It Was Written In The Stars 

What is the Significance of the Stars in Doctor Faustus? The stars have been all around since the beginning of time and have not drastically changed.People have been trying to understand the stars for centuries. It did not take too long for people to see that stars are a map in the sky, and the most basic knowledge of the stars and constellations was used for navigation. In ancient times, the stars were used to create the four cardinal directions.

The directions were used for nearly everything from sweeping to setting gravestones. However, ancient peoples did not have the knowledge that is available today. It was thanks to their lack of knowledge that astronomers are able to share more knowledge today, and astronomers now know what to look for in the skies. The ancient Chinese were the people who found a cardinal north. They found north when they realized that stars move, but a few constellations never move; they are stationary stars.

The most well known stationary constellation is the Big Dipper. In From this other countries adapted their own versions of sky maps like the Egyptian and Grecian culture. A number of religions were also created based on the stars. The stars became very important in most cultures and followed many of the same guidelines of the 12 constellations that pass the zodiac. Some guidelines changed a little, such as, the Egyptians noted that spring starts under the Twins (Gemini) when first observed, but later spring started under the Bull (Taurus).

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This was the beginning of astronomy, he study of the sun, moon, stars, planets, comets, gas, galaxies, gas, dust and other non-Earthly bodies and phenomena(Taylor Redd). Astronomy is even in Christianity, in that, they usually refer to the stars as heavenly bodies. Later it was believed the pattern of the stars decided the fates.

This became known as astrology. Because people had a understanding of the stars, they started to infer about the future from what had been observed in the past. The use of astronomy created, what is now known as pseudoscience, astrology. The sun, moon, and stars were personified as gods and that is why people were able to accept that the celestial bodies could tell the future. The sun ,moon, and other visible planets were also used to make predictions about outcomes, not just the stars. The earliest evidence of astrology was in found Babylon. At this time, it was mainly just used to predict harvesting. This was also when the first map of the sky was attempted. The creators measured the stars and the distance between them, as if to measure the importance of a god. Later, as more cities and countries started to use this, and based how the celestial bodies moved over many years, more accurate predictions came to be. This also aided in how many more predictions could be made, which lead to monthly predictions.

This system was the only way people could predict the future and it also gave them something to believe in. It was a way they could explain what happened around them. Even though cultures, such as the Egyptian and Grecian, had gods in place that they believed in, astrology was a way to connect with the gods. The stars were seen as windows to the gods or for the gods. This was believed until the Renaissance. The Renaissance was a time of rebirth and new learning. People began to question everything and this is when the scientific method was more practical because it was based on actual evidence and nothing circumstantial. In Astrology in the Renaissance, Eugenio Garin wrote, “Magic and astrology are always presented as being connected but in two perspectives: one being the general conception of reality and history which aims at the rigour of sciences and techniques: the other is that complex inheritance of ancient beliefs and cults with the suggestion of all kind of images. Nevertheless the boundaries between the two points of view do not run in straight and clear-cut lines”. Astrology began being questioned because there was really no way to figure out the future.

The position of the stars could be predicted, however there was never physical evidence of astrology working. All belief in most kinds of magic like this came to an end because it could not be explained scientifically. As time went on, Christianity decided that astrology was a hoax and immoral. Christians started to say that astrology should not be believed because it was not the place of humans to try and figure out God’s will. In 200 C.E., Tertullian wrote,“ You know nothing, astrologer, if you did not know you would become a Christian. If you did know it, you should have known that you would have nothing to do with the profession…The hope of the kingdom of heaven cannot exist with the abuse of heaven. Astrology was introduced by fallen angels”. Astrology was seen as a way of trying to be God-like or to be better than God, like Doctor Faustus. Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, was written during the Renaissance. It was a very trying play because it played with science and myth. In the play, Faustus summoned a demon so that he could learn more about the magical and celestial world.

Faustus wanted access to God’s knowledge, which he planned to get from Mephistopheles, a fallen angel. Many references are made about the stars and heavenly bodies, like when Faustus summoned Mephistopheles, he said,“ And characters of the signs and erring stars by which the spirits are enforced to rise”. He believed that the star signs are what summoned his demon. That is a very important scene because astrology is being portrayed as a way to summon the devil, however that was not the original intent of astrology. After Faustus learned that Mephistopheles could not give him what he wanted, he sold his soul so that he could have more time to become a more powerful, knowledgeable scholar. In this play, Faustus tries the church by doing everything a Christian should not do. Not only did he dabble with astrology and the devil, he also had Mephistopheles leave his hellish form and made him return as a friar, which was very blasphemous. Faustus denied God and their will in many ways throughout the play.

In the beginning, Faustus was excited to have the new opportunities he could have. He said,“ Had I as many souls as there be stars, I’d give them all for Mephistopheles. By him I’ll be great emperor of the world and make a bridge through the moving air…”. Through the rest of the play, Faustus does not achieve anything he wanted to do. He wasted his time, and he still had to go to hell. In reference to astrology, Tamsyn Barton wrote, “ Man misused his freedom of will and became the slave of all the deamons”. Even though Faustus tried to repent after all this time, it did not help him. This was an important message in the play at the time. Marlowe was much like Faustus, in that he was also very interested in the dark arts and denounced God. Like Faustus, Marlowe was a scholar who avoided his future as a rather average worker.

Marlowe did whatever he could to be well known. He wrote plays that would grab the attention of any audience because he wrote about taboo during the Renaissance. Marlowe was clear about his intentions of the play. He also made sure the audience knew the outcome of certain choices that can be made. In this play, the sky is a mystery that belongs to God and man should not fiddle with it. Faustus tested his limits and gained time to become great. After Faustus sells his soul, Wagner says, “ Learned Faustus, to know the secrets of astronomy graven in the book of Jove’s high firmament did mount himself to scale Olympus top, being seated in a chariot burning bright, drawn by the strength of voky dragons’ necks. He is now gone to prove cosmography” (Gainor 663). Cosmography is the study of the general features of the universe, like astrology and geology. While Faustus gained power and time to learn the secrets of the celestial world and dark arts, he wasted all of it.

For example, when Faustus made himself invisible so he could ridicule the Pope. How he died was important because even though he tried to call to God, he could not take back what he had done. His choices ended his life and Marlowe showed that people who go against the Catholic church will be damned. Many themes throughout this play were very blasphemous, and this play is a morality play. Marlowe tried to show his audience that someone or something would end you violently if you decided to go against what the church has said. Marlowe also made fun of the Catholic church through the play and through Faustus. What the church decided was good and bad for members was only for personal gain. The church decided that somethings that have been around for centuries, like astrology, were false because they were afraid people could answer scientific questions with an observable answer. They were afraid because it was not apart of their religion, so if it was not a part of the religion, it was against God.

Works Cited

1. Barton, Tamsyn. “Ancient Astrology.” Routledge. 2006. P. 9-71 Garin, Eugenio. “Astrology in the Renaissance.”
2. Routledge. 1976. Translated 1983. Thiel, Rudolf. “And There Was Light.”
3. Alfred A Knope, Inc. 1957. Ch. 1 Gainor, J.Ellen, Garner Jr., Staton, Puchner, Martain.
4. “The Norton Anthology of Drama.” Vol.1. W.W. Norton & Co. 2009. Pg. 609-650.