Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1992

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Nathan, Norman

Abstract

A crucial turning point in Christopher Marlowe's play Dr. Faustus occurs within the Latin chant in the conjuring scene. It is Faustus's commission of what is within the Christian universe the only unforgivable sin: the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This blasphemy is noted by Mephostophilis and is a deliberate device used by the playwright to make the work an irreversible tragedy. This ominously important act gives the play a certain dread impetus as events build to a sadly predictable conclusion. After Faustus's unforgivable words redemption from death and hell is impossible within the Christian cosmology in which the play is set. The irrevocable demise of the protagonist due to this own regrettable hubris parallels the similar demise of protagonists in Greek tragedies. Through this one unforgivable deed Faustus is unsavable, unsalvageable, unforgivable, and unable to ascend with the help of grace above the reach of Satanic power, which he chose, and into the paradise promised by the doctrine of divinity, which he has despised (I.i.102-104).

Extent

62 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1992.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT14843

Format

pdf

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