Essay
Alevel English essay- Dr Faustus- illusion and reality
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High grade A-level English Literature essay on Dr Faustus. Titled 'Explore Marlowe’s presentation of illusion and reality'.
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Explore Marlowe’s presentation of illusion and realityMarlowe presents his protagonist ‘Faustus’ as caught up in the illusion and excitement of
magic, and due to his hubristic attitude and humanist desires, is unable or decides not to see
the reality of the consequences of magic. Throughout the play, the key motif that magic is
simply an illusion is referred to and through Marlowe’s use of language, classical allusions and
morality play tempter figures; the narrow gap between illusion and reality is referred to.
Marlowe presents magic as inherent illusory, a force that can only mimic great things to the
observer but not have any actual properties of greatness. Coupled with this is Faustus’ clear
ignorance of the reality that magic has a price and can therefore be considered as a dangerous
illusion. Marlowe emphasises that the fundamental nature of magic is the creation or
indulgence in falsity and it is through deception that magic is performed and also appeals to
Faustus. The idea of an illusion is presented through the fact that Faustus only has the power to
request or choose but no actual power to manifest or create. The fact that Faustus is described
as ‘performing’ necromancy suggests that it is merely an act and is not real. Faustus is also
presented as a character that is disillusioned by the attraction to magic and his own desires to
‘search all corners of the new-found world’. It is due to the illusion of magic that Faustus does
not recognise his own tragic fall and his eventual degraded lowly trickster state concerned with
the bawdy and carnivalesque. Arguably, Marlowe can be seen here as satirising academics for
viewing everything as an argument and their foolishness for not understanding reality. The
illusionary nature of magic is consistent, for example the conjuring of Helen of Greece. Through
Marlowe’s use of devices such as light and dark imagery, nature imagery and classical allusions
in Faustus’ love poem to Helen of Greece, it is suggested not only that magic is an illusion but
Faustus’ obliviousness or arguably chosen ignorance in not seeing that the love poem is
essentially to an illusion. To enhance the illusion of magic and excite the audience Marlowe
uses exotic imagery and hyperbole in Faustus’ soliloquy expressing how he will use magic,
through images such as the oceans drying to ‘fetch the treasure of all foreign wrecks’. Marlowe
blurs reality; evidently in the changing tone of the chorus as Wagner initially sounds impressed
using impressive words such as ‘cosmography’ depicting Faustus’ dreams as having come true.
However, this idea of the greatness of magic is juxtaposed by the slapstick comic scene and
bawdy humour, suggesting that in reality magic is in fact of a deceptive nature.
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