Doctor Faustus Tragedy Of Individualism
S&S Quarterly, Inc.
Guilford Press
Doctor Faustus: Tragedy of Individualism
Author(s): Clarence Green
Source: Science & Society, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer, 1946), pp. 275-283
Published by: Guilford Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40399769 .
Accessed: 03/12/2014 21:45
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COMMUNICATIONS
DOCTOR
FAUSTUS: TRAGEDY
OF INDIVIDUALISM
ChristopherMarlowe lived during the infancyof modern individualism. To the nostalgicit has sometimesseemed an angel infancy,when it was heaven to be alive. A new world was arising-a world that, on the whole, probablyseemed betterto the ordinaryEnglishmanthan the one it was superseding. Whetherbetteror not, it was certainlydifferent fromthe old one, and based on different premises,one of the most imwithin rather ill-defined of was which that, limits,the individual, portant like Adam Smith's later laissez-faireindividual, was in duty bound tò pursue his own interest. Thus Marlowe's Faustus pursues his own interest,reckless. In doing so, he brings disasterupon himself. We of the twentiethcenturycan understandthisoutcome betterthan Marlowe could possibly have done. We have seen this grandiose cult of the omnipotentindividual play itself out. In the light of the
Guilford Press
Doctor Faustus: Tragedy of Individualism
Author(s): Clarence Green
Source: Science & Society, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer, 1946), pp. 275-283
Published by: Guilford Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40399769 .
Accessed: 03/12/2014 21:45
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp .
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
.
S&S Quarterly, Inc. and Guilford Press are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Science &Society.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 128.135.203.7 on Wed, 3 Dec 2014 21:45:25 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
COMMUNICATIONS
DOCTOR
FAUSTUS: TRAGEDY
OF INDIVIDUALISM
ChristopherMarlowe lived during the infancyof modern individualism. To the nostalgicit has sometimesseemed an angel infancy,when it was heaven to be alive. A new world was arising-a world that, on the whole, probablyseemed betterto the ordinaryEnglishmanthan the one it was superseding. Whetherbetteror not, it was certainlydifferent fromthe old one, and based on different premises,one of the most imwithin rather ill-defined of was which that, limits,the individual, portant like Adam Smith's later laissez-faireindividual, was in duty bound tò pursue his own interest. Thus Marlowe's Faustus pursues his own interest,reckless. In doing so, he brings disasterupon himself. We of the twentiethcenturycan understandthisoutcome betterthan Marlowe could possibly have done. We have seen this grandiose cult of the omnipotentindividual play itself out. In the light of the