It is mankind's quest for true knowledge that plays as a prelude to our demise. This Aristotelian thought of seeking true knowledge when shared with power and pride can lead to ones downfall as seen through the plays of Doctor Faustus and Oedipus Rex.
One does not have to look behind the words and actions to discover Faustus" pride, the willfulness of his falling from God, or his egotistic ambition to become his own god, they are outwardly and directly seen in everything he says and does. The opening Chorus describes the man, his intellectual excellence, and his fatal choice:.
swoll"n with cunning of a self-conceit, his waxen wings did mount above his reach, And melting heavens conspired his overthrow; For falling to devilish exercise And glutted now with learning's golden gifts, He surfeits upon cursed necromancy. Nothing so sweet as magic is to him, Which he prefers before his chiefest bliss (Fau. Prologue. 20-27). .
This picture and the issue is clear enough; the allusion to Icarus is representative of Faustus" career, while the alternative between "cursed necromacy" and "his chiefest bliss" is set forth as Faustus" deliberate choice to choose magic.
One by one Faustus examines the branches of higher learning as they were organized by the universities of his day: philosophy, medicine, law, and theology. One by one the fields of secular learning are rejected because their ends do not satisfy his demand, but notice what his demand is. He does not pursue for the sake of truth, but for power, superhuman power, the power over life and death.
Of power, of honor, of omnipotence is promised to the studious artisan! All things that move between the quiet poles Shall be at my command. Emperors and kings are but obeyed in their several provinces, Nor can they raise the wind or rend the clouds, But his dominions that exceeds in this Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man. A sound magician is a demi-god (Fau.
