Two works by Christopher Marlowe, “Doctor Faustus” and “The Passionate Shepard to His Love,” present characters whose personality traits may cause their eventual ruin. In the case of Doctor Faustus, his fate is made clear by the end of the play. At the end of “The Passionate Shepard” the outcome of the Shepard is not as clear. However, the audience can guess at his fate based on what happened to Doctor Faustus. The negative qualities of ambition and the need for immediate happiness contribute to the downfall of the Shepard and Doctor Faustus.
Ambition is a wonderful human quality if used in moderation, but Doctor Faustus and the Shepard take it to extremes. Normally, ambition drives one to be successful in his or her life. Conversely, Doctor Faustus’ desire for power is so great that he turns to “necromancy” (Scene I, line 25), the dark arts, to fulfill his wishes. The audiences of past and modern times can already imagine the terrible outcome of this choice. Doctor Faustus truly is going to hell, whether he thinks it is a major issue or not. Doctor Faustus, though, disregards the danger and deals with the devil. “ …I cut my arm, and with my proper blood/ Assure my soul to be great Lucifer’s…” (Scene I, lines 54-55). With these words said, Faustus creates a contract that exchanges his own soul for knowledge and magic. Upon Faustus’ request, he is granted abilities beyond human control; he becomes hungry for the things that were denied him by his previous studies. For example, Faustus believes he can attain unlimited wealth and prestige with the help of Mephastophilus, Lucifer’s henchman. Instead of thinking of “heaven and heavenly things” (Scene I, line 20), Faustus is allured by honor and wealth (Scene I, line 21) that the Evil Angel prescribes.
Despite his aspirations for power, Faustus appears content to perform parlor tricks for the masses. For a duchess, for example, Faustus produces grapes that are normally out of season (Scene II, lines 9-10). Certainly, this is very far off from Doctor Faustus’ original wishes of power. “But his dominion that exceeds in this/ Stretcheth a far as doth the mind of man” (Scene I, lines 60-61). Instead, he uses his unlimited abilities not for world domination, as one might expect, but for useless trifles. This proves the idea that perhaps once one has power, he or she might be incapable of using it to its fullest advantage. Moreover, one may desire power for the wrong reasons but only discover their mistake after it’s too late. At the end of Faustus’ life he is indeed damned; the desire for influence and supernatural abilities has left him unable to reach salvation. Doctor Faustus’ only reward for his actions and choices is eternal damnation, which seems an unacceptable price at the end of the play.
The Shepard of “The Passionate Shepard to His Love,” on the other hand, has the ambition of wooing his lover. He tells her of all the pleasures that await her if only she would go with him. “And I will make these beds of roses/ And a thousand fragrant posies…” (lines 9-10). The particular phrase bed of roses is a typical description of a lush and easy life. The Shepard promises his love such a wonderful life that she can’t help but want to be with him. In the poem, the Shepard goes on to tell of the gifts he will give, also all the love he has for his mistress. For example, the Shepard promises “a gown made of the finest wool” (line 13) made from their own sheep, no less! The Shepard also offers a present of “a belt…with coral clasps and amber studs” (lines 17-18). One can assume that these are the offerings of a truly devoted suitor.
The Shepard’s ambition stems from his desired success of wooing and alluring his love. Such lavish gifts leave the audience of the poem wondering how a lowly Shepard can provide such wonderful things for his love. One can assume that he decided to pull out all the stops, as it were, to emphasize his commitment. Perhaps too, there is a mentality of all things being possible with love. What the couple has (or doesn’t have) is irrelevant to their dedication to each other. The devotion of the Shepard is so strong that he will do anything to please his mistress. Maybe the gowns and the belts (lines 13- 18) are only a metaphor for his love. If this is the case, the Shepard’s mistress may understand this, and recognize that anything he provides her will be great because it is a symbol of his love for her. Either way, the Shepard appears to have no doubt as to the outcome of his appeal. In the poem, Marlowe uses the language of “we will” (line 2), and “I will” (line 9) to almost guarantee success with the Shepard’s courting endeavor. The words the Shepard uses speak not of what might occur, but what will certainly happen if his lover chooses to be with him.
The poem “The Passionate Shepard to His Love” also speaks to the desire for immediate happiness. The Shepard offers his love a life where “…we will all the pleasures prove/ …Woods or steepy mountains yield” (lines 2-4). In effect, the Shepard claims they will experience everything good their surroundings provide. Not surprisingly, nothing negative or questionable is alluded to in his description of their new home. Indeed, doing so would defeat the Shepard’s intentions of seducing his love. The Shepard creates a world, although it is likely a fiction, where nothing could ever be amiss as long as she’s with him. Even the atmosphere of their home is alluring: they can sit by rivers while listening to birds sing (lines 5-8). Presumably, this is a world no fair maiden could resist. The audience, however, is left to wonder whether such expectations for this kind of a life are reasonable; we can expect that the Shepard’s lover is curious also.
In the play “Doctor Faustus,” Faustus also is concerned with instant gratification. In the beginning, he immediately renounces his former studies in favor of something that affords greater miracles than that of logic and previous studies (Scene I, line 8). Moreover, he proclaims, “a sound magician is a mighty god” (Scene I, line 62), suggesting that he thinks mastering the black arts will give him the domination he craves. Faustus desires the instantaneous effects provided by magic, instead of the slow, plodding study of his usual subjects. He believes selling his soul is a fair fee for the gaining of such substantial power. Furthermore, even his requests to Mephastophilis in Scene Five seem a trivial and child-like bid for immediate happiness. For example, in his contract Doctor Faustus wishes for invisibility (Scene V, line 101), and to “be a spirit in form and substance” (Scene V, line 96). Faustus craves something easy and quick that he can have right away, instead of something that is gained only through discipline and perseverance. Presumably, these requested attributes enable Faustus to have greater control over others, like in the instance where an invisible Doctor Faustus tricks the Pope and his Friars (Scene VI). Also, Doctor Faustus is able to provide items for people, such as presenting the apparition of Alexander the Great to the Emperor (Scene 10, lines 58- 63), as well as punish individuals who cross him.
These deeds show that Doctor Faustus has become more interested in having things automatically, rather than through the learning process or difficult work. This mentality is very dangerous for Doctor Faustus; he is so overcome with his abilities and power that Doctor Faustus forgets that soon Lucifer will come for him and make him pay the price for his own pleasure. Faustus always knew there would be a cost for his actions; however, he wasn’t prepared for the dire reality of it.
The combination of ambition and immediate happiness is very potent in the two works of “Doctor Faustus,” and The Passionate Shepard to His Love.” Seemingly, the need for each fuels the drive for the other. Happiness permits a person to have more desires. In turn, one always has aspirations for happiness. For Doctor Faustus, the outcome of this cycle is made abundantly clear: giving up one’s soul in the name of power or happiness will always lead to intense failure. For Doctor Faustus this means eternal hell for in exchange for a lifetime of bliss. Although the outcome of the Shepard’s story isn’t clear in the poem, an observer can predict a similar fate to that of Doctor Faustus. While the Shepard won’t end up in eternal damnation, he probably won’t get the girl either. The Shepard is simply trying too hard to please his love. In reality, logic suggests that nothing is perfect all the time. The Shepard’s seduction of his mistress will ultimately fail because craving a world of total pleasure and no consequences is a very menial view of life.
Life is (and should be) speckled with highs and lows, and has a balance between pleasure and work. Although it is too late for Doctor Faustus to learn this, the Shepard should think realistically about his relationship; if he can learn these lessons, perhaps he still has a chance at winning his true love.
Works Cited
1) Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Sixteenth Century, The Early Seventeenth Century. Eds. Logan, George M., Stephen Greenblatt, Barbara K. Lewalski, M.H. Abrams. New York: Norton 2000.
Marlowe, Christopher. “Doctor Faustus.” New York: Logan 991- 1025
- - -. “The Passionate Shepard to His Love.” New York: Logan 989-990