Similarities Between Dr. Faustus And Dr. Faustus

The Medieval and Renaissance periods were drastically different from each other. The medieval period, from the 5th century though the 15th century, was based on religion and was dominated by the church in Europe. Any studies that went against God and the Bible was looked down upon, and people would be severely punished. Unlike the medieval period, the Renaissance gave men the chance to learn more about natural science rather than just religion. During the Renaissance, from the 14th century though the 17th century, scholars would reject the belief of God, but Dr. Faustus, a scholar, believed in magic. The insatiability of knowledge is what placed Dr. Faustus in an immoral position; he reached a limit of his human knowledge, and fell into the …show more content…
Faustus is a play based on how humans truly struggle with good and evil, and the consequences that soon follow. The main character, Dr. Faustus rejects the medieval time period, the belief in God, and acknowledges that individuals have more potential when it comes to their knowledge, which portrays the Renaissance era. Even though Dr. Faustus was a scholar who did not believe in God, he believed in magic, which was uncommon for a scholar who was knowledgeable in natural sciences. Dr. Faustus’s greediness for more knowledge and wealth led him to fall into “a devilish exercise”, which resulted in offering his soul to the devil (S1, L23 Greenblatt). First, he summoned Mephastophilis, Lucifer’s messenger, to offer an exchange. While Mephastophilis is Lucifer’s messenger, he advised Faustus to not make a deal with Lucifer, as if wanting Faustus to avoid making the same mistakes that he previously made. Lucifer agreed to Dr. Faustus offer, and he signed the deal with his blood, and while doing this, Faustus began to have second thoughts. Although Dr. Faustus had his doubts, they would disappear when Mephastophilis and Lucifer gave him books and showed him the Seven Deadly Sins. After twenty-four years, Dr. Faustus’s deal with Lucifer was coming to an end. Faustus was overwhelmed with terror, but refused to plead for forgiveness because he supposed God would not forgive him, his arrogance getting in the way of repenting his sins. On the final night of his …show more content…
Many rejected the medieval time period, the faith in God, and accepted that people have more potential when it came to their education. Before the renaissance, educated was positioned around the church. This is why the Renaissance era was known as the rebirth of knowledge because people knew that they could major in more than one area. The timer period was not “a new dawn after the darkness and ignorance of the ‘Middle Ages’, but a gradual development with a huge intellectual debt to the medieval past” since education was primarily focused on language and the arts, and sciences were rarely taught (Wooding). In the Middle Ages, it was typical for men to excel in one area, whereas in the Renaissance Era, men would excel in many things. For many, Leonardo da Vinci was seen as the ideal Renaissance man. The reason for this was because he outshined in many things, such as painting, sculpting, architecting, engineering, etc. The printing press, an invention created in this era, allowed there to be more study books, which led to more people to start reading; back in the middle ages, study books were rare to find, and very expensive. The Renaissance time period was the weakening influence of the Catholic Church and Monotheism on daily life, but there were still many people in Europe that believed in God. In the 10th century, universities were