The deals or pacts that are made to obtain the ultimate happiness are as new and recent as miracle creams sold on television to enhance beauty and health and as old as the Garden of Eden itself. This is a story retold in many forms about the price that is paid for what one considers may be the ultimate happiness. However, after one has paid that price, one suddenly realizes that the prize was not as great as what one gave up to obtain it. This is how it turns out when one makes bargains with the devil. This is also what happens to Dr. Faustus in Christopher Marlowe's play, as well as to Aylmer in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark". This paper will compare the two bargains made by the gentlemen in question, paying particular attention to the nature of the pacts made by the two of them.
The story of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe is based upon a story that had been written and rewritten before Marlowe finally penned his play. It is the tale of a man who has everything he needs. He has a good education provided by his sacrificing and hardworking family. This education provided him with a profession in the Church, which he secretly despised and worked against by studying necromancy and the dark arts. He still worked for, and obtained, his Doctor of Divinity, yet this was not enough for him. So, he made a pact with the devil, through Mephostophilis, to sign over his soul, so long as he can command Mephostophilis to "slay mine enemies and to aid my friends/And always be obedient to my will" (Marlowe, 1969, p. 35). In return, at the end of twenty-four years, Faustus will die and be damned to hell. The closer Faustus gets to the end of this term, the more he realizes the horrible nature of the pact that he made. He truly paid the ultimate price.
Aylmer's is a slightly different story in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark". There is no openly apparent pact made with any of Satan's legions. However, Aylmer, w...