Everybody has if not read then at least heard about the story of Doctor Faustus and about one of the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer - The Pardoner. These two literature masterpieces are united not only by their popularity but also by some characteristics of their main heroes. One could not state that they are really alike, but it is possible to build some parallels between them.
In this work the following issues concerning the main heroes are going to be discussed:
- their attitude to religion
- their moral status
- the meaning the characters play for the whole stories
- the emotions the readers experience when they get to know them
- their connection with other heroes of the stories
- their ambitions and reality
Faustus is considered to be a tragic hero of the play. It is next to impossible to build one-sided attitude towards him as he is presented as a rather ambitious and strong-willed person at the beginning. He is going to change the map of the Europe and to receive all the knowledge of the universe. This actually puts the reader to the atmosphere of some unreal world, at the same moments makes him admire the brave ideas of the future magician. On the other hand he turns out to be unable to use the powers he got, and he is even lucky to make the reader feel sympathy towards him. There is a point of view that Faustus: "represents the spirit of the Renaissance, with the rejection of the medieval, God-centered universe, and its embrace of human possibility"
Within the whole story the reader notices that he is constantly arguing with himself whether to stay true to God or to turn to Mephistopheles and to the great things he promises. He feels more "optimistic" about the Mephistopheles' ideas, but at the same time he can not be considered to be a part of the evil, as he does nothing actually really bad, if not to take into account that he uses the greatest powers in order to amuse himself. And at the end of the story Faustus regains his "wish of repentance", but it seems to be too late.
It is hard to talk about the norms of morality if to turn to the one of "the most realized" characters of Canterbury Tales - the Pardoner. Starting with his physical status already - it is actually shown that he has some sexual deviations. And if to take into account his profession - to release from sins for money - the reader could judge him from a kind of negative point of view. He is the brightest character and the most important one in comparison to other. The Pardoner himself differentiates others only by age. Although the ideas of rebirth and absolving sins are mentioned in the story, the main character is really little interested in the Christianity; he sees it only as a way to earn money - which is his final goal.
Overall, the presentation of both characters is connected with moral and religious values, with such eternal questions as good and bad and at the same times shows how little people really wish to do and can do. The character of Doctor Faustus can probably be called more grotesque at the beginning of the story and in the end of it, but the author still underlines his nothingness in comparison with God and Devil. Both characters could make the reader think a lot about real life and the ideas of life and death from religious point of view, about what people are really able to do for themselves and for others.
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