Doctor Faustus
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Doctor Faustus
Faustus is the protagonist and tragic hero of Marlowe's play. He is a contradictory character, capable of tremendous eloquence and possessed of awesome ambition, yet prone to a strange, almost wilful blindness and willingness to waste powers that he has gained at great cost.
The character of Faustus in scene XVIII is manipulated and moulded throughout. He fears his role as the personification of possibility and considers repentance when shown the opportunity for forgiveness by an old man. This man could be seen as an emissary of God or even Faustus' conscience. This idea of representing God is later supported by the fact that Mephistopheles is unable to touch his soul due to its purity.. Faustus' fear is reflected in rhetorical questions such as 'where is mercy now?' 'What shall I do to shun the snares of death?' The desperation evoked in these questions by Faustus' lack of response reflects his growing fear of his imminent deliverance unto hell.
However, then fearing the wrath of Lucifer, he condemns himself to an afterlife tainted by sin, consciously disobeys God and asks to see an image of Helen of Troy..