Summary:
Dr. Faustus by Marlowe is a story about a man that will give his soul to the devil to have power. Faustus was a Renaissance man, and everything he already had just wasn't enough, he was always searching for more. At the end of the play Faustus' time on Earth was coming to an end, and he had one last chance to say whatever he wanted to say. In this speech he talks about his pact with Lucifer, asks for repentance, and discusses the reality of the situation he has been in.
Dr. Faustus by Marlowe is a story about a man that will give his soul to the devil to have power. Faustus was a Renaissance man, and everything he already had just wasn't enough, he was always searching for more. At the end of the play Faustus' time on Earth was coming to an end, and he had one last chance to say whatever he wanted to say. In this speech he talks about his pact with Lucifer, asks for repentance, and discusses the reality of the situation he has been in.
In Faustus' final speech he says that his pact with Lucifer was a mistake, and that he doesn't want to die. For the twenty-four years he had the powers everything was fine, but when the time was up he was begging for his life. As midnight, the hour that his life was to end, was approaching, Faustus said "Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven, that time may cease and midnight never come." He also said "Let this hour be but a year, a month, a week, a natural day," emphasizing that he wanted any time he could have on Earth. Faustus had become scared of hell and the devils. He blames Lucifer for what happened, saying "curse Lucifer that hath deprived thee of the joys of heaven.
Another thing that Faustus talked about in his speech was repentance from God. As the time of Faustus' death crept closer and closer, his desire for repentance grew stronger. When Faustus asks for his hour to become a longer time, he says that he wants this time "That Faustus may repent and save his soul!" He says that he would "Leap up to my God" and prays that his soul will ascend to heaven. He asks God to have mercy on his soul. He says that he wishes he could be a brutish beast, because when they die their souls are dissolved in elements. He would do anything for his soul to escape torture in hell. Faustus not only asks God for repentance, but he asks Lucifer to spare him, and for hills to come over him and hide him from the wrath of God. It was too late for Faustus to seek repentance because he never really felt too bad about making a deal with the devil until something bad was going to happen to him. He didn't care about what was happening to other people, he was too selfish.
A third thing that Faustus spoke about in his final speech was the reality of his situation with the devils. Faustus didn't realize the reality of his situation. When he made the agreement with the devil he was happy, and he didn't think that the twenty-four years would go so fast. It seems that Faustus thought the time he had would last forever, then when it was over he wasn't ready to give up his powers and more importantly, his soul. He wasn't ready for an eternity of torture in hell.
Faustus' flaws were too great to overcome, which caused him to realize his coming agony in his final speech. He was too selfish to take the blame for the pact. Instead, he blamed Lucifer and asked God for repentance. He didn't realize what he got himself into, and he was carried into hell for eternity because of his actions
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