Doctor Faustus – As a

Tragic Hero
‘Tragic Hero’ is a literary term and specially applied to
tragedy. The term is used for Greek literature
and especially it is associated with great
three dramatists: Aeschylus, Sophocles anduripides.
Aristotle has !roadly defined the term with special
reference to Greek Tragedy. According to Aristotle, "the
tragic hero e#okes !oth our pity and terror !ecause he is
neithergood nor thoroughly !ad !ut a mi$ture of !oth%
this tragic effect will !e stronger if the hero is !etter than
we are. Such a hero suffers from a change of happiness to
misery !ecause of hismistaken choice which is led !y his
hamarcia &error of 'udgment(. The tragic hero stands
againsthis fate or the gods to demonstrate his power of
free will. He wants to !e the master of his ownfate. He
decides to make decisions !ut mostly the decision making
would lead to weakness or hisown downfall.")n
*hristopher +arlowe’s play octor -austus, the main
character, octor -austus, could !edescri!ed and re#ealed
as a tragic hero, similar to other tragic characters, such
asSophocles’ edipus and Shakespeare’s Hamlet
One of the features that characterize a tragic hero is that this type
of character “will mistakenly bring hisown downfall”,
(McManus) which is referred to as “hamartia”. n Marlowe!s
play, the main character,"austus, brings his own downfall by the
end of the story. n his opening speech, in #ct $ %cene $,
"austustells and e&plains the audience and the readers that he has
skilled himself in law, medicine and di'inity,but he wants to
know more than what he knows and also know more about other
things. his aspect of"austus, his curiosity to learn and know
more, may be thought of as part of the human condition
andhuman nature and isn!t something that is seen as wrong in our
society.owe'er, this aspect also blinds "austus from a sense
of reason and right from wrong. his e'entuallyleads *octor
"austus to make an agreement with the de'il, which results in
"austus! downfall. his aspectof "austus! character and
personality is similar to Oedipus, in %ophocles! Oedipus +e&.
Oedipus! prideblinds him from seeing truth, reason, as well as
the difference from right and wrong, which leads to andresults in
the character!s downfall and Oedipus, stabbing his eyes out.his
feature will lead to the characteristic and fact that, by doing
these mistakes or “flaws”, the tragicheroes are doomed from the
beginning and the audience and readers know the fate of these
characters issealed. #nd though this type of character has to be
doomed from the beginning of the play, but doesn!thold any
responsibility for possessing his flaw
or fault. his may be seen in "austus. "rom the beginningof the
play, from the time that he tells the audience and readers that
he wants to acuire more knowledgeand especially when he
signs the, the audience and readers think that "austus is doomed
to ha'e a lessthan perfect and happy ending. Much like "austus,
Oedipus! fate is sealed when he refuses to see thetruth, e'en when
it!s standing right in front of him. hough these two tragic
heroes may feel some senseof guilt about their actions, neither
"austus nor Oedipus seem feel some sense of guilt or
responsibility oftheir flaw.

# third feature or characteristic that the tragic hero should ha'e is

that “-the protagonist should berenowned and prosperous”.
(McManus) he audience and readers may witness and see
thischaracteristic in the main character of *octor "austus. /arly
on in the play, the audience and readersknows that "austus is well
renowned and with some reputation. O'er the course of the play,
there arese'eral people, mainly three scholars, talk about "austus,
his knowledge, and such aspects of thischaracter. he audience
and readers may see some signs of prosperity in "austus. n #ct
$ %cene $,"austus calls in his ser'ant and student, which re'eal
not only that "austus is prosperous, but alsorenowned.t could
also be said that Oedipus and amlet are also prosperous and
renowned. Oedipus is king ofhebes, which leads the readers
and audience to assume that he is fairly prosperous. 0e may
alsoassume that he is renowned, because the citizens of hebes
come to Oedipus, when the city is attackedwith plague, in the
prologue. amlet is a prince, which also may lead us to suggest
that heis fairly prosperous and successful. # fourth feature and
aspect in'ol'ing the tragic hero is that this character must support
the plot of thestory, which is similar to many other protagonists.
his may be easily seen with "austus, in Marlowe!s*octor
"austus. t is "austus! actions, which seem to lead and direct the
plot and the entire story of theplay. his is the same situation
with Oedipus and amlet, in Oedipus +e& and
amlet.1othOedipus and amlet are tragic heroes, who both
lead and guide the story and its plot. his may bealso part of and
applied to the human life, as most of us make our own decisions
and lead and dri'e ourown li'es, much like "austus, Oedipus, and
amlet guide the plays they are in.

r. -austus wanted to support his own plot to make his

own decision. This aspect of hischaracter was as a result
of the /enaissance period, unlike the medie#al period, the
dominanceof fate upon human life !ecame as a matter of
ignorance. )t was time for secular matters.Therefore, the
dominance of science shadowed upon indi#iduals thought
. r. -austus wanted totake destiny in his own hands to
demonstrate the power of free will against fate.
# fifth feature, which is attributed to the tragic hero, is that the
main character must be realistic or presentsome sense of realism.
his may help the audience and readers relate to the character.
his aspect of thetragic hero is meant for the audience to relate
to or feel some form of connection with the characters andthe
story of the play. "austus does ha'e a certain sense of realism to
him. "or one, the main character ofthe play *octor "austus makes
mistakes, which is part of the human condition and is something
thate'ery human being does. his also adds to a sense of realism
to "austushere is also the fact that "austus wants to acuire
more knowledge, which adds to the realism of theplay. #cuire
knowledge is another aspect that is part of the human condition.
2earning andunderstanding more and more sub3ects and
obtaining more knowledge is part of how we can grow ande'ol'e
as human beings,his sense of realism in the tragic hero may
introduce pity. his is a crucial aspect to the tragedy genre.
fthe audience and the readers pity or sympathizes with the
main character, this may lead to suggest thatthe audience and
readers feel some form of connection with the hero of the play.
n order for this to occur,the character must ha'e some realistic
features. his aspect of the tragic hero of *octor
"austus inrelation to the audience and readers may 'ary. here
may be some who do pity "austus, while other mayfeel no pity
for this character. his aspect and feature is part of the
human condition and adds to therealism of the character and
of the play. t is impossible to like or sympathize with e'eryone.