Similarities Between Dr Faustus And Willy Loman

Cesare Pavese, the 20th century poet, once stated, “All sins have their origin in a sense of inferiority otherwise called ambition.” Ambition can be a driving force throughout life. However, if one confuses ambition and personal satisfaction with unceasing desire and materialistic pleasures it can often lead to an individual’s downfall. This is true for both Dr. Faustus from Marlowe’s The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus and Willy Loman from Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Faustus follows the eventual downfall of a great scholar known as Dr. Faustus. The doctor, who is a renowned scholar of all arts, seeks to gain riches, fame, and power, and as such makes an unholy deal with a demon named Mephistopheles. However, this arrangement comes at the …show more content…
For example, Faustus tricks a horse-courser into buying his steed. Faustus warns the courser not to ride the horse into water, but eventually the courser does and the horse turns into straw. Irritated, the courser demands his money back from Faustus, and tries to pull on his legs to awake a sleeping Faustus. Faustus, terrifying the courser, allows for his leg to be pulled off. Faustus mostly uses his powers for trickery and the limitless power he thought he was receiving. In fact, his powers are completely limited, as he cannot reincarnate people who have passed, he can only mimic their shadows. He often performs these tricks for royalty and popes to gain their favor and more fame. However, he never actually uses his powers to command or create anything. This is all at the cost of Faustus’ soul, and it is these “…particular misguided ends that Faustus seeks include ravishment, riches, miracles, and monuments, all of which expose an intellectual appetite hijacked by egocentric desire” (Barham 15). Faustus’ ambitions for supremacy and immortality bring him a small amount of power, however, Faustus soon realizes the error of his actions when Lucifer himself comes to bring Faustus’