Striving in Faust

Abstract

In Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus the character of Faustus is defined by the striving that leads to his fatal despair. After the Enlightenment alters the course of Western thought, the experiences of Goethe’s Faust reveal that intellectual striving may lead to the brink of despair, but the greater sin is to act on that despair and to stop striving. This thesis explores how striving can be either a source of damnation or salvation in these two important works based on the Faust legend.