Tensions and ambiguities in the point of view of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus

Critics have long disagreed over the religious viewpoint of Doctor Faustus. In the nineteenth century, writers tended to idealize Faustus and to see his ambitions and aspirations as justified and admirable. In the first part of the twentieth century, this Romantic view still prevailed. But towards the middle of the twentieth century, the opposite point of view began to emerge. Leo Kirschbaum, W. W. Greg, and James Smith are some of the critics claiming an orthodox Protestant outlook for Doctor Faustus. More recent critics have attempted to show that the play is divided in its intent and that it contains a tension between religious orthodoxy and protest against such orthodoxy. This last position is the one supported by this thesis. The religious attitude of Doctor Faustus is indeed ambiguous. The ambiguity arises from the play's unresolved attitude towards its hero's damnation. First, the play implies that Faustus is predestined to be damned. It also implies that this damnation is justified. It invites its audience to accept and approve Faustus' fate. Yet it also implies that this fate is unjust, and it creates sympathy for him, even inviting approval of his rebellion against a world order which would arbitrarily damn him