Discus the role of the Old Man in Act V of the play Dr. Faustus by
Christopher Marlowe.
The Old Man in Act V
appeals to Faustus to leave his damned art and to ask for God’s
forgiveness. In many particulars the Old
Man is like the Good Angel because his counsel to Faustus is the same. He takes on many of the qualities of a
morality personification, perhaps something like Good Counsel. After the Fausus-Helen episode, the old man
is aware that Faustus has completely damned himself. The Old Man is then tried by Satan, but his
faith prevails against the devils and hell.
Thus the Old Man achieves a spiritual victory, and dramatically this
contrasts with Faustus’s choice of evil and his ultimate damnation. Marlowe through the Old Man, shows that the
temptation to evil may be resisted and that spiritual victory can be
achieved.
