Krantz
Faustus Questions
1. Aristotle notes that the tragic hero is a man who is "eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty [a 'tragic flaw' within the person]." Is Faust a tragic hero in the Aristotelian sense?
2. Why does Faust sell his soul so easily?
3. For what does Faust sell his soul?
4. What irony inheres in the terms of the sale?
5. Is Marlowe's cosmos Copernican (new astronomy) or Ptolemaic? How do you know this?
6. Where does the text show humanistic principles?
7. How deliberate is Faust's sin in selling his soul?
8. In a medieval world, Faust is damned because he sells his soul; in a Calvinistic world, Faust sells his soul because he is damned. Which seems to be the case here?
9. a) What do you believe are the limits on human power?
b) What limits on power does the play suggest exist?
10. What is the proper use of science (knowledge)?
11. Do people still "sell their souls" for vain pleasure? If so, why and how?
12. Is the play about coming to consciousness? How so?
13. How does the Great Chain of Being illuminate the play?
14. If we consider the parts of Faust's 24 years that we are shown, how much do they seem worth eternal pain and suffering?