Symbolic Significance of Good / Bad Angel and Old man in Doctor Faustus

Good Angel:

       A spirit that urges Faustus to be sorry for this agreement with Lucifer and return to god along with the old man and the bad angel, the good angel represents in many ways, Faustus conscience and divided will between good and evil.

Bad Angel

       A spirit that serves as the same to the good angel and provides Faustus with reason not to repent for sins against god. The evil angel represents the evil half of Faustus’s conscience.

Old Man:

       An cryptic figure who appears in the final scne.the old man urges Faustus to repent and to ask god for mercy. he seems to replace the good and evil angels, who in the first scene, try to influence Faustus’s behavior.

Good and Bad Angel:

       Have you ever seen those characters is induce to do something really bad suddenly a little red stud holding a pitchfork appears on one shoulder and a composed looking figure with wings and a band clothes in white appears on the others.

       Well, if we seen that then we think much know about the drill with the good and bad angel. They appears every time. Faustus begins deliberately the state of his mortal soul. The good angels goal is to convince Faustus to abandon his sins and return to god, while the bad angel tries to get the scholar ti continue in his hunt of magic and so remain loyal to the devil.

       But we can see the good and bad angel are actually a literacy device called allegory that means they are personification of abstract concept in a concrete form. Here the good angel represent Faustus desire to repent and the bad angel, his desire to keep right on sinning. As they battle back, so Faustus battles within himself. In short it just might be in his head. We can also see Faustus remain really divided throughout the whole play. On the one hand, he was demanded to hell the minute. He even contemplated becoming the devils servant. This is what the bad angel wants him to believe.

       But on the other hand, might be there was a such thing as conscience, so bad about our sins that god is willing to forgive us for them? That is what the good angel among other character, keeps trying to convince Faustus of.

       In the end, the good angel wins. but if the bad angel is really just a part of personification of Faustus mind, then one half of Faustus’s divided mind has triumphed over the other?

       The angels appear at Faustus shoulder early on in the play. The good angel imploring him to repent and serve god. The evil angel urging him to follow his lust for power and serve Lucifer. The two symbolize his divided will, part of which wants to do good and part of which is sunk in sin.

Old Man:

       Like the good and bad angel, the old man is an allegorical character, which means that he is a physical representation of an abstract concept.

       If we can think, what concept does the old man represent? We get the answer that, consider his word to Faustus: he pray him to stop violation, bag him that his soul is still “amiable” or good. He claims to see an angel faltering over Faustus’s head waiting to pour ‘a vial full of precious grace’ into that soul. Then he assures Faustus that all of his words are spoken in “tender love” might be say to Faustus, if he were around to give the guy talking to. So it is possible that the old man represent Christ. But that was just one theory.

       He might also represent faith, like the Christian definition of faith involves the belief in god’s address, and that god will save the soul of believers against their sins, which is exactly the old man tries to convince Faustus. Too bad the old man totally fails. 
       The most answering way of describing the part played by the good and evil angel in doctor Faustus is that they are external, visible embodiment's of the two impulses that are at war within Faustus’s mind their first appearance is at the beginning in which Faustus actually hint his pact with Mephistopheles. It is likely, that in any setting of the play they will have appeared Faustus emphasizing their role in physical terms.

       Such figure were familiar from morality plays and, as in doctor Faustus, they usually spoke selection, each putting one side of argument. Here it is the role of the evil angel to tempt Faustus with the power he is promised by the devil but the good angel reminds him of the dangers of his behavior. When they appear, at the beginning of the another scene, they continue in these roles, with the evil angel supporting Faustus decision.

(1) Debate For Faustus soul:

       The angel make only one further appearance , in the same scene, at the point where Faustus realize that there are some questions that Mephistopheles will not answer and that he has reached the limits of what he can gain from his devilish bargain.

Evil angel – tool late

Good angel – never too late, if Faustus can repent

Evil angel – repent and they shall never raise the skin.

Faustus – Ah Christ my savior, seek to save, distressed Faustus’s soul.

           On this chance, by contrast angel has the last word and Faustus appear to be enervating to such an extent that Mephistopheles to remind Faustus of his bargain.

(2) The Old Man:

       After seven scene, the good and evil angel disappear from the play and their function is taken over by the old man, who appear only in might be scene 12 and 13. This represent a very important ruse in the play, for Faustus is not being appealed to by non-human beings but who has lived his life according to Christian guide.

(3) Warnings and messages:

       The old man brings Faustus a number of warnings and messages: that the Christian way is still open to him if he represents:

·        The sweet path…….

            That shall conduct thee to celestial rest.

·                         He reminds Faustus of the soul nature of his sins:

‘thy most live and loathsome filthiness.

The stench where of corrupts the inward soul’

·                        By contrast he also reminds Faustus of the repurchase power of christ’s blood:

‘mercy, Faustus, of thy savior sweet’

Whose blood alone must wash away thy quilt’

‘I see an angel lovers o’er thy head, And with a vial full of precious grace,

Offers to pour the same into thy soul’

·                More than once he uses the word ‘sweet;, to refer both God’s grace and to Faustus himself, whom he also addresses contrast to the foulness of Faustus’ sins: and, when applied to himself, it confirm that the old man preserve his faith in Faustus as a soul who might yet be redeemed.

(4) The old man’s Faith:

           When old man reappear and witnesses Faustus’s speech to Helen beginning, ‘ I will be Paris and for love of thee’. He is conscious that Faustus has turned his back on sorrow. And then he is attacked by a number of devils, whom he defies by his turn towards god, emphasizing the strength that he gains from his faith:

        Ambitious fiends, see how the heaven smiles

        At your repulse, and laughs your state to scorn. 
(5) Faith and Choice:

        This attack is the outcome of Faustus request to Mephistopheles, Made as proof of his determination not to repent:

   ‘Torment, sweet friends, that base crooked age

    That burst dissuade me from thy Lucifier,

    With greatest torment that our hell affords’

        Mephistopheles reply is extremely interesting, because it emphasizes his weakness when he brush a truly believing Christian”

    ‘His faith is great, I cannot touch his soul,

     But what I may afflict his bodywith

     I will attempt – which is but little worth’  

    Significance of the good and evil Angel: Two Angel and Tragic conflict

            It should be noted that there is hardly any external action in the play.  We find that the real action presented in the play is the spiritual conflict within the soul of the hero-a conflict, we may be sure, between law and desire, religion and faithlessness, or between curiously and conscience. Hence, Ellis fermos rightly remarks that “the scene is set in no spot upon the physical earth but in the limitless section of the mind and battle is fought, not for kingdoms or crowns, but upon the question of man’s ultimate chance. Before him lies the possibility of escape to spiritual freedom or a doom of slavery to bitter powers. Thus, and in such terms is staged the greatest conflict that drama has ever undertaken to present”. And in the light of this remark Faustus may stand as the symbol of man in general with the strange combination of virtue and evil angels also appear in the play with their own symbolic significance personifying the two aspect of Faustus’s character.

       The former stands for order, virtue or goodness and the latter represent, the baser spirit of Faustus, his willful passion and the other, his curiosity for ‘unlawful things’. So, Harold Asborne has rightly observed:

“The good and evil angels are really externalizations of the two aspects of Faustus’s own character on the other, that aspiration to the novel and romantic that led to his downfall.” It may be noted that Marlowe is quite original in the use of his angel and they differ a lot from those abstract figures in the morality plays. 
Significance of old man:

       The old man repents Christian faith with obedience to laws of god and its need for prayer and attrition that can assure eternal joy and bliss. The old man also repents another moral aspect: that is one who has firm faith in god can boldly face the temptation and agony presented by the forces of evil and can ascend to heaven while the fiend sink back into hell.

    Battles between Good and Evil:
            The story Dr.Faustus represents the constant battle between good and evil. Every day, we are faced having to choose between the two, even if there seems like there is no solution. First, in the story Dr.Faustus represents those that choose to lean to a lower level in order to get what they want. The good angel and the bad angel are the morals that pull the Faustus’s soul apart, forcing him to make a decision that can effect his future.  The story Dr.Faustus is a great example of how one wrong decision can cause a boundless burn. 
            In Dr.Faustus, there is a battle of good versus evil going on Faust is a man who is frantic for powder and control. He wants to do anything he wants to control. That is where Mephistopheles, a blood-sucking devil appears, preying on Fausust and his confusing soul. Mephistopheles was in heaven, and was kicked out. His soul is burning and so he with him. Misery does love company. Faustus wants power when he states “ I change thee wait upon me whilst I live. To do whatever Faustus shall command.” While Faustus demands his powder Mephistopheles is miserable in hell. He wants Faustus soul, and the two make a trade.
            The good angel trying to convince Faustus to his absurdity, because the bible is what he should be reading, rather than the magic book. What it seems like the angels have gotten to Faust, the devils appear it is an insult to the bad angel to hear Christ’s name in this presence. While the good angel are telling him to repent, the bad angel are giving bad angel are giving him a taste of pure hell. Lucifer n the mean time, worked his magic and Faust signs the dotted line.  
            We believe that the story implies a moral that seduction often lead to a disaster. We all have to do what is right and not allow our gloom to take over. When we are doing is wrong, the best thing to do is not take the dark road, even if it is surrounded by colorful decorations.
            After all looks can be gull and conniving. We all have to take control and do what we feel is right. We cannot allow the devil to take over soul and destroy us.