Assignment on:

“Compare and Contrast Macbeth And Doctor Faustus as a tragic hero”

Abstract:
The tragedy of Macbeth and Doctor Faustus are two famous renaissance tragedy play written by
two scholars alternately that Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, makes two remarkable tragedy
body that Macbeth himself and doctor Faustus. Two characters are famed by their heroic and much
intelligent qualities but along with their great flaw that meets with them as a tragical hero. Though
two characters are tragical body but here we can see a number of similarity and dissimilarity
between two characters. And here I would like to discuss both of two things between two famous
characters.

Doctor Faustus Vs Macbeth

Introduction:
Macbeth, magnum opus of Shakespeare and Doctor Faustus written by the literary genius of
Christopher Marlowe are two remarkable tragedies of the Elizabethan era. Both the tragedies
embody the spirits of the renaissance age in the true sense elicited. It seems very clear that the
character of Macbeth is imbued with more dignity and heroism by Shakespeare than the character
of Doctor Faustus is by Marlowe. Although both are clearly evil characters who do evil things in
order to satisfy their ambition, at the same time, as Macbeth nears his end, he is given eloquent
lines that speak of his suffering and loss and his recognition of his own mortality. In this paper I
would like to discuss the matters of tragic hero, qualities and as we know that a tragic hero is a
character in a dramatic tragedy who has virtuous and sympathetic traits but ultimately meets with
suffering by doing a great flaw.

Macbeth is a complex character who changes throughout the course of the play. He is clearly a brave
warrior and leader at the start of the drama but he falls victim to the Witches' predictions. It is
unclear whether they plant ideas in his mind or whether they simply highlight thoughts that he has
already had. In a series of soliloquies, he repeatedly questions himself about his motives for killing
the King but is eventually persuaded to continue by his forceful wife.
Having committed murder he finds himself caught in a spiral of evil from which he can see no
escape. His actions become less heroic and more cowardly as he continues to murder and terrorise
others in order to hold on to his power. Towards the end of the play, when he realises that he is
doomed, he briefly returns to his old heroic self.

While, Doctor Faustus is the leading character. He is a brilliant scholar in sixteenth century Germany.
He has a thirst for knowledge, fame and fortune that runs so deep that he is willing to trade his
mortal soul to Lucifer in return for cosmic powers. Faustus's tragic grandeur is diminished by the fact
that he never does completely come to terms with his decision to trade his soul and constantly
struggles with whether or not he should repent. His drive is admirable; however, he appears to lack
tremendous inner strength. Faustus never seems completely wiling to adopt his dark path.

Similarities between two tragical characters, Macbeth and Doctor Faustus:

Both Dr. Faustus and Macbeth are promising men with potential, whose ambition and pride bests
them and leads to their downfalls and brutal deaths.

Before he murdered King Duncan in pursuit of his own ambitions, Macbeth was a favourite of the
king. At the start of the play, Macbeth is heroic and brave in war, brutalizing the rebellious enemy
and defending King Duncan with all of his strength and courage. King Duncan is so grateful to
Macbeth for his loyalty and his savagery on the battlefield that he rewards Macbeth with the title of
Thane of Cawdor. This award is an indication of the king's gratitude as well as his recognition of
Macbeth's potential as a military leader, but it whets Macbeth's prodigious appetite for power.

Dr. Faustus, as well, displayed significant potential before he made his fatal deal with the devil. The
Chorus introduces Faustus as a man of good stock and admirable parents, and even Faustus's first
speech illustrates his own awareness of his talents.

• 1.Marlow’s character Dr. Faustus and Shakespeare’s Macbeth are famously flawed
characters whose fall victim to the vice of hubris(excessive pride). Both Macbeth and Dr.
Faustus are obsessed with gaining power. They are willing to commit terrible deeds in order
to attain their power. Faustus is willing first to study the black art of magic in return for
worldly power and Macbeth commits murder in
• 2.Both are corrupted by the power they receive. Both men are also concerned with the
supernatural elements. Macbeth has his ambition aroused by the prophecies of witches.
Faustus by his meeting with Mephistopheles. Additionally, both men are able to delude
themselves.
• 3.Macbeth thinks he is impervious to defeat because of the witch's prophecy that only a
man “not of women born” can kill him, and then only when the forest marches on the castle.
Faustus convinces himself that hell is a “fable” an “old wives” tale persuading himself that
the sale of his soul will be without
• 5.After murdering several people Macbeth says, “I am in blood, stepped so far, should I
wade no more, returning were as tedious as over” in other words he feels that it is to turn
back. He is already felt guilty that he might as well continue on his bloody path
• 6.Dr Faustus nearing the end of his life and facing an eternity in hell says, “No, Faustus curse
thyself, curse lucifer, that have deprived thee of the joy s of heaven.” He knows that he is
responsible along with lucifer for his own damnation. Although he had numerous chances to
change his mind and turn away from evil.
Dissimilarities between Macbeth and Dr. Faustus:
In both plays Macbeth and Doctor Faustus there are many different techniques used, but
there are also many of the same types of dramatic styles. Macbeth is more of a villain
tragedy that only has hints of comedy at intervals to take short breaks from the tragedy. On
the other hand, Doctor Faustus is a dramatic mixture of comedy and tragedy. Both of these
plays however, contain the element of greed and show how it conquers people. Not many
elements actually make theses plays similar but a lot of them make them extremely
different.

In Macbeth, unlike Doctor Faustus, there are many dramatic events leading to even more
dramatic ending. This play focuses more on man’s dark desires rather than their normal
aspirations. Although both plays were created around the same time, they both seem to be
very different types of drama from the same Elizabethan time period. Macbeth, being a
villain tragedy, balances aggressive behavior and Christian beliefs while Doctor Faustus
focuses solely on the main character. In “Macbeth” we also see that he is not entirely the
main character as many other characters are given great power over him. Many elements of
this play differ in many ways from those in “Doctor Faustus.”

Doctor Faustus is a more detailed and focused play than Macbeth in many ways. This play’s
main focus is how man is always trying to have more than he already has. Unlike the villain
tragedy “Macbeth”, Doctor Faustus’s whole plot revolves around one character. The
character of Faustus is very different from Macbeth because through Faustus’ search for
more and more knowledge he does not intend to harm anyone to get there, but Macbeth is
willing to put anyone’s life in danger to get the power that he wants. While the whole plot
of “Doctor Faustus” revolves around Faustus, the plot of “Macbeth” slowly changes from
revolving around Macbeth to Malcom and Macduff. Christopher Marlowe’s style of writing
also differs from Shakespeare writing of Macbeth tragedy.

Conclusion: Though between Macbeth and Doctor Faustus have a number of similarities and
dissimilarities but two of the character make a strong place in literature world, till now they
are favourite to everyone. And both of the famous tragical plays show a number of moral
teaching. And it is to be noted that both of the admirable those who earned their fame and
name by their extraordinary heroic qualities and intelligent power but only for their lust of
power and wealth they made some of strong tragical flaw that fall them as a tragic body.
Submitted To: Submitted By:

Laila Noor Ma’am Hazera Akter

Assistant Professor ID: 5106010

Dept. Of English, BAIUST. Level, Term: 2,2