Bhagat singh and the Idea of Freedom

 

  Faustus rewritten by Bhagat Singh 

Introduction :-

Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe 

The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, commonly referred to simply as Doctor Faustus, is an Elizabethan tragedy by Christopher Marlowe, based on German stories about a scholars who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for magical power. 

Bhagat singh - A great hero 

Bhagat Singh was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer in December 1928 in what was intended to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationalist.

There are differences between the character of Faustus and Bhagat Singh.

Original Faustus 

Here is the original last monologue of Doctor Faustus from Christopher Marlowe's play "Doctor Faustus". This is the famous soliloquy where Faustus faces eternal damnation as the clock strikes midnight:

Faustus’s Final Monologue (Original Text):

> FAUSTUS:

Ah, Faustus,

Now hast thou but one bare hour to live,

And then thou must be damn'd perpetually!

Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven,

That time may cease, and midnight never come;

Fair Nature's eye, rise, rise again, and make

Perpetual day; or let this hour be but

A year, a month, a week, a natural day,

That Faustus may repent and save his soul!

O lente, lente currite noctis equi!

The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike,

The devil will come, and Faustus must be damn'd.

O, I'll leap up to my God!—Who pulls me down?

Bhagat Singh's essay 

Why I Am an Atheist is an essay written by Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh in 1930 in the Lahore Central Jail. The essay was a reply to his religious friends who thought Bhagat Singh became an atheist because of his vanity.

Bhagat Singh 's perspective on freedom 

  

Bhagat Singh's perspective on freedom was multifaceted, encompassing not only political independence from British rule but also social and economic liberation from all forms of oppression. He envisioned a society free from caste discrimination, religious prejudice, and economic exploitation, believing that true freedom required a socialist revolution. 

Rewriting Faustus 

(With Bhagat Singh’s Perspective on Freedom and Rationalism)

> FAUSTUS (reborn in thought, but tormented):

The clock strikes, and yet no change within—

My soul still trembles at this hour of fate.

Was all this knowledge bought for fear and chains?

Did I trade my reason for eternal hate?

I sought dominion, not of land, but mind—

But shackled still by myths I did not fight.

O Reason! You, the spark that once defined,

I cast you off for shadows dressed in light.

If Bhagat lived, he’d scorn this coward’s cry,

He died for truth, not comfort or a lie.

He dared to stand with thought, not fear of fire,

While I, in folly, fed my base desire.

O Time! Revolt! Delay thy grinding pace,

Not for my soul, but for the human race.

Let others rise where I in blindness fell,

To break the gods of heaven, earth, and hell.

See how the chains of faith still bind the free—

Yet one must fight, must think, must cease to flee!

Hell is not flames—it is the mind enslaved.

Let thought be free! Let truth walk unafraid!

Bhagat Singh:-

- Willingly sacrificed his life for the nation and ideals of justice.

- Embraced death with purpose and clarity. 

Doctor Faustus:-

- Sacrificed his soul for temporary pleasure and fame 

- faced death with fear, regret, and helplessness. 

References :

https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2016/08/online-test-re