Question

Which two parts of this excerpt from Christopher Marlowe’s the tragical history of Dr. Faustus Bring out the theme of forbidden knowledge

Answer 1

The last two lines of this excerpt from Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Dr Faustus bring out the theme of forbidden knowledge:

Whose deepness doth entice such

forward wits to practise more than heavenly power permits.

It means that the deepness of your knowledge may be wrong and you begin to think that you are more powerful than the heavenly powers which is wrong again.So stay away from" enticing wits."".

Answer 2

The two parts of the excerpt from Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus (1592) are "Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits/ To practise more than heavenly power permits".

These two excerpts show that access to knowledge is conceived as dangerous. The word 'wits' in the first part refers to the powers of intelligent observation and keen perception that are closely related to 'unlawful things', that is, things that are not morally right. Furthermore, the phrase "more than heavenly power permits" in the second part is key to understand that, in the play, higher knowledge has been forbidden since getting access to it can bring terrible consequences. The entire play, whose main character sells his soul to the devil to access knowledge, warns the readers about the dangers of pursuing knowledge.