The Language of Sin and Redemption: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Religious Power in Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus
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Date
2026
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DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS
Abstract
This study has examined how religious power has been constructed using the discourse of sin and redemption in Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. The analysis of linguistic strategies as a means to create ideological meaning in the play is conducted using the three-dimensional model of the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) by Norman Fairclough. The discussion is centered on the lexical selection, metaphors, modality, usage of pronouns and rhetorical devices to show how discourse creates moral binaries of salvation and damnation. The discursive practice of Faustus, the Good Angel, the Evil Angel, Mephistopheles, and the Old Man displays a mutual ideological voice that tries to influence the decisions of the main character. The study however finds that the dialogic tension is slowly transformed into monologic dominance where the Christian doctrine ultimately portrays damnation to be inevitable. On the sociocultural level, the play is subject to the religious atmosphere of the Renaissance England, especially the Reformation fears of a free will, the repentance, and the divine judgment. The results conclude that the fall of Faustus is not just a narrative but a discursive one because the religious authority is not only practiced but also reinforced through language. The research can find its place in interdisciplinary literature as it shows that CDA can be applied to Renaissance drama and literature.