Not really blogged for a while so thought I was over due a post. This past week we have been examining the question 'How far do you agree that Faustus has fallen in grace by Act iv?'. When I initially wrote the essay on Thursday afternoon I decided to be non-controversial and agree with the question. However, when I went out of the room to discuss my work with Mr. Francis I realised that actually I completely disagreed that Fautsus had fallen in grace at all- I just wasn't confident in taking a stance that completely opposed the question. I'm going to use this blog to explain my actual position, and the one that I will take in June if the question comes up again.
The crux of my argument that Faustus doesn't fall from grace by act iv is basically that he was never a nice person to begin with. My understanding of 'falling from grace' is that one has to be in a morally superior position at the start and a much lower position by then end. If we look at Faustus however, he is clearly presented as an arrogant, obnoxious, aetheistic, rude man in act i. Plainly, this is not in any way, shape, or form a morally superior position. The Faustus in scene one is not at all the sort of man that anyone would particularly like to meet. If Faustus' characterisation in scene i is contrasted with his character in scene iv a definite change can however be spotted. Faustus is meeker, he has lost his arrogance and in many respects could be regarded as helpless e.g. his dependence on Mephi. The sharp edges of Fautsus' character in scene one have been worn down over the years follwing the selling of his soul and actually it could be argued that Faustus hasn't fallen from grace because his experiences have actually graced him with tiny little bit of humility.
Another point, although I've been told not to get hung up on it, is that 'fallen from grace'- like it or not- does have religious connotations. At the tiume that Faustus was written all of Christendom (and the H.R.E where the play is set) would have understood 'fallen from grace' to be falling from the will of God. I may be being pedantic but Faustus sells his soul in the first act, let's face it you can't show that you disagree more with God than that. Case closed by act one, not act iv, surely?
Or maybe not. The phrase 'fallen from grace' is ambigious, and as I've already pointed out my understandings of it lead to the question appearing quite frankly irrelevent/pointless. I don't think Fautsus falls from grace by act iv, if he does fall in the semantic sense it is in act i, otherwise he does not. There is however a character change in Faustus which is noticeable as the play progresses. His ambitions die. I may not like Faustus, but I would be mad to deny that it is his ambitions that are the life force behind the character. By the time that the play reaches act iv, they have been erroded away and replaced by melancholy acceptance that Fautsus is not destined for greatness but to act as a servant or jester- to entertain others. At least at the start of the place Fautsus has an interesting albeit despicable charcter, by Act iv he is completely void of any of the spark he once had. It's funny but the audience really do get to see the devil suck Faustus' soul from him through the play. I'm not sure whetehr this change in character can be called a fall from grace but whatever it is it is noticeable and it does happen to a large extent.
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