In coming to understand the world around us, we are more accustomed to looking out and judging what we see based upon ideas that exist on the surface of our being instead of why we might feel that way. The journey to the self is a direction of focus we’re not used to and we are terrified of what we might find there. Since we don’t usually look this way, we are not certain of the terrain and this presents a source of inner tension. On the one hand, we understand this is fundamentally who we are so we should be very familiar with the territory. On the other hand, we have to admit that we really don’t know the ground and therefore aren’t as familiar with who is what we are as we thought. Examining our ideas and beliefs, understanding why we hold these beliefs and ideas can reveal elements of our personality that aren’t as pretty as we’d like them to be. Discovering these monsters within is much like finding a sleeping dragon in a cave, unaware it was there, and found ourselves confronted with a fire-breathing, claw-wielding giant that must be subdued or defeated before we can move on. This unfamiliar darkness and the possibility of danger are why many people seem to feel that it is necessary to leave home in order to discover the self. It is easier to confront and combat these demons when one is far away from home and people who might remember and judge what has happened. Much of the literature studied this term has been focused on exploring this theme of the personal journey and whether it is a journey of enlightenment or one of danger as it has been understood through time. It is the contention of this work that this journey, whether taken internally or externally, is both enlightening and dangerous as the individual is forced to either accept and explore their inner strengths and abilities for success or reject them and fall into failure. Christopher Marlowe captured the story of Dr. Faustus sometime around 1620 illustrating the unfulfilling and ultimately dangerous prospect of the personal journey, whether it was internal or external. At its opening, Dr. Faustus, the main character in Dr. Faustus, is introduced as a scholar who is famed the world over for his extensive knowledge, who feels he has reached the limits of knowledge yet still hungers for power. This illustrates that internal enlightenment, which Faustus had well beyond the common man, only served to fuel a passion for more. Tempted by the allure of magic, he trades his soul to the devil in exchange for 24 years of having everything he wants, enabling him to make the external personal journey. Rather than using his new powers to free his country or help the poor, Faustus chooses to waste the opportunity he has to fulfill his desire for more knowledge by practicing the most base parlor tricks for the Emperor as well as several pranks on others such as the tricks he performs on the Pope at a special banquet in Act III, Scene 1. As the Pope crosses himself following an invisible Faustus grabbing his dishes out of the air, Faustus tells him “Well, there’s the second time. Aware the third; / I give you fair warning. / [The POPE crosses himself again, and FAUSTUS hits him a box / of the ear; and they all run away.]” (Marlowe, 1996). Although Mephastophi