyle caused by endless greed of inextricable lifestyle in wealth and honor. The tale is told by Mrs.Faust in the omniscient perspective describing the process and consequences of Dr.Faustus’ misfortune followed by Mrs.Faust herself’s corruption. This is shown with several literary devices such as listing sequence and deification to describe the mood of the poem and progressing story lines. Through these techniques, Duffy enables the audience to illustrate a clear image of the mood, characteristics and consequences in the poem which, in the end, draw a lesson on the danger of extreme greed.
Dr.Faustus is a German scholar who is expert in everything; logic, medicine, law and religion. However so expert in everything he is, he soon gets bored of the knowledge and ability he is limited to and wants more. Later, he believed that magic would show him more of the world that he or anyone has experienced, therefore he lets his greed to lead him to black arts. In the end he summons a devil, Mephastophilis and sells his soul for 24 years of service of the devil. For 24 years, Mephastophilis ables Dr.Faustus to become even richer, smarter and popular. He gets to own several yachts, houses, helipads, wife and more. Nevertheless, time was passing and his deadline was approaching. Dr.Faustus begins to dread his death, regrets his choice and begs the devil for mercy, but when the clock strikes twelve, his body gets destroyed and falls into hell.
Poem Analysis
Mrs.Faust is an allegory poem written by Carol Ann Duffy who is a british laureate poet and a playwright. This poem is newly interpreted with both female and omniscient perspectives on the male character of the original story called “Dr.Faustus”. In the story, Dr.Faustus is a German scholar who is expert in every aspect of studies. However, this expertise brings him great boredom, leading him to be interested in the black arts that he had never experienced before. Having to summon a devil named Mephastophilis by accident, he sells his soul for 24 years of service of the devil. For 24 years, Dr.Faustus receives unlimited power to obtain anything he wants; wealth, honor and love etc., regardless if they are morally right or wrong. As he approaches the last day of his contract, Dr.Faustus regrets what he has done. However eventually, he falls in to hell with the devil. By having Dr.Faustus’ wife as the main character of the poem, Duffy portrays the depraved life of people caused by inextricable lifestyle in wealth and honor.
The story begins from the point where Dr.Faustus meets Mrs.Faust and begins to enjoy his luxurious life that he obtained by making a deal with a devil. Mrs.Faust lists out the things Dr.Faustus and herself own, such as cars, boats, computers and mobile phones. In line 14, Duffy describes these objects as the “latest toys” which could only be bought with a big amount of money at the time. This symbolizes the wealth and status of the Dr.Faustus’ and from this, the audience can see Mrs.Faust is showing off her wealth and power. On the other hand, since the listing sequence technique creates a fast tempo when it is read out loud, it is also possible to suggest that Duffy intends for different interpretations. For example, the fast tempo represents how fast and easy it was for Dr.Faustus to obtain what he wanted through the devil’s power. Furthermore, it also represents how fast the pace of Dr.Faustus’ life went, that in the end, there was nothing truly valuable left. These different interpretations of the fast tempo affects the audience to detect different moods from the poem.
In the second paragraph, Mrs.Faust describes Dr.Faustus’ worsened desire for more, better luxury. At the beginning of the paragraph, Mrs.Faust lists out the positions that Dr.Faustus obtains such as Member of Parliament, Cardinal and Pope etc. where he can affect other people either positively or negatively. However, later when Dr.Faustus reaches a level where “he knew more than the god”, he begins to do things that only harm other people. For example, investing bombs and surfing the internet for young girls. This seems to show the hatred of Mrs.Faust toward Dr.Faustus’a unmoral acts.
However, the audience can detect two ironies from this. Firstly, it is ironic to spot hyperbolic deification in Mrs.Faust’s saying, transforming Dr.Faustus into a God like person such as the Pope. This is because Mrs.Faust’s hatred toward Dr.Faustus’ unmoral acts was previously shown already, which seems to be a contrasting idea. Furthermore, it is also ironic that Dr.Faustus served as the Pope and simultaneously as a servant who sold his soul to a devil. These two ironies provoke the readers into thinking harder with more attention, then from their confusion, being able to image how complicatedly corrupted the lifestyle of Dr.Faustus is.
Meanwhile, Mrs.Faust herself enjoys the luxurious lifestyle, too. She travels to places all around the world such as Rome, China, Thailand and Africa and does not refuses any surgeries as long as they can make her look young and beautiful. However, when she turns 40, she becomes a teetotal and Buddhist then returns home alone. This may indicate the reflection of Mrs.Faust being greedy of luxury but soon repenting and returning home, which shows a contrasting characteristic against Dr.Faustus. Nevertheless, as she witnesses the devil taking down Dr.Faustus to hell, Mrs.Faust lists out the symbols of wealth that would be all hers now that Dr.Faustus is gone. For instance, the yachts, several houses and the credit card she can use to buy a kidney to fix her illness. This act of Mrs.Faust shows her return to her greedy side and being corrupted into even deeper greed this time. At the same time, this is also where Duffy lets the audience to realize the connection with the theme, the inextricable luxury followed by corrupted lifestyle.
In conclusion, Carol Ann Duffy’s allegory poem Mrs.Faust portrays the corrupted lifestyle caused by endless greed of inextricable lifestyle in wealth and honor. The tale is told by Mrs.Faust in the omniscient perspective describing the process and consequences of Dr.Faustus’ misfortune followed by Mrs.Faust herself’s corruption. This is shown with several literary devices such as listing sequence and deification to describe the mood of the poem and progressing story lines. Through these techniques, Duffy enables the audience to illustrate a clear image of the mood, characteristics and consequences in the poem which, in the end, draw a lesson on the danger of extreme greed.