Elizabethan Age Essay

Elizabethan age was an era of extraordinary juxtaposition of whole new avenue of thoughts and avalanche of ideologies, which flowed in words of great literary geniuses. It began with the spirit of Renaissance marked by the quest for adventure and material wealth. It was the age when the minds of the people were lured by the new visions of distant lands rich in gold jewels and were swayed by the captivating charm of the beauty and loveliness. Music, Dance and Mirth played a significant part in their lives. On the other hand, Elizabethan era also saw the decay of moral values. From the noble class to gentry and from royalties to peasantry: people in an inexhaustible pursuit of materialism devoid from spirituality, adopted greed and corrupt values. The literature world delved deep into the psyche of the masses to illustrate the situation whereby in their quest for lavish life, they forgot that the tragic end is waiting for them. Both Marlowe and Shakespeare created the characters in their enduring plays Dr. Faustus and Hamlet who became the emblem of tragic heroes. They both enjoyed royalties because of their noble birth but both of their lives ended in tragedy in virtue of their most tragic flaw in their character. Their flaw was their greed and pride, which led them to pursue their evil designs and eventually their death. Marlowe’s hero is Dr. Faustus who had extraordinary qualities and was a super human but his consuming passion reaches beyond the ordinary aspiration until he meets with his fate. It was not the matter of his own fall but it was a struggle between his overweening soul and in its insatiable ambition, and the limitations, which it seek to overcome. On the other hand, we cannot say Hamlet was lacking in moral values but he was also a conqueror and his greed to revenge the murder of his father surpassed all his good actions and deeds. For the power and wealth, Claudius murdered King Hamlet whose soul wanders and tortures the young Hamlet to ponder upon some foul play. Dr. Faustus’s over ambitious desire and zeal induced him to sell his soul to evil. He abjured the scriptures, the Trinity and Christ to fulfill his inordinate ambition to gain super human powers by gaining mastery over unholy art of magic. By selling the soul to Devil, he lives a Blasphemous life full of vain and sensual pleasures for complete twenty-four years and did not even hesitate to insult and assault the Pope with the Holy Fathers at Rome. Though he feels a constant dispute going on in his soul between his overweening ambition and conscience (a struggle between the seven deadly sins and ethics or moral principles), between the Good Angel and Evil Angel that externalize the inner conflict. But Dr Faustus surrenders himself to the allurements of the Evil Angel, thereby paving his way for eternal damnation. In his inordinate passion to unravel all the mysteries of the universe, he forgot that he cannot overpower the time and when ultimately the time came for the evil angel to take his soul, he realizes that his sins are unpardonable and nothing can save him from eternal damnation. And before the devils snatch away his soul to the burning hell, the excruciating pangs of a deeply agonized soul finds the most poignant expression in Faustus’s final soliloquy. â€Å"My God, my God, look not so fierce to me! Adders and serpents, let me breathe a while! Ugly hell, gape not: come not Lucifer: I’ll burn my books: Ah, Mephistophilis! (Marlowe, 1588, Dr. Faustus: Scene XIV) Shakespeare’s Hamlet also had a tragic end-but the end of Hamlet was not due to the flaw in his moral character but the waver of the mind of the noble soul to avenge the death of his father. The play began with the presence of supernatural element in the form of the Ghost of Hamlet’s father. Both Bernardo and Horatio accepted the Ghost as a portent, or as foreshadowing a coming event. The figure of Ghost implied the emergence of foul play that would change the course of Hamlet’s life and the impending doom owing to the Greed of Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius who later ascended the throne of Denmark and married Hamlet’s mother. The indecent haste in which she had remarried made Hamlet think foul play behind his father’s murder and he remarked, â€Å"O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason,/would have mourned longer and made him generalize, â€Å"Frailty thy name is woman! † (Shakespeare, 1600, Hamlet: Act I, Scene II 146). Prince Hamlet decided to avenge the death of his father but as he was thoughtful by nature, he delayed the revenge and instead entered in a deep melancholy. Claudius and Gertrude in a bid to know about the cause of Hamlet’s behavior made Hamlet’s friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to keep a watch on him. On the other hand, Hamlet was blind to seek the revenge of his father and called upon the traveling actors to act a play depicting the scene in the way he had imagined his father was murdered. He invited Claudius to see the play and if he reacted at the scene, Hamlet would be ensured about Claudius guilt. And the same happened, as soon as the scene came, Claudius left the room in haste and Hamlet got the proof. Hamlet went to kill Claudius but when he found him praying, Hamlet stopped as the killing at that time would mean that Claudius soul would go to heaven. Claudius was so scared now that he decided to send Hamlet to England, but meanwhile Hamlet went to meet his mother where Polonius was hidden. Hamlet thought that Claudius was hiding there and in a fit of rage, he picked up the sword and instead of killing Claudius, he killed Polonius. Hearing the news of the death of Polonius, Opthelia went mad with grief and killed herself by drowning in the river. Polonius son, Laertes now wanted to avenge his father and sister’s death. Taking the advantage of situation, Claudius instigated Laertes for a duet with Hamlet, and gave him a sword of poison and also prepared a drink to poison Hamlet to death in case he won the battle. In a sword fighting after the Ophelia’s funeral, Hamlet could hit Laertes first but declined to take a drink instead Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother took a drink and died on the spot. Laertes was able to wound Hamlet and after Laertes revealed the real culprit to Hamlet, he too died due to the cut on his arm by his own sword. Wounded Hamlet did not hesitate even for a second; he picked up a poisoned sword, stabbed Claudius and forced him to drink the remaining of the poisoned wine. Claudius went into the eternal doom and Hamlet too died but after taking his revenge. In play Dr. Faustus, Marlowe had captured the moral value of greed for materialistic matters in the form of Dr. Faustus’s aspirations for gaining the knowledge of black magic, and for this purpose, he bid farewell to the religious values of medieval period, in other words to divinity. â€Å"These metaphysics of magicians And necromantic books are heavenly; O, what a world of profit and delight Of power, of honor of Omnipotence, Is promised to the studious artizen: All things that move between the quiet poles Shall be at my command† (Marlowe, 1588, Dr. Faustus: Scene I) These lines show Dr Faustus was pelf with power, whereas, in â€Å"Hamlet†, the main protagonist of William Shakespeare is a noble soul and possesses strong moral convictions. Though he too kills Polonius but it was out of revenge and erroneously mistaking him for Claudius, his father’s murderer. He thinks it is his moral duty to revenge his father’s death then only his father’s soul will rest in peace. He is a true representative of medieval period. He is as said by Herlinde Pauer-Studer in her book, â€Å"Norms, Values and Society†, â€Å"He acts on his moral sense of duty, even though he knows that he is doing it at the cost of his happiness and life. † (Studer-Pauer 1994) He put on his antic disposition and says, â€Å"The time is out of joint, O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right. † (Shakespeare, 1600, Hamlet: Act I Scene V) The second comparison can be made between Hamlet and Dr. Faustus in the way both Hamlet and Dr Faustus carried out their plans to fulfill their aims. Dr. Faustus defies the medieval conventions of love, selfishness and trust to become all powerful and wealthy and tried to become evil by killing his own ministers. He is a true representative of Renaissance period whereby man can go into an extreme extent to achieve his aims. â€Å"With the help of spirits Dr, Faustus feels: â€Å"I’ll levy soldiers with the coin they bring, and chase the Prince of Parma from the land, and reign sole king of all our provinces. † (Marlowe, 1588, Dr. Faustus: Scene I) Whereas on the other hand though Hamlet’s aim was good but the route he adopted was not consistent with Christian ethics. He followed dishonest ways like deception and homicide to carry on with the plan of revenge. â€Å"I am myself indifferent honest; but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me; I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious †¦What should such fellows as I do crawling between heaven and earth. † (Shakespeare, 1600, Hamlet: Act III, Scene I) But there are certain elements of good deeds and the values of medieval ages that still are visible in the human souls and in their thoughts and actions. Both Marlowe and Shakespeare created the characters that were not evil in the real sense. Before carrying on their evil deeds the goodness, which prevail in their soul makes them to give second thoughts in the form of the consequences of their deeds. This is third aspect in the way Shakespeare and Marlowe made protagonists think of the consequences, which they can face if they follow their whims. Hamlet was in a state of dilemma, â€Å"To be or Not to be† (Shakespeare, 1600, Hamlet: Act III, Scene I) whether to take revenge by killing or not, and the consequences of his actions loom large on him. His soul was arguing whether his actions followed the norms of the society or not? Is it evil to punish the evil or killing is wrong altogether. If one goes by the rule utilitarianism, one must follow the rules and which would bring utility for all. (Studer-Pauer 1994) and in this concept what Hamlet did is absolutely right but according to the law of the land what he did was wrong and way he carried out his executions had serious lapses. These lapses occurred only because his other side of the soul was not permitting him to carry on with the killings. His character of being a noble soul came to light in the scene when he was going to kill Claudius but when he saw him praying he could not kill him. Whereas Dr. Faustus finally sold his soul to Evil, still the good side of his was again and again prompted him to go back to divinity and seek forgiveness from Jesus. His conscious mind was rebelling against his whims in the form of Good Angels but he did not bother to listen. This is the finest example in English literature to prove the biggest reality of the man’s nature. Man is not born evil but even if he is succumbing to evil designs, there within deep his heart and soul, his consciousness will keep on prompting him what he is doing is wrong. This is the difference between Hamlet and Dr Faustus. Hamlet wants to take revenge but his virtuous character and goodness in him was making him delay the revenge. He did take revenge finally but at the cost of his own life and the life of so many others. Whereas though the Dr Faustus’s conscious mind was prompting him to recede but he want only more and more of wealth and power. Claudius got punished for the sins he committed not by his choice but by fate, and Laertes repented, â€Å"Laertes, poisoned by his own sword, declares, â€Å"I am justly kill’d with my own treachery. † (Shakespeare, 1600, Hamlet: V Scene II 318). Whereas Dr. Faustus’s end was the result of his own deed-his deal with devil Lucifer and he lamented, â€Å"On God, whom Faustus hath abjured! On God whom Faustus hath Blasphemed! Ah, my God, I would weep! But the Devil draws in my tears. Gush forth blood, instead of tears! yea, life and soul-O, he stays my tongue! I would life up my hands; but see they hold em, they hold em! † (Marlowe, 1588, Dr. Faustus: Scene III) There was a certain fascination associated with the transition, which was carried on in the period of renaissance and the plays try to show the same. On one hand, there was whole new lease of life in the form of scientific and technological developments and on the other hand moral values were loosing ground. People were not thinking that for every beginning there is an end. With this there was a sense of insecurity too, which is so destined. The distinction points were made keeping in view the social circumstances of the time. There was reformation in every sphere of life and people were swept by the waves of these reformations. These reformations were like magic for them. With the magical powers of scientific discoveries and technological advancement, every one wanted to gain wealth, power and prestige without adhering to religious norms and wanted life of sexual fulfillment and pleasurable living even at the cost of killing near and dear ones. REFERENCES Baker J. , Bredemann A. , & Brussart B. , McLeer A. , Tuck Tiffany & Wolowicz T. 1997. Renaissance Attitudes Towards Faustus as a Magician.Retrieved on September 25, 2007 from http://www. english. uga. edu/cdesmet/tiffany/faustus. htm Collins J. (2006) An Introspective Look at Corruption from Hamlet Spoiled Fruits, Stolen Nation Retrieved on September 24, 2007 from W. W. W: http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/70560/an_introspective_look_at_corruption. html Marlowe C. Doctor Faustus (1588) New York: P. F. Collier & Son Company, 1909–14 Shakespeare W. Hamlet (1600) The Norton Shakespeare: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. , New York, NY: 1997 Studer-Pauer, Herlinde (1994) â€Å"Norms, Values, and Society† Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.