The Deeper Meaning of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe I disagree with the oft-repeated comment that Doctor Faustus is an anti-intellectualist work that preaches that curiosity is dangerous. It is all too easy to see Faustus as a scholar, seeking knowledge, and his desire for knowledge leading to his downfall. To confine the work to something so narrow is to ignore the deeper meaning behind the work. I believe this deeper meaning is more important than the superficial idea that curiosity is wrong. I believe the deeper meaning behind the work is the idea that by losing sight of the spiritual level of existence, we lose sight of God. By doing so, we can no longer see God's mercy and love, and therefore ignore it. By ignoring it, we deny it, and for this we are damned. It is fair to say that Faustus represents the quintessence of the Renaissance man: it is his thirst for knowledge that pushes him to the pact with Mephastophilis, indeed it is the Evil Angel who summarizes him best: Go ahead, Faust, in the famous art, Where is contained all the treasure of nature: Be on earth as Jupiter is in the sky, Lord and commander of these elements. Scene I, lines 74-77 It is the restless spirit of the Renaissance that pushes Faustus in search of knowledge. He has already achieved what he can by more conventional means, his "bills (are) hung like monuments" and his "common speeches find aphorisms." Faust compares himself to the most famous characters of the classical period; to Hippocrates, Aristotle and Galen. He considers himself to have reached the end of what he can learn through his human tools; he needs something that allows him to escape the realm of nature, something... middle of paper... facts, the saying goes that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If Faust had not been so preoccupied with indulging in his physical pleasures (which he did to such an extent that his reasoning and judgment began to atrophy and cloud), that he was blind to the infinite mercy of God, he would have could have been saved. , even at the last moment. Faustus is damned because he was too interested in the mortal material world, and this concern made him blind to the immortal and immaterial world. He chose to give up the infinite happiness of Heaven, so that he could indulge in transitory happiness here on earth. This preoccupation with material beauty (Helen) damned him forever. Works Cited: Marlowe, Christopher. "The Tragic Story of Doctor Faustus." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Eds. M. H. Abrams et. al. New York: W. W. Norton and Co, 1993.