The Elizabethan period was a phase of industrial development, scientific improvements, commercial growths and eventually of material affluence. The period was intensely categorized by an unending hunger for knowledge, insatiable yearning for power and a fervent aspiration to disrupt the chains of human restrictions. Ambition can be fatal if one would pertain it to the obsessive hunger for an extraordinary power and knowledge practices the focal point of the entire plays of Marlowe. Doctor Faustus is the piece by Christopher Marlowe which arranges with the yearning for tremendous mortal knowledge which effects the everlasting punishment of the existence of the hero. This concept is also established in Macbeth's fatal flaw in the play. Macbeth presents an unconstrained ambition, which is a craving for influence and position, specifically to be king, which is more significant to him than whatever thing in life. He is eager to give up all that he possesses in his existence in order to take the crown to be seated on the throne. On the other hand, Julius Caesar's tragic flaws were his excessive pride and ambition. Most of the time, he goes to the capital even after several bad premonitions and words of warning around him. This paper discusses ambitious lead characters of the Elizabethan age, for example Macbeth and Julius Caesar and the terrible account of Dr. Faustus, Christopher Marlowe probes his spectators to study the complex aspects of ambition. It confers further in what way or manner ambition is perceived in the present society in reference to some well-known personalities and the consequences of their ambition.
Ambition can be Fatal
Hitler’s open attack against Poland and dare to France and England were taken as serious threats to other powerful countries, that he had let loose forces of detestation and conflict all over the world. The global disapproval of his ways and means was fed by the scheme of terrorism. He had vested at his own domain and in the nations he had dominated and the detaining of thousands in jails and concentration campsites. It was also revealed that there were undisclosed killings of adversaries and those suspected of resistance. In addition, there were also reported brutal annihilation of the Jews and the cruelty of the Catholic and Protestant houses of worship in his ambition for nazification of the nation-state. Hitler’s intense desire to have the Aryan race to be superior resulted to the collapse of Germany and his end. On the other hand, Faustus died because of his ambition and extreme craving to put him in the highest position in the society, find an answer to the impossible and discover a treatment for death. Similar to Hitler, he was eager to perform really extreme things, do great effects to acquire what he sought, trading his soul to the evil spirit for his yearnings. This happening also resulted to his death like Hitler’s end.
Ambition can be Helpful
Mohandas Gandhi is exceptionally determined and he follows his objectives and yearnings with fervent dedication and willpower. Mohandas Gandhi frequently employs or forces his willpower upon other individuals, devoid of being exaggeratedly forceful. He is exceedingly ambitious and will motivate himself and others hardheartedly when he desires to attain something. In encouraging self-sufficiency, shared democracy, and humble living, Gandhi projected by numerous periods the 'small is beautiful' philosophies which are at present more and more respected. In the same way, he was a forerunner in demanding for the equal opportunity of women, in emphasizing the assessment of mixing manual labor with intellectual exertion, and in his advanced concepts concerning education.
Faustus was somehow like Ghandi, he is adept of complete concentration and remarkable discipline, and he is very hard to influence the minute his thoughts is made up. Faustus can be very one-sided and very nearly fixated with it. He assures himself that hell is not so wicked and that one requires simply endurance and he notes to the uncertainty to the belief if hell really exists. Faustus is also tormented with uncertainties from the start, in which he recurrently seeks for repentance and he was eager to aid other individuals at the cost of his soul.
Ambition can be Risky
Nelson Mandela’s party-political journey took him from country royalty, to radical independence warrior, to international supporter of human rights. He was frequently arrested and jailed. As a political captive and a black man, Mandela tolerated and suffered the penal structure’s nastiest conditions—the least nourishment, the scarcest privileges. Mandela’s lengthened periods changed him. He turned out to be freedom warrior who liked instigating headlines from the aggressive lawyer that he was before. In his personality developed a disciplined and philosophical nation-builder, a mediator who wanted to find mutual ground, whatever the price. His pursuits were apparently risky but he will endlessly be evoked for his high-mindedness, his uprightness and his resilient strength.
Faustus exchanges his soul to Lucifer in return for years of enormous power, but the aspiration to repent arises to infect him as the terror of hell cultivates in him. In constructing a deal with Lucifer, Faustus pledges what is in a logic the eventual sin: not merely does he refuse to comply God, but he deliberately and even readily relinquishes submission to him, selecting instead to insist commitment to the devil. In a Christian context, however, even the vilest deed can be pardoned through the redeeming command of Jesus Christ, who, agreeing to Christian faith, died on the cross for humanity’s wickedness. As a result, however dreadful Faustus’s deal with Lucifer may be, the probability of redemption is at all times open to him. Everything that he wants to do, hypothetically, is ask God for pardon.
References:
Nancy Macdonald & Stephanie Findlay. “Nelson Mandela conquered apartheid, united his country and inspired the world”. MClean’s. December 12, 2013. <http://www.macleans.ca/politics/nelson-mandela-conquered-apartheid-united-his- country-and-inspired-the-world/
New York Times. “Hitler Fought Way to Power Unique in Modern History”. On This Day. May 2, 1945. <http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0420.html
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Doctor Faustus.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
