Would you define the main character from Dr. Faustus as “a Renaissance Man”? Explain.

A Renaissance Man in the 16^th and 17^th Centuries can be described as someone who is vastly interested and even skilled in different facets of life.  An early example of a Renaissance Man would be Leonardo Da Vinci, who was an inventor, artist, and a mathematician. “The concept arose from the renewed interest in classical learning, art, and humanism during the Renaissance. Scholars like Leonardo da Vinci, who excelled in painting, science, engineering, and various other fields, epitomized the idea of a Renaissance Man” (“What Is a Renaissance Man?”). In the play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, main character and scholar Dr. Faustus could be described as a Renaissance Man due to his nearly insatiable need for knowledge beyond basic human understanding. However, his need for control and power over things like astronomy and black magic prove to be an extreme example of what a Renaissance Man (or woman) truly is.

Dr. Faustus – already a scholar of law, medicine, linguistics and more –  expresses deep interest in going beyond the everyday mundane that life brings him as an average man, and wishes to even profit off newfound knowledge. Faustus goes as far as wanting to lose his soul in new desires in exchange for the “world,” showing that his desires exceed mere interest and teeter on the side of greed: “Yet art thou still but Faustus, and a man. / What profiteth it a man to gain the world and lose his soul?” (Marlowe). In the first act of the play, Faustus speaks of different subjects he has mastered and a desire to be taken out of the very world he knows: “I see there’s virtue in my heavenly science, / To make me rich, and take me out of this world,” and notes his specific desires that are a bit unorthodox: “These metaphysics of magicians / And necromantic books are heavenly” and “Why, Faustus, / Hast thou not attained that high knowledge / Which should confine thee to a glorious fate?” (Marlowe).

Faustus’ desires to learn and master new subjects are perhaps beginning marks of a Renaissance Man, but it is when he begins to delve into his many new practices that solidify this title for the reader. In Act 2, Scene 1 the reader sees his ambition turning into action:  “A sound magician is a mighty god: / Here, Faustus, try thy brains to gain a deity” (Marlowe). Faustus summons a devil named Mephastophilis by ways of black arts, and although the devil warns him of its own horrible fate in Hell, Faustus wishes to delve further into magic and necromancy, making clear to the reader that he wishes more than just surface level knowledge on such subjects, but moreso to fully immerse himself and claim power. Mephastophilis, by the doctor’s demand, sets up a meeting between Faustus and Lucifer to sign an official blood deal. Faustus, in exchange for his soul, will have 24 years of unlimited knowledge, which he, like any Renaissance Man, takes full advantage of, traveling the world and summoning deceased historical figures.

Once the deal is in place, Faustus asks his devil servant for new information that he can absorb: “[Yet] fain would I have a book wherein I might behold all spells and incantations, that might raise up spirits when I please. [Now] would I have a book where I might see all characters and planets of the heavens, that I might know their motions and dispositions. [Nay], let me have one book more,—and then I have done,— wherein I might see all plants, herbs, and trees, that grow upon the earth” (Marlowe). Faustus wishes to know all he can about the planets, even going as far as to threaten Mephastophilis to give him as much information as possible, showing his crazed power trip that has an expiration date. 

By nature, Dr. Faustus has the markings of a 16^th Century Renaissance Man. By trade he is a well-known scholar of many subjects, with a thirst for knowledge outside of his career. He is interested in languages such as Latin, arts, and magic, and things that are not typically profited from, but simply interesting to study. What makes Dr. Faustus different is his greed and need to use his knowledge for power and fame. Luckily his story is a cautionary one, as his soul is damned to Hell after his 24 years of study with Mephastophilis and his master Lucifer.