March Blog

Christopher Marlowe used his play Dr. Faustus to present issues in society that relate to the seven deadly sins and being damned to hell. The main character, Dr. Faustus, is presented with the seven deadly sins in a personified manner. Since Lucifer was envious of the power of God, and Faustus shows this same drive to gain more power, envy was the sin that stood out most to me. Faustus is consistently comparing himself with others, including God, because he wants to be the best at everything. There is no real purpose for him to have all the knowledge and power he desires, other than to be better than everyone else. He pays the ultimate price when he sells his soul to the devil in exchange for unlimited knowledge. He says, "The Emperor shall not live but by my leave,/ Nor any potentate of Germany./ Now that I have obtained what I desire," although his desires also show greed, another deadly sin, envy is presented because he is presenting himself in comparison with others. Envy is presented in a similar way in the society that we live in. It is generally a social comparison or competition between oneself and another person. Envy in society can be on a small level, for example, siblings being jealous of attention the other is receiving from their parents, or a girl being envious of her crush's girlfriend. Envy can happen on a larger scale, as it does between countries. A big example, though it stemmed out of fear, is the Cold War. The United States used nuclear weaponry and the Soviet Union put itself in comparison to America and developed its own nuclear weapons. This competition for superiority continued on in the race to get to the moon first. Dr. Faustus' envy of the power of others is very indicative of the envy in people in society.