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1590
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE'S
DOCTOR FAUSTUS
by Jane Rosner
SERIES COORDINATOR
Murray Bromberg, Principal,
Wang High School of Queens, Holliswood, New York
Past President, High School Principals Association of New York City
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Our thanks to Milton Katz and Julius Liebb for their contribution to
the Book Notes series.
Loreto Todd, Senior Lecturer in English, University of Leeds, England,
prepared the chapter on Elizabethan English in this book.
(C) Copyright 1985 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
■iElectronically Enhanced Text (C) Copyright 1993, World Library, Inc.■I
MDRFBARR
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
SECTION............................ ■iSEARCH ON■I
THE BOOK............................................. ■iMDRFBOOK■I
THE AUTHOR AND HIS TIMES............................. ■iMDRFAUTH■I
THE PLAY
The Plot............................................. ■iMDRFPLOT■I
The Characters....................................... ■iMDRFCHAR■I
Other Elements
Setting......................................... ■iMDRFSETT■I
Themes.......................................... ■iMDRFTHEM■I
Style........................................... ■iMDRFSTYL■I
Elizabethan English............................. ■iMDRFELIZ■I
The Faust Legend and Marlowe.................... ■iMDRFLEGE■I
Form and Structure.............................. ■iMDRFFORM■I
THE STORY............................................ ■iMDRFSTOR■I
A STEP BEYOND
Tests and Answers.................................... ■iMDRFTEST■I
Term Paper Ideas and other Topics for Writing........ ■iMDRFTERM■I
The Critics.......................................... ■iMDRFCRIT■I
Advisory Board....................................... ■iMDRFADVB■I
Bibliography......................................... ■iMDRFBIBL■I
AUTHOR_AND_HIS_TIMES
THE AUTHOR AND HIS TIMES (MDRFAUTH)
-
If you met Christopher Marlowe, you might not like him. But you
would probably be fascinated by him. Marlowe was a fiery genius
whose brief career resembled the trail of a meteor across the night
sky.
Marlowe was not just a writer. A hot-headed swordsman, he was
arrested twice for street fighting and spent some weeks in prison
for his role in a fatal duel. He was also a spy, involved in a
dangerous, though not fully understood, ring of secret agents.
At one extreme, Marlowe was a social climber who hobnobbed with
the rich and powerful of his day. He was friend to Sir Francis
Walsingham, head of the government's secret service. And he knew Sir
Walter Raleigh, Queen Elizabeth's favorite at court. At the other
extreme, Marlowe had a taste for London low life. He haunted the
taverns till dawn in the company of thieves and confidence men.
Marlowe combined a thirst for adventure with wildly speculative
opinions. In Elizabethan times, when church attendance was strictly
enforced by law, Marlowe was an atheist. Like Faustus, he scoffed
openly at established beliefs. He called the biblical Moses "a
juggler," or second-rate magician, and referred to Christ as a
not-so-pious fraud.
Not surprisingly, when Marlowe died at 29- stabbed through the eye
in a tavern brawl- many people saw in his fate the hand of an angry
God. But let's start at the beginning.
{AUTHOR_AND_HIS_TIMES ^paragraph 5}
-
Marlowe was born in 1564, two months before William Shakespeare,
in the cathedral town of Canterbury. He was a shoemaker's son and,
in the normal course of events, would have taken up his father's
trade. Destiny intervened, however, in the form of a college
scholarship. In the sixteenth century, even more than in the present
day, college was a way out of a laborer's life. It opened up the
path of advancement, presumably within the church.
Today, we think of education as a universal right. But in those
days, it was a privilege. The ability to read- which meant the ability
to read Latin- was still a rare accomplishment. In fact, under English
common law, any man who could read was considered a priest and could
claim, if arrested, a right called "benefit of clergy." That meant, if
you killed a man and could read, you might go free with a warning. But
if you killed a man and couldn't read, you were sure to swing from the
gallows.
In the sixteenth century, as you will see in Doctor Faustus, there
was still something magical about books and people who could read
them. That's why, when Marlowe was offered a scholarship by the
Archbishop of Canterbury, he probably jumped at the chance. In 1581
the promising youth left home to attend Cambridge University.
Cambridge fed Marlowe's hungry mind, even while it vexed his spirit.
The university library was one of the world's finest. Good books
were still scarce and expensive. The shoemaker's household would
have had its Bible and some collections of sermons. But the
Cambridge library shelves were lined with leather-bound classics,
those works of ancient Greece and Rome that the Renaissance found so
illuminating. Aristotle's studies of Nature, Homer's magnificent
epics, the Roman poet Ovid's frank celebrations of love- they were all
there, and Marlowe read them avidly along with maps that showed him
the exotic places of the world.
{AUTHOR_AND_HIS_TIMES ^paragraph 10}
The books and the library were part of the luxury offered by
Cambridge. But there was an oppressive side, too, to university
life. Cambridge in those years was a training ground for the ministry,
its graduates destined to be clergymen or schoolmasters. Piety and
sobriety were the virtues promoted in its cold stone halls.
Cambridge scholars slept in communal dormitories, took their bread
at the buttery (a sort of feudal cafeteria), and wore, by
regulation, simple wool caps and gowns. Innocent pastimes like
swimming were forbidden and subject to severe punishment. In short,
despite occasional high-jinks, the lives of the students were not so
different from those of medieval monks.
There was a basic contradiction in all this, a contradiction that
lies at the heart of Doctor Faustus. The classics which these young
men were reading beckoned them toward the world and the pleasures of
the senses. But to stay at Cambridge and to study these books, the
young men had to appear to be devout ministers-in-training. As Faustus
puts it, they were "divines in show."
A whole generation broke under the strain. They fled the Cambridge
cloister and descended on London to earn a precarious living by
writing. These were the so-called University Wits. And Marlowe would
soon join them, for he, too, was in rebellion against the religious
demands of Cambridge.
While studying for his master's degree, Marlowe wrote plays in
secret (plays were viewed as the devil's work by the church), and he
became involved in some colorful espionage activities. In a flagrant
breach of the rules, Marlowe stayed absent for months at a time,
traveling on the Continent on some deep business of the Privy
Council's. (The Privy Council was a body of advisors to the queen, a
sort of unofficial Cabinet.)
The Cambridge authorities moved to expel Marlowe, but a grateful
government intervened. The university dons, their arms gently
twisted by the Privy Council, awarded Marlowe the highly respected
Master of Arts degree in 1587. With two university degrees (a
bachelor's and a master's) under his belt, the shoemaker's son was
entitled to style himself Christopher Marlowe, gentleman. No small
matter in class-conscious England, then or now.
{AUTHOR_AND_HIS_TIMES ^paragraph 15}
His studies behind him, Marlowe left for London, where he joined the
circle of bright and ambitious university renegades: Thomas Nashe,
John Lyly, Robert Greene. Marlowe and the rest headed for the
theater with a sense of exhilaration. In London of the 1580s, the
drama was just springing to life.
The first theaters were being built- the Curtain, the Rose-
legitimate places for plays that had previously been performed in
innyards. The first acting companies were being formed- the Lord
Admiral's Men, the Lord Chamberlain's Men- as the players, frowned
upon by the church, sought the service and protection of the great
lords.
Marlowe, an innovator, thrived in this stimulating environment. He
threw himself into the new theater with enthusiasm. He took lodgings
in Shoreditch, the theatrical district on the outskirts of town, and
roomed for a while with Thomas Kyd, the author of the popular
Spanish Tragedy. Marlowe worked for the hard-headed theater owner,
Philip Henslowe, and wrote plays for the Lord Admiral's Men and
their great star, Edward Alleyn. In the process, Marlowe's fertile
brain and fiery spirit helped give shape and form to what we now
call Elizabethan drama.
The main gift Marlowe gave to the theater was its language. As you
probably know from your study of Shakespeare, Elizabethan
playwrights wrote in blank verse or iambic pentameter. (Iambic
pentameter meant that the verse line had five feet, each composed of a
weak and a strong syllable.) Marlowe didn't invent blank verse, but he
took a form that had been stilted and dull and he breathed fresh
life and energy into it. It was Marlowe who made blank verse a
supple and expressive dramatic instrument.
When Marlowe arrived in London, he took the theatrical world by
storm. He was new to the stage, but within months, he was its
master. He was admired, imitated, and envied, as only the wildly
successful can be.
{AUTHOR_AND_HIS_TIMES ^paragraph 20}
His first play was Tamburlaine (1587), the tale of a Scythian
shepherd who took to the sword and carved out a vast empire. Audiences
held their breath as Tamburlaine rolled across stage in a chariot
drawn by kings he had beaten in battle. Tamburlaine cracked his whip
and cried, "Hola, ye pampered jades of Asia!" (Jades meant both
worn-out horses and luxury-satiated monarchs.) This was electrifying
stuff which packed the theaters and made ruthless conquerors the
rage of London.
Marlowe had a terrific box-office sense, and he kept on writing hits
as fast as his company could stage them. In 1588 came Tamburlaine II
and then, probably in 1591, The Jew of Malta, the story of a
merchant as greedy for riches as Tamburlaine was for crowns. Gold
wasn't good enough for the Jew of Malta. That merchant longed for
priceless gems and unimaginable wealth. No warrior, the Jew of Malta's
weapons in his battle with life were policy and guile. He set a new
style in dramatic characters, the Machiavellian villain. (These
villains were named for Nicholas Machiavelli, the Italian author of
a cynical guide for princes.)
Faustus was either Marlowe's second or last tragic hero. Some
scholars believe Doctor Faustus was written in 1590, before The Jew of
Malta. Others date the play from 1592, the last year of Marlowe's
life. In either case, Faustus completed the circle of heroes with
superhuman aspirations. Where Tamburlaine sought endless rule, and the
Jew of Malta fabulous wealth, Faustus pursued limitless knowledge.
Like Tamburlaine, Faustus had a powerful impact on Elizabethan
theatergoers. For audiences who flocked to see him, Marlowe's black
magician combined the incredible powers of Merlin with the
spine-chilling evil of Dracula. We know the thrill of horror that
swept through spectators of Doctor Faustus since there are records
of performances called to a halt, when the startled citizens of London
thought they saw a real devil on stage.
Marlowe's tragic heroes share a sense of high destiny, an
exuberant optimism, and a fierce unscrupulousness in gaining their
ends. They've been called "overreachers" because of their refusal to
accept human limitations. Humbly born, all of Marlowe's tragic
heroes climb to lofty heights before they die or are humbled by the
Wheel of Fortune.
{AUTHOR_AND_HIS_TIMES ^paragraph 25}
Did Marlowe share the vaulting ambitions of his characters, their
lust for power, riches, and knowledge? In dealing with a dramatist who
wears a mask, it's always dangerous to make assumptions. But the
slim facts and plentiful rumors that survive about Marlowe suggest a
fire-eating rebel who was not about to let tradition stand in his way.
All his life, Marlowe thumbed his nose at convention. Expected to be
first a cobbler, then a clergyman, he defied expectations and chose
instead the glamorous world of the theater. Lacking wealth and a
title- the passports to high society- he nevertheless moved in
brilliant, aristocratic circles. In the shedding of humble origins, in
the upward thrust of his life, Marlowe was very much a Renaissance
man.
Free of the restraints of Cambridge, Marlowe emerged in London as
a religious subversive. There are hints of forbidden pleasures ("All
that love not tobacco and boys were fools," he quipped) and more
than hints of iconoclasm. Marlowe is said to have joined a circle of
free-thinkers known as the School of Night. This group, which revolved
around Sir Walter Raleigh, indulged in indiscreet philosophic
discussion and allegedly in blasphemies concerning the name of God.
Marlowe was blasted from the pulpit, and eventually his
unorthodoxy landed him in trouble with the secular authorities. In
1593 he was summoned before the Privy Council, presumably on charges
of atheism. (In Elizabethan times, atheism was a state offense with
treasonous overtones.) Though Marlowe's death forestalled the inquiry,
the furor was just beginning.
Two days after Marlowe was killed, an informer named Richard
Baines submitted to the authorities a document concerning Marlowe's
"damnable judgment of religion." Baines attributed eighteen statements
to Marlowe, some attacking Jesus, others the Bible and the church. A
sample comment of Marlowe's was that "if the Jews, among whom Christ
was born, crucified him, they knew him best." By implication, they
knew what he deserved. The document ends with Baines' charge that
Marlowe failed to keep his outrageous opinions to himself, touting
them all over London. In addition, Marlowe's sometime roommate, Thomas
Kyd, who was also arrested and tortured, accused Marlowe of having
written atheistic tracts that were found in Kyd's possession, when his
house was searched.
{AUTHOR_AND_HIS_TIMES ^paragraph 30}
The evidence against Marlowe is suspect or hearsay. But with so much
smoke, there may have been fire. Some scholars think that Marlowe
leapt at the Faustus story because it gave him a chance to vent his
godless beliefs under cover of a play with a safe moral ending. Yet
other scholars point to the damnation of Faustus as evidence that
Marlowe was moving away from atheism- indeed, that he was moving
toward Christianity, even though he never quite arrived there. Was
Marlowe beginning to be frightened by his audacity? Was he mellowing
with the approach of middle age? Or was God-defiance and a youthful
faith in glorious human possibility simply his life-long credo?
These questions have no answers, for Marlowe's life and writing
career were cut short in May 1593. After spending a day closeted
with secret agents in a Deptford tavern, Marlowe quarreled with one of
them- Ingram Friser- over the bill. Marlowe pulled out a dagger and
hit Friser over the head with its flat end. In the ensuing scuffle,
Friser got hold of the dagger and thrust its point deep into Marlowe's
eye. The playwright died of brain injuries three days later, "died
swearing" according to the gratified London preachers.
We can only speculate as to what heights Marlowe might have
climbed as a dramatist, had he lived. He spent six astonishingly
productive years in London. Had Shakespeare, his contemporary, died at
the same age, he would have written very few of the plays for which he
is loved today.
PLOT
THE PLAY
-
THE PLOT (MDRFPLOT)
-
If you are interested in the world of the occult, you'll like this
play. Doctor Faustus is a drama about a famous scholar who sells his
soul to the devil in exchange for magical powers. It is a play which
has come down to us over the centuries in two different versions
(see the beginning of the section on The Story). Events found in the
1616 text, but missing from the 1604, are marked here with an asterisk
(*).
In Doctor Faustus, as in many Elizabethan plays, the main plot
centers on the tragic hero, while a subplot offers comic relief.
Dr. John Faustus, the renowned scholar of Wittenberg, has closeted
himself in his study to decide his future career. Law, medicine,
theology- he has mastered them all. And he finds them all
dissatisfying.
{PLOT ^paragraph 5}
Faustus wants a career to match the scope of his ambition, a subject
to challenge his enormous intellect. So he turns to necromancy, or
black magic, which seems to offer him godlike powers. He knows,
however, that it involves forbidden traffic with demons.
Faustus summons Valdes and Cornelius, two accomplished magicians, to
instruct him in the art of conjuring. That night, in the midst of a
crashing thunderstorm, Faustus raises up the demon spirit,
Mephistophilis. Faustus proposes a bargain. He will give his
immortal soul to the devil in exchange for twenty-four years of
magic and merry-making.
Mephistophilis procrastinates. Reconsider, he advises Faustus. You
really don't know what you are getting into. Besides, Mephistophilis
does not have the power to conclude such an agreement. He is only a
servant to Lucifer, the prince of hell. Faustus orders him to speak
with Lucifer, so Mephistophilis quickly flies off to the nether
regions.
While waiting for the spirit to return, Faustus has second thoughts.
Is it too late to pull back from the abyss? Never too late, counsels
the Good Angel, who suddenly appears before Faustus' eyes. Too late,
whispers the Evil Angel, who advises Faustus to think of fame and
wealth. Wealth! The very word makes Faustus catch fire. Hesitation
flies out the window as Mephistophilis flies in with Lucifer's reply.
The prince of hell will grant Faustus' wish, provided that Faustus
sign over his soul in a deed of gift. Lucifer wants a contract to make
sure he isn't cheated. The contract must be written in Faustus' own
blood.
{PLOT ^paragraph 10}
In compliance with Lucifer's demand, Faustus stabs his arm, only
to find that his blood has mysteriously frozen in his veins.
Mephistophilis comes running with hot coals to warm Faustus' blood,
and it starts flowing again. The contract is completed, and the moment
of crisis past. Mephistophilis provides a show to divert Faustus'
thoughts. He calls for devils who enter with a crown and royal
robes. They dance around Faustus, delighting him with the thought that
he can summon such spirits at any time.
Now that the bargain is sealed, Faustus is eager to satisfy his
passionate curiosity and appetites. He wants answers to questions that
surge in his brain about the stars and the heavenly spheres. He also
wants a wife to share his bed.
Faustus' demands are met in typically hellish fashion.
Mephistophilis' revelations about the stars turn out to be no more
than elementary assumptions of medieval astronomy. And the wife
provided Faustus by the spirit is a female demon who bursts onto the
stage in a hot spray of fireworks.
Faustus becomes wary. He suspects he has sold his soul for a cheap
bag of tricks. The disillusioned scholar falls into bitterness and
despair. He curses Mephistophilis and ponders suicide.
Faustus makes a futile stab at repentance. He prays desperately to
God, only to have Lucifer appear before him. As a confirmation of
Faustus' bondage to hell, they watch a parade of the Seven Deadly
Sins. Pride leads Avarice, Gluttony, and the rest, as each
brandishes his own special weakness of the soul or flesh.
{PLOT ^paragraph 15}
Casting aside all further thoughts of repentance, Faustus gives
himself up to the distractions that Mephistophilis puts in his way.
Through travel and visits to foreign courts, Faustus seeks to enjoy
himself in the time he has left on earth.
Mephistophilis takes Faustus to Rome and to the private chambers
of the Pope. The two become invisible and play practical jokes until a
planned papal banquet breaks up in disarray. Then it's on to the
German Emperor's court, where they entertain his majesty by raising
the ghost of Alexander the Great.
* At the Emperor's court, a skeptical knight voices his doubts about
Faustus' magic powers. The magician takes revenge by making a pair
of stag horns grow on the knight's head. Faustus follows this prank
with another. He sells a crafty horse-dealer a demon horse which
vanishes when it is ridden into water.
In the meantime, Faustus' experiments with magic are being
imitated by his household staff. Faustus' servant, Wagner, tries his
own hand at conjuring by summoning two comic devils who force the
clown, Robin, into Wagner's service.
Not to be outdone, Robin steals one of Faustus' conjuring books.
In his dimwitted way, he tries to puzzle out the spells. The real
magic is that Robin's spell works! A weary Mephistophilis, summoned
from Constantinople, rises up before the startled clown. In anger, the
spirit turns Robin into an ape and his sidekick, Dick, into a dog.
{PLOT ^paragraph 20}
* The transformed clowns and the horse-dealer meet in a nearby
tavern, where they swap stories about the injuries they have
suffered at Faustus' hand. Tipsy with ale, they descend on the
castle of Vanholt, where Faustus is busy entertaining the Duke and
Duchess with his fabulous magic tricks. The magician produces for
the pregnant Duchess an out-of-season delicacy she craves-
wintertime grapes.
* Faustus wins an easy victory over the rowdy crew from the
tavern, striking each of them dumb in turn. He then returns to
Wittenberg, in a more sober frame of mind, to keep his rendezvous with
fate.
Faustus' mind has turned toward death. He has made a will, leaving
his estate to Wagner. Yet he still holds feverishly onto life. He
drinks and feasts far into the night with the dissolute scholars of
Wittenberg. And, in a last magnificent conjuring trick, he raises
the shade (spirit) of the most beautiful woman in history, Helen of
Troy.
At the end of his career, poised between life and death, Faustus
undergoes a last crisis of conscience. An Old Man appears to plead
with Faustus to give up his magic art. God is merciful, the Old Man
promises. He will yet pardon Faustus and fill his heart with grace.
The magician hesitates, visibly moved by the Old Man's chastening
words. But Mephistophilis is too quick for him. The spirit threatens
Faustus with torture, if he reneges on his contract with Lucifer. At
the same time, Mephistophilis promises to reward Faustus with Helen of
Troy, if he keeps faith with hell. Faustus collapses under the
pressure. He orders Mephistophilis to torture the Old Man. (Anyone,
anyone but himself.) And he takes the insubstantial shade of Helen for
his lover. In doing so, he is lost.
{PLOT ^paragraph 25}
The final hour approaches. As the minutes tick away, Faustus tries
frantically to stop the clock. Give him one more month, one more week,
one more day to repent, he cries. But the hours chime away. Midnight
strikes. The devil arrives through billowing smoke and fire, and
Faustus is led away to hell.
* In the morning, the scholars of Wittenberg find Faustus' body.
They deplore his evil fate, but honor him for his learning. For the
black magician who might have been a light unto the world, they plan a
stately funeral.
CHARACTERS
THE CHARACTERS (MDRFCHAR)
-
FAUSTUS
It is no accident that Faustus compares himself to a colossus (IV,
VII). Marlowe's hero looms out of the play like some huge, jagged
statue. There is far too much of him to take in at a glance.
Make any simple statement about Faustus, and you'll find you are
only talking about part of the man. Faustus lends himself less than
most characters to easy generalization.
Say, for instance, that Faustus is a scholar. Books are his trade,
philosophy his strength. Yet what an unscholarly scholar he is! At
times during the play, he kicks up his heels and romps about the stage
just like a comedian who has never heard of philosophy in his life.
Or say that Faustus is an atheist. He scoffs at religion and
denies the existence of God. But, at one of the play's most dramatic
moments, you see Faustus fall to his knees in a fervent prayer of
contrition to Christ.
{CHARACTERS ^paragraph 5}
Perhaps we should take our cue from such contradictory behavior
and seek the key to Faustus in contradiction. Clearly he's a man of
many inner conflicts. Here are three for you to think about:
-
1. Some people sense an age-old conflict in Faustus between his body
and his mind. To these readers, Faustus is a noble intellect,
destroyed by his grosser appetites. In this interpretation, Faustus'
tragedy is that he exchanges the worthwhile pursuit of knowledge for
wine, women, and song. Faustus not only burns in hell for his carnal
ways, he pays a stiffer price: loss of his tragic dignity.
-
2. Other readers see Faustus' conflict in historical terms.
Faustus lives in a time of the Middle Ages and the start of the
Renaissance. These were two very different historical eras with
quite different values, and Faustus is caught in the grip of
changing times. On the one hand, he is very aware of the admonitions
of the medieval church- don't seek to know too much, learn contempt
for this world, and put your energy into saving your soul. On the
other hand, Faustus hears Renaissance voices which tell him just the
opposite. Extend the boundaries of human knowledge. Seek wealth and
power. Live this life to the full because tomorrow you'll be dead.
(This theme of "eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die" is known
as carpe diem or seize the day. It was a popular theme in the
Renaissance.)
{CHARACTERS ^paragraph 10}
-
3. Still other readers see Faustus torn between superhuman
aspirations and very human limitations. Faustus dreams that magic will
make him a god. In his early dealing with Mephistophilis, he talks
about himself as if he were a king. He gives commands, dictates terms,
and fancies himself on a par with Lucifer, the dreaded regent of hell.
Faustus is willing to sign a contract which will free him from human
restraints for twenty-four years. During that time, he will have a
spirit's body that can soar free of the earth, a body immune from
the ravages of old age and time. Yet, even as he signs the contract,
Faustus somehow knows that he is only human. His body warns him to
flee and addresses him, in no uncertain terms, as "man."
The contrast between Faustus' hopes and his realities is very
great indeed. The man who was to have been a king grovels like a slave
before Lucifer. The "god" who was to have escaped from time watches
powerless as the last hour of his life ticks away. Because of the
great distance between Faustus' dreams and achievements, he strikes
some readers as a wretch, an immature egotist who cries like a child
when the universe won't let him have his way.
-
Indeed, all three interpretations of Faustus present you with a
challenge and a question. Which emerges most strongly from the play:
Faustus' noble mind, his soaring Renaissance aspirations, his
superhuman dreams? Or Faustus' gross appetites, his sins against
God, his very human terrors? Somewhere between the super-hero and
the lowly wretch, you will find your own truth about Faustus.
{CHARACTERS ^paragraph 15}
-
MEPHISTOPHILIS
There are two sides to Mephistophilis. One of these spirits is an
evil, malevolent tempter. He wants Faustus' soul and stops at
nothing to get it. This Mephistophilis lies to Faustus, manipulates
him with threats of torture, and jeers at him when his final hour
has come:
-
What, weepst thou? 'tis too late: despair. Farewell.
{CHARACTERS ^paragraph 20}
Fools that will laugh on earth must weep in hell.
-
The second spirit has a sweeter nature. He's a reluctant demon who
would spare Faustus if he could. This Mephistophilis offers no
enticements. He watches, in quiet distress, while Faustus damns
himself. When summoned during the night by Faustus' blasphemous
conjurings, the spirit does not seize the soul that is offered to him.
Instead, he urges Faustus away from his contemplated deal with hell:
-
O Faustus, leave these frivolous demands
{CHARACTERS ^paragraph 25}
Which strike a terror to my fainting soul.
-
Which is the real Mephistophilis? It isn't easy to say. You can
put your trust in Mephistophilis' better nature and see him as a
kind of guardian spirit. You'll find evidence in the play that
Mephistophilis cares for Faustus and feels a strong attraction to
the man. He calls his charge "My Faustus," and flies to his side
with eagerness. He is a companion in Faustus' adventures and is also
Faustus' comforter. The spirit sympathizes when Faustus is sick with
longing for heaven. And he goes out of his way to console the
scholar with the thought that heaven isn't such a great loss after
all.
Mephistophilis understands Faustus in ways that suggest they are two
of a kind. He's been called Faustus' alter ego. And you get the
feeling that he sees himself in Faustus as he was eons before- a proud
young angel who marched with Lucifer against God, only to see his
hopes of glory dashed when Lucifer's rebellion failed.
It's possible that, when Mephistophilis threatens Faustus, he is
merely doing his job. The spirit isn't free to do what he likes. He is
Lucifer's man. Mephistophilis has counseled Faustus against making a
deal with hell. But once that deal is made, the spirit has no choice
but to hold Faustus to it.
{CHARACTERS ^paragraph 30}
On the other hand, you may feel that Mephistophilis shows more
enthusiasm than the job requires. In that case, you can see the spirit
as Faustus' evil genius. And Mephistophilis' understanding of
Faustus becomes a potent weapon in his hands.
The spirit, for instance, knows just what cleverly worded promises
to make to get Faustus' signature on the dotted line. He tells
Faustus, "I will... wait on thee, and give thee more than thou has wit
to ask." That promise turns out to be true, but not in the way that
Faustus has reason to expect. What Mephistophilis gives Faustus is
an eternity of torment, not the limitless power that Faustus imagines.
Mephistophilis is a trickster. When Faustus asks for a wife, the
spirit provides one- a demon too hot to touch. When Faustus asks for
information about the stars, Mephistophilis gives him facts which
the scholar already knows. In his own hellish fashion,
Mephistophilis abides by the letter, not the spirit, of the
contract. He obeys Faustus' commands without fulfilling his wishes.
The spirit makes sure that Faustus pays full price for relatively
shoddy goods.
Is Mephistophilis a brilliant schemer who plots the damning of
Faustus? Or is he a reluctant actor in the tragedy? It's up to you
to decide.
-
{CHARACTERS ^paragraph 35}
WAGNER
Wagner is not happy in his role as a servant. He's sufficiently
educated to regard himself as a scholar, and he's eager to prove his
prowess in logical dispute. If you read between the lines, you begin
to suspect that Wagner has a secret yen to wear a professor's robes
and sit as king of the roost in Faustus' study.
Yet there is a more faithful side to Wagner. He serves his master
loyally. He shields his master from the prying eyes of tattle-tale
clerics. And he takes the trouble to track Faustus down on the road
with an invitation to the castle of Vanholt. (Wagner knows very well
that his master likes to preen in front of the nobility.) What's more,
Wagner is Faustus' heir. Faustus probably wouldn't leave his money
to Wagner except as a "thank you" for years of good service.
Some readers think Wagner is foolish. But there's every indication
he's really rather clever. He dabbles in magic and conjures demons
without going to hell. Wagner watches carefully as his master gets
snared by the devil. He manages to skirt by the same trap without
getting caught.
-
{CHARACTERS ^paragraph 40}
VALDES AND CORNELIUS
Valdes and Cornelius usher in the era of wizardry at Wittenberg.
By introducing magic to the university, they, play a minor role in
tempting Faustus. Valdes seems the bolder of the pair. He dreams of
a glorious association with Faustus and has himself overcome the
scruples of conscience that await the would-be magician. Cornelius
is more timid, content to dabble in magic rather than practice it in
earnest. "The spirits tell me they can dry the sea," Cornelius says,
never having ventured to try the experiment.
-
ROBIN
With his stirrings of ambition and his hapless attempts at
conjuring, Robin, the clown, is a sort of minor Wagner. He's yet
another servant who follows his master into devilry. Like most of
the characters in the play, Robin is an upstart. He regards himself as
destined for higher things than service in an innyard. In
particular, magic turns his head. Intoxicated with the thought of
commanding demons, Robin turns impudent. He gets drunk on the job
and boasts of seducing his master's wife.
{CHARACTERS ^paragraph 45}
-
THE OLD MAN
The Old Man is a true believer in God and is the one human being
in the play with a profound religious faith. He walks across the stage
with his eyes fixed on heaven, which is why he sees angels visible
to no one else. With his singleness of purpose, the Old Man is an
abstraction, rather than a flesh-and-blood character.
(Appropriately, he has no name.) His role is to serve as a foil for
Faustus. His saintly path is the road not taken by Marlowe's hero.
-
LUCIFER
{CHARACTERS ^paragraph 50}
There's something compelling about the prince of hell, a fallen
angel who once dared to revolt against God. Formerly bright as
sunlight, Lucifer's now a dark lord who holds sway over a mighty
kingdom. Yet there's something coarse about him, too. Lucifer's
regal image is tarnished by association with creatures like the
Seven Deadly Sins and that jokester, Belzebub. The grandeur of
ambition, the grossness of sin- these two aspects of Lucifer are
reflected in his servants.
-
BENVOLIO
A courtier, Benvolio takes the world with a blase yawn and a
skeptical sneer. You can't fool him, but he can outwit himself. He
does so by rashly challenging the powers of hell on two occasions.
-
{CHARACTERS ^paragraph 55}
THE HORSE COURSER
Horse coursers or traders were the Elizabethan equivalents of our
used-car salesmen. That is, they were known for being cheats.
Marlowe's horse courser is no exception. A sharp bargainer, he beats
down the price of Faustus' horse. And when the horse proves to be a
spirit, he demands his money back. This hardy peasant is a survivor.
-
THE POPE
The Pope is the most worldly of priests, luxury-loving and
power-hungry. The character seems tailored to the Elizabethan image of
the churchmen of Rome, and his defeat at Faustus' hands was
undoubtedly the occasion for roars of approval from a
Catholic-hating crowd.
SETTING
OTHER ELEMENTS
-
SETTING (MDRFSETT)
-
Doctor Faustus stands on the threshold of two eras- the
Renaissance and the Middle Ages.
Some aspects of the setting are distinctly medieval. The world of
Doctor Faustus, for example, includes heaven and hell, as did the
religious dramas of the medieval period. The play is lined with
supernatural beings, angels and demons, who might have stepped onstage
right out of a cathedral. Some of the background characters in
Doctor Faustus are in fervent pursuit of salvation, to which the
Middle Ages gave top priority.
But the setting of Doctor Faustus is also a Renaissance setting. The
time of the play is the Age of Discovery, when word has just reached
Europe of the existence of exotic places in the New World. The
atmosphere of Doctor Faustus is speculative. People are asking
questions never dreamed of in the Middle Ages, questions like, "Is
there a hell?" Faustus himself is seized by worldly, rather than
otherworldly ambitions. He's far more concerned with luxurious silk
gowns and powerful war-machines than with saving his soul.
{SETTING ^paragraph 5}
It's easy for us to talk as if there were a neat dividing line
between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. But of course there
isn't. People lived through a long period of transition in which old
and new ways of thinking existed side by side.
Transition is a key to the setting in Doctor Faustus.
Specifically, the scene is Wittenberg, a German university town in the
grip of change. For almost a century before Faustus' time,
Wittenberg was a bastion of the Protestant faith. But now, religious
certainties are being challenged by new ideas. The students are more
interested in Homer than in the Bible. The younger men press forward
toward forbidden knowledge, while the old men shake their heads in
dismay.
The tensions of the university are reflected in Faustus' study,
where much of the play takes place. The study is an uneasy room. At
its center, on a great stand, lies the Bible. It is there to remind
Faustus of God. But the bookshelves contain works of ancient Greek
writers which suggest a more practical approach to life (Galen's guide
to medicine, for example). The study also contains maps which show
Faustus exotic lands with their promise of new sensations. And the
scholar has recently added occult books, with their short cut to
Nature's secrets.
The room gives off conflicting signals about a man on the verge of a
great decision. Theology? Science? A life of unabashed pleasure? Which
shall it be? In this uncertain atmosphere, Faustus struggles and fails
to find his way. Even as he entertains bright Renaissance dreams, he
gets caught in the door that history is closing on the medieval age of
faith.
THEMES
THEMES (MDRFTHEM)
-
The following are major themes of Doctor Faustus.
-
1. AMBITION
Doctor Faustus is a study in ambition. Its hero is an "overreacher,"
a man who strives against human limitations. Faustus tries to do
more than is humanly possible. He seeks to know, possess, and
experience everything under the sun. There are two ways to read Doctor
Faustus: (1) The play glorifies ambition. Though Faustus is finally
undone, his dreams emerge larger than the forces that defeat him.
(2) The play criticizes ambition. Faustus falls to great depths from
lofty heights. What's more, his larger-than-life dreams are cut down
to size by the pointed ironies of Mephistophilis.
-
{THEMES ^paragraph 5}
2. CONCEPTS OF HELL
There are three different concepts of hell in this play. Faustus
claims there is no hell. Mephistophilis defines hell as the absence of
God. The church says that hell is a pit of fire, and that's where
Faustus goes in the end. Why are there three hells instead of just
one? Perhaps Marlowe is exploring his own uncertain ideas. Or
perhaps everyone finds a hell of his own.
-
3. CHRISTIANS vs. CLASSIC IDEALS
Despite its pantheon of gods, the classical world believed in
humanity. The ancient Greeks extolled the perfection of the human body
and the clarity of human thought. The medieval church held almost
the opposite view. In the eyes of the church, reason was suspect and
flesh was the devil's snare. Christian and classical beliefs clash
in Doctor Faustus. The classical ideals focus on beauty, which is
exemplified in the play by Helen of Troy. The Christian ideals are
more severe and are personified by the Old Man. Helen's beauty is
not to be trusted, but the Old Man's counsel is sound, even if grim.
{THEMES ^paragraph 10}
-
4. FREE WILL vs. DETERMINISM
A sense of doom hangs over Doctor Faustus, a sense that Faustus'
damnation is inevitable and has been decided in advance. Faustus
struggles to repent, but he is browbeaten by devils and barred from
salvation by all the forces of hell. Nonetheless, it is of his own
volition that Faustus takes the first step toward evil. He makes a
pact with the devil to satisfy his lust for power. And in that
sense, Faustus chooses his fate.
-
5. AN ATHEIST OR A CHRISTIAN PLAY?
{THEMES ^paragraph 15}
On the surface, Doctor Faustus has a Christian moral. Faustus
commits a mortal sin and goes to hell for it. He denies God and is
therefore denied God's mercy. Faustus is a scoffer who gets a
scoffer's comeuppance. No fire-and-brimstone preacher could have put
it better than Marlowe. If the surface moral is the true moral of
the play....
There are reasons to be suspicious. Marlowe was known to be an
atheist. Moreover, he included a lot of blasphemy in the play. He
seems to have taken an unholy glee in anti-religious ceremony. There
is some powerful sacrilege in Doctor Faustus, half buried in the
Latin.
Was Marlowe trying to slip a subversive message past the censors? Or
was he honestly coming to grips with doubts about his own atheistic
beliefs? If Marlowe knew the truth, it died with him.
-
6. DIVERSIONS
{THEMES ^paragraph 20}
Hell has a lot of interesting gimmicks to keep Faustus from thinking
about death and damnation. Devils provide distracting shows,
fireworks, and pageants for his entertainment. Soon Faustus catches on
to the idea. He learns to preoccupy his own mind by feasting,
drinking, and playing pranks. All these diversions keep Faustus from
turning his attention to God and to the salvation of his soul. But
is Faustus so different from the rest of us? Perhaps Marlowe is saying
that diversions are not only the pastimes of hell. They are also the
everyday business of life itself.
STYLE
STYLE (MDRFSTYL)
-
Whenever you read a critical work on Marlowe, you are almost certain
to find the writer referring to "Marlowe's mighty line." That
much-quoted phrase was coined by Ben Jonson, an Elizabethan
playwright, in a poetic tribute he wrote, not to Marlowe, but to
Shakespeare. The poem was a send-off to the first complete edition
of Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623. Here is what Ben Jonson had
to say:
-
How far thou [Shakespeare] didst our Lyly outshine,
Or sporting Kyd, or Marlowe's mighty line.
-
{STYLE ^paragraph 5}
And there Marlowe has stood through the ages, his name
unflatteringly bracketed with Shakespeare's. Marlowe the loud-voiced
trumpet to Shakespeare's mellow violin.
Ben Jonson's left-handed compliment was fair enough in its way.
Marlowe earned his reputation as a loud-mouth. His heroes are
boasters, not only in their aspirations, but also through their
language, which defies all limits.
You can see the mighty line at work in Doctor Faustus. When
Faustus speaks of power, for instance, he boasts of command over
"all things that move between the quiet poles," dominion that
stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man." The literary term for
extravagant, exaggerated language like this is "hyperbole." And
Marlowe exaggerates in many interesting ways. For example, he likes
exotic adjectives. "Pearl" alone won't do. He wants to convey the soft
luster of a rarer gem. So he reaches for a phrase that has an air of
Eastern mystery to it. He writes of the "orient pearl." Marlowe's
giants are not merely large, they are "Lapland giants," huge,
furclad creatures from the frozen North who come running, with smoke
on their breath, to obey a magician's commands.
Marlowe has a fondness for dazzling heights and far-off vistas. In
Doctor Faustus, he speaks of the "topless towers" of Troy, towers so
dizzyingly high they can't be climbed or assaulted. He imagines
spirits who will "ransack the ocean" floor and "search all corners
of the new-found world" for delicacies and treasure. This outward
thrust of the language suggests space without limits, space that gives
his restless, searching heroes worlds to conquer and room to
maneuver in.
Marlowe likes the sound of large, round numbers. In Doctor
Faustus, the figures tend to be moderate: "A thousand ships," "a
thousand stars." But elsewhere, the playwright deals cavalierly in
half-millions.
{STYLE ^paragraph 10}
In addition, Marlowe makes impossible comparisons. Faustus is
promised spirit-lovers more beautiful than Venus, the queen of love.
In fact, he is given Helen, who is brighter and more luminous than a
starlit sky.
The very use of Helen as a character suggests another of Marlowe's
stylistic devices. He raids the pantheon of classic gods and heroes
for comparisons that reflect favorably on his own protagonists.
Helen steps out of the pages of the world's most famous epic
straight into Faustus' arms. And Alexander the Great appears at the
snap of the magician's fingertips. Marlowe's heroes don't seek to
emulate famous figures. The ancient gods and warriors come to them.
Marlowe's use of hyperbole has a profound effect on your
perception of Faustus, though you may not be aware of it. Without
the real magic of the language, Faustus would be a second-rate
magician. But with the poetry spinning its silken web, Faustus becomes
a dreamer of real magnitude. The language makes him a force to be
reckoned with and gives him heroic stature.
ELIZABETHAN_ENGLISH
ELIZABETHAN ENGLISH (MDRFELIZ)
-
The term "Elizabethan English" is often applied to the English of
the period 1560-1620. It was a time when English began to be used with
vigor and growing confidence. Before Elizabeth I's reign
(1558-1603), Latin was the language of the Church, of education, of
law, science, scholarship, and international debate. English was
regarded by many as an inferior language. It had no fixed spelling, no
officially sanctioned grammar, and no dictionaries. In the words of
one scholar, writing in 1561, "Our learned men hold opinion that to
have the sciences in the mother-tongue hurteth memory and hindereth
learning."
During Elizabeth's reign, poetry, drama, and criticism in English
flourished. Writers like Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, and
William Shakespeare helped to forge English into a flexible medium
capable of being used not only for the expression of local culture but
also for a translation of the Bible.
Language differences can occur even today between parents and
their children. It is only to be expected, therefore, that the English
used some four hundred years ago will diverge markedly from the
English used today. The following information on Marlowe's language
will help you to understand Doctor Faustus.
-
MOBILITY OF WORD CLASSES
Adjectives, nouns and verbs were less rigidly confined to particular
classes in Marlowe's day. For example, nouns could be used as verbs.
In the first lines of the Prologue, the Chorus says:
-
Not marching in the fields of Trasimene
Where Mars did mate the warlike Carthagens
-
using "mate" to mean "befriend." Nouns could also be used as
adjectives as in Act I, Scene I, when "orient" is used to mean
"shining":
-
Ransack the ocean for orient pearl.
-
Adjectives could be used as adverbs. In Act II, Scene II, Faustus
says to Lucifer, "This will I keep as chary as my life," using "chary"
where a modern speaker would require "charily" or "carefully."
-
CHANGES IN WORD MEANING
The meaning of words undergoes changes, a process that can be
illustrated by the fact that "silly" used to mean "holy" and "villain"
referred to a "peasant." Many of the words in Doctor Faustus are still
an active part of our language today but their meanings have
changed. The change may be small as in the case of "dispute," which
meant "debate, discuss," as in:
-
Is to dispute well logic's chiefest end?
-
and "wit," which meant "understanding":
-
A greater subject fitteth Faustus' wit
-
The change could be more fundamental, so that "artisan" implied
"student"; "cunning" was the equivalent of "knowledgeable"; and
"boots" meant "is worth" in:
-
What boots it then to think of God or heaven?
(Act II, Scene I)
-
VOCABULARY LOSS
Words not only change their meanings but sometimes disappear from
common usage. In the past, "earm" meant "wretched" and "leod" meant
"people." The following words found in Doctor Faustus are no longer
current in English, but their meaning can usually be gauged from the
context in which they occur.
-
AMAIN at top speed
AND if
ANON immediately, soon
BELIKE it would appear, probably
BESEEMS suits, fits
BOTTLE bundle
BREVIATED cut short, abbreviated
BRIGHT-SPLENDENT magnificent
CAITIFF miserable person, wretch
COIL turmoil, noisy row
COSMOGRAPHY geography
COZENING cheating
ELL 45 inches (103 centimeters)
ETERNIZED made famous forever
FAIN willingly, gladly
FAMILIARS spirits. Old women's cats were often thought to be
"familiars," devils in disguise.
FOOTMANSHIP skill in running
GET create, beget
GLUT satisfy
GRAMERCIES great thanks
GRATULATE express pleasure at
GRAVELLED confounded
HEST command
LIST wish, please
LOLLARDS heretics
LUBBERS clumsy men
MALMSEY sweet wine
MUSCADINE muscatel wine
PICKEDEVANTS pointed beards
PROPER own
PRITHEE pray thee
PROPER own
QUICK alive
QUITTANCE payment for
RAZE cut, scratch
ROUSE carousal, drinking bout
'SBLOOD by God's blood
SIGNORY lord, lordship
SITH since
'SNAILS by God's nails
STAVESACRE insecticide
TERMINE end, terminate
TESTER small coin
THEREFOR for this
THOROUGH through
VARLETS rascals
WELKIN sky, heavens
WHATSO whatever, whatsoever
WHIPPINCRUST hippocras, cordial wine
'ZOUNDS by God's wounds
-
In addition, Marlowe could have assumed much of his audience was
familiar with Latin and the Bible. This is why he could make use of
such Latin tags as "Stipendium peccati mors est," meaning "The wages
of sin are death."
-
VERBS
Elizabethan verb forms differ from modern usage in three main ways:
-
1. Questions and negatives could be formed without using "do/did,"
as when Faustus asks:
-
Why waverest thou?
(II, I)
-
where today we would say: "Why do you hesitate?" Marlowe had the
option of using forms a and b whereas contemporary usage permits
only the a forms:
-
a b
-
What do you see? What see you?
What did you see? What saw you?
You do not look well. You look not well.
You did not look well. You looked not well.
-
2. A number of past participles and past tense forms are used that
would be ungrammatical today. Among these are:
-
"writ" for "written":
-
...here's nothing writ.
(II, I)
-
"beholding" for "beholden":
-
...I am beholding
To the Bishop of Milan.
(III, II)
-
"cursen" for "accursed" and "eat" for "eaten":
-
...as I am a cursen man, he never left eating till he
had eat up all my load of hay.
(IV, VI)
-
3. Archaic verb forms sometimes occur:
-
No Faustus, they be but fables.
(II, II)
-
Thou art damned
(II, II)
-
Thou needest not do that, for my mistress hath done it.
(II, III)
-
PRONOUNS
Marlowe and his contemporaries had the extra pronoun "thou," which
could be used in addressing equals or social inferiors. "You" was
obligatory if more than one person was addressed:
-
Come, German Valdes, and Cornelius
And make me blest with your sage conference.
(I, I)
-
It could also be used to indicate respect, as when Faustus tells the
Emperor:
-
My gracious Lord, you do forget yourself.
(IV, I)
-
Frequently, a person in power used "thou" to a subordinate but was
addressed "you" in return, as when the Clown agrees to serve Wagner at
the end of Act I, Scene IV.
-
Clown: I will, sir. But hark you, master, will you teach me this
conjuring occupation?
Wagner: Ay, sirrah, I'll teach thee to turn thyself to a dog.
-
Relative pronouns such as "which" or "that" could be omitted:
-
...'twas thy temptation
Hath robbed me of eternal happiness.
(V, II)
-
The royal plural "we" is used by the Pope, the Emperor, and
Lucifer when they wish to stress their power:
-
We will despise the Emperor for that deed.
(III, I)
-
Thrice-learned Faustus, welcome to our court.
(IV, II)
-
Thus from infernal Dis do we ascend.
(V, II)
-
PREPOSITIONS
Prepositions were less standardized in Elizabethan English than they
are today and so we find several uses in Doctor Faustus that would
have to be modified in contemporary speech. Among these are:
-
"of" for "by" in:
-
Till, swollen with cunning of a self-conceit
(Prologue)
-
"of" for "from" in:
-
Resolve me of all ambiguities
(I, I)
-
"on" for "of" in:
-
Ay, take it, and the devil give thee good on't.
(II, I)
-
"of" for "on" in:
-
They put forth questions of astrology.
(IV, The Chorus)
-
"unto" for "into" in:
-
...and I be changed
Unto some brutish beast.
(V, II)
-
MULTIPLE NEGATION
Contemporary English requires only one negative per statement and
regards such utterances as "I haven't none" as nonstandard. Marlowe
often used two or more negatives for emphasis. For instance, in
-
Why, thou canst not tell ne'er a word on it.
(II, III)
LEGEND
THE FAUST LEGEND AND MARLOWE (MDRFLEGE)
-
There really was a Faust, casting his magic spells about fifty years
before Christopher Marlowe wrote his play. Johannes Faustus, a
German scholar of dubious reputation, flourished between 1480 and
1540. Some of his contemporaries spoke of him as a faker who lived
by his wits, a medieval swindler. Others, more impressed, thought
him a sorcerer in league with evil spirits. Whatever else he may
have been, he was certainly notorious. A drunken vagabond, he was
reported to have studied magic in the Polish city of Cracow. While
some regarded him as a fool and a mountebank, others claimed that he
traveled about with a dog and a performing horse- both of which were
really devils.
Soon after his death the "real" Dr. Faustus disappeared into the
realm of legend, and every story popularly told about wicked magicians
was told about him. Faustus became the scholar who sold his soul to
the devil in exchange for universal knowledge and magical power, and
so was damned forever.
Stories like these weren't new- they had been popular for centuries.
There was a legend about Simon Magus, a wizard of early Christian
times, who was said to have found death and damnation, when he
attempted to fly. Pope Sylvester II (314-335) was also suspect. He
knew so much that his contemporaries thought he must have sold his
soul to the devil to gain such knowledge.
During the Renaissance, the Faustus tales had a powerful impact.
They dramatized the tug-of-war between the admonitions of the church
and the exciting possibilities of knowledge suggested by the advance
of science and the revival of classical learning. All over Europe,
inquisitive spirits found themselves in trouble with the
conservative clergy. In Italy, for instance, Galileo was accused of
heresy for challenging the Roman Catholic view of the heavens. In
England, the free-thinking Sir Walter Raleigh was investigated for
atheism. And in Germany, adventurous scholars found themselves at odds
with the zealous spirit of the Protestant Reformation. Protestant
theologians thought that mankind's energies should be focused on
God, the Bible, and salvation by faith.
By 1587, the German Faustbuch (Faustbook) had appeared, a collection
of tales about the wicked magician. The Protestant author makes it
clear that Faustus got exactly what he deserved for preferring human
to "divine" knowledge. But theological considerations aside, these
were marvelous stories. The book was enormously popular and was
rapidly translated into other languages, including English. However,
the English Faustbook wasn't published until 1592, a fact that creates
some mystery for scholars who believe that Doctor Faustus was
written in 1590.
{LEGEND ^paragraph 5}
Christopher Marlowe saw the dramatic potential of the story. He
promptly used it as the plot of his play, the first Faust drama, and
possibly the best. Every incident in the play seems taken from the
Faustbuch, even the slapstick comedy scenes. The attacks on the
Roman Catholic church had also become part of the Protestant orthodoxy
of the tale. The poetry, however, is Marlowe's.
Since then, the story has been used many times, both comically and
seriously. The German poet Goethe turned Faust into a hero whose
thirst for knowledge leads to salvation. In the nineteenth century,
Charles Gounod and Hector Berlioz wrote operas about Faust. Shortly
after World War II, the novelist Thomas Mann used the Faust story as
the basis of an allegory about the German people. More recently, the
story was transformed into the musical comedy Damn Yankees, in which
the hero sells his soul to help his hometown baseball team win the
pennant.
FORM
FORM AND STRUCTURE (MDRFFORM)
-
Allowances must be made for the shattered form in which Doctor
Faustus survives. Originally, the play may have had the loose five-act
structure suggested by the 1616 text. Or it may simply have been a
collection of scenes or movements, as in the shorter version of
1604. In fact, the act divisions in Doctor Faustus are the additions
of later editors. Scholars have made their own decisions about the
play's probable cut-off points. That's why no two editions of Doctor
Faustus have identical act and scene numbers.
The genre of Doctor Faustus is the subject of critical debate.
Some readers view the play as an heroic tragedy where the hero is
destroyed by a flaw in his character but retains his tragic
grandeur. Others believe Doctor Faustus is more of a morality play
in which the central character forfeits his claim to greatness through
a deliberate choice of evil.
Doctor Faustus most closely resembles the type of drama known in the
Renaissance as an atheist's tragedy. The atheist's tragedy had for its
hero a hardened sinner, a scoffer who boldly denied the existence of
God. In such a play, the hero's cynical disbelief brought about his
downfall. His tragedy wasn't just death. It was also damnation. For
the edification of the audience, the hero died unrepentant, often with
a curse on his last breath, and one had the distinct impression that
repentance would have saved him.
It is technically possible to diagram Doctor Faustus in a manner
similar to Shakespearean tragedy:
-
{FORM ^paragraph 5}
(See illustration: Plot Structure of Doctor Faustus)■Çbn_mdrf.cif■Ç
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ACT I: EXPOSITION. Faustus' ambitions are explored. He turns to
magic to fulfill them.
ACT II: RISING ACTION. Faustus summons Mephistophilis and signs a
contract with hell. He begins to regret his bargain.
ACT III: CLIMAX. Faustus repents, but Lucifer holds him to his
agreement. Faustus reaffirms his bondage to hell.
{FORM ^paragraph 10}
ACT IV: FALLING ACTION. Faustus wins fame and fortune through
magical evocations. His inner doubts remain.
ACT V. CATASTROPHE. Faustus damns himself irrevocably by choosing
Helen over heaven. His final hour comes, and he is carried off by
devils.
STORY
THE STORY (MDRFSTOR)
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There is no standard edition of Doctor Faustus. The play survives in
two widely read versions, one dating from 1604, the other from 1616.
The 1616 text is longer by about 600 lines and contains incidents
and characters missing from the 1604 text. There is great critical
debate as to which is the "real" Doctor Faustus. Some scholars
attribute the additional material in the 1616 text not to Marlowe, but
to a collaborator named Samuel Rowley. Check the introduction to
your copy of Doctor Faustus. It will tell you which version of the
play you are reading. This guide is based on the version of Doctor
Faustus printed in The Norton Anthology of English Literature (New
York: Norton, 1979), edited by M. H. Abrams and others. The version in
that anthology is based on W. W. Gregg's composite of the 1604 and
1616 texts of Marlowe's play.
ACT_I|CHORUS
ACT I
THE CHORUS
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The play opens with a speech by the Chorus, a voice outside the
action that prepares you for the story of Doctor Faustus. The Chorus
was used in Greek and Roman plays as a way of commenting on the
dramatic action. Here, the Chorus might also be called the
"Commentator" since it consists of only one actor. He tells us that
Faustus grew up in the German town of Rhodes, had lower-class parents,
and went on to study theology in Wittenberg. After earning his
doctorate, Faustus soon realized that he preferred magic to religion.
The Chorus calls this magic "cursed necromancy." Does he
disapprove of Faustus? Or does he privately admire him? Your answer is
important because the Chorus' feelings influence the audience's
reaction to Faustus, even before Faustus himself appears on stage.
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{ACT_I|CHORUS ^paragraph 5}
NOTE: THE CHORUS The first business of the Chorus is to speak the
prologue. The Elizabethan prologue usually contains a brief
introduction to the story and is delivered before the play begins.
If the plot is complicated, the prologue gives the audience a thread
to hold on to. And just as important, when there is little scenery
on the stage, the prologue often tells an audience when and where
the play will take place.
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The Chorus informs you that this isn't a play about warlike
conquests or love. The hero of this play is a scholar, a university
man, a peasant's son, who has pulled himself up by his bootstraps to
become a Doctor of Divinity.
What the Chorus is announcing in these opening lines is a
departure from the usual subject matter of tragedy. Traditionally,
tragedy was the province of noblemen and kings. But Faustus occupies a
lower rung of the social ladder, hailing from a poor and humble
family. Brains, energy, and talent have lifted him from obscurity to a
position of honor in Wittenberg. Despite his achievements, Faustus
is not a nobleman. He is a self-made man, with a strong skepticism
toward much of the establishment around him.
{ACT_I|CHORUS ^paragraph 10}
The Chorus' speech contains an abbreviated biography of Faustus, but
it also parallels events in Marlowe's life. It is the story of a
town laborer's son, sent by generous relatives to college so that he
might get ahead in life. For a while, Faustus, like Marlowe,
flourished at the university. He followed the usual clerical path of
study and excelled in disputes (the academic exercises of the time,
similar to our exams) concerning "heavenly matters of theology."
Then something happened to Faustus. Theology lost its attraction. From
heavenly matters, he fell to the "devilish exercise" of necromancy
(black magic).
To mark this shift in the man, the Chorus uses the image of
appetites gone awry. At one point in his life, Faustus relished the
healthful fruits of learning. Now he craves unwholesome delicacies.
Magic comes to Faustus like a rich dessert at the end of a heavy meal,
sweet to his taste, yet destructive of his well-being.
With such an introduction, the Chorus sweeps aside the curtain to
reveal the inner stage. Faustus is seated in his study, a small
monkish cell that is both a library and a laboratory.
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{ACT_I|CHORUS ^paragraph 15}
NOTE: THE IMAGE OF ICARUS In the Chorus' reference to Faustus'
"waxen wings," you have an implied comparison of Faustus to Icarus.
Icarus was a figure of Greek mythology who flew too near the sun on
wings of wax and feathers, made for him by his father, Daedalus.
When the wax melted, Icarus fell into the sea and drowned. There is
something heroic about this foolish boy, consumed by the oldest
dream of man, who challenged the heavens in his desire for flight. The
image of Icarus qualifies the negative feelings toward Faustus,
aroused in you by all the Chorus' words ("swollen, glutted, surfeits")
that suggest a monstrous appetite.
As Marlowe will remind you throughout the play, there are two
faces to scholarly ambition. One is of greed and ruthlessness, but the
other is of courage and ambition. If Doctor Faustus is an ambiguous
play- that is, a play capable of more than one interpretation- then
the ambiguity begins here in the opening speech.
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ACT_I|SCENE_I
ACT I, SCENE I
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You come upon Faustus at a critical moment in his life. He is
obsessed with the course of his future, and speaks in a formidable,
scholarly fashion, sprinkling his sentences with quotations in Latin
and Greek. Try reading it first for the English sense. Then read it
again for insights into the man. Who is this Faustus? What kind of
choice is he about to make?
The first thing that may strike you about Faustus is the sheer
breadth of his knowledge. He has mastered every advanced course of
study offered by the university. Divinity, logic (we would say
philosophy), medicine, and law are all at his finger-tips. Whatever
the scholarly life can teach- the liberal arts, the professions, the
sciences- Faustus has already learned. In our age of specialization,
it is hard to grasp the scope of his achievement. What Faustus knows
is just about everything there was to know in the world of his time.
Unless such a man is content to rest on his laurels, he has a
problem. Where does he go from here? Perhaps more deeply into one of
the various disciplines. Watch Faustus as he grapples with his inner
conflicts.
Trained in philosophy, he asks the very basic question: "What is the
end, or the purpose, of every art?" The end of law is to settle
petty legacies, and this is a waste of such considerable gifts as his.
Medicine strives to preserve the body's health. Faustus has done
more than his share of this already. His prescriptions alone have
saved whole cities from the plague.
The aim of logic is to dispute well. Yet this won't do much good for
the star debater of Wittenberg. Disputation is for boys in the
schoolroom. Faustus has advanced far beyond that stage.
{ACT_I|SCENE_I ^paragraph 5}
In the reasons for Faustus' rejections, you gain insight into his
dreams. The practice of law may serve society, but that doesn't mean
one should become a lawyer. Medicine may prolong life, but it cannot
make life eternal. Logic offers a tool and a method of thought, but it
does not even begin to approach life's ultimate truths. None of
these disciplines offers a supreme purpose. All leave him still "but
Faustus and a man."
Perhaps, after all, religion will best serve his ends. Having
dismissed the secular disciplines one by one, Faustus returns for a
moment to his first love, theology. Laying aside the books he's been
leafing through, the works of Aristotle and Galen, he picks up the
Bible and reads from St. Paul: "The reward of sin is death."
Flipping a little further, he comes upon a text which seems to him
an ominous contradiction. It says all men are sinners. Thus, all
must die. But sinning is human. The two passages, taken together,
bring Faustus up short. Mortality is what he came to the Bible to
avoid. And here it is again, staring him in the face. Faustus takes
refuge in fatalism- what will be, will be, he says with a shrug of the
shoulders. Tossing the Bible aside, he turns with evident relish to
the books (already in his library) on the forbidden art of necromancy.
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NOTE: THE BIBLE ACCORDING TO FAUSTUS Faustus, of course, is quoting
the Bible out of context. The passage from St. Paul reads: "The reward
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life." Faustus notes
only the first part of the text, the part that seems to doom him
from the beginning. He ignores the message of hope at the end of the
same chapter and verse. This seems an oversight for a learned Doctor
of Divinity.
{ACT_I|SCENE_I ^paragraph 10}
The question is why does Faustus read the Bible in such a
selective manner? Here are some possible answers:
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1. Faustus finds in the Bible exactly what he is looking for- an
excuse to plunge headlong into magic. Since he is eager to take up the
"damned" art of necromancy, it is convenient for him to believe he
is damned, no matter what he does.
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2. Another hand than Faustus' is at work, turning the leaves of
the Bible and directing his eyes. In Act V, you will see the
suggestion that, for all his sense of power, Faustus may not be in
charge of his own life.
{ACT_I|SCENE_I ^paragraph 15}
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3. Marlowe believes religion to be a closed door. Faustus finds no
hope in the Bible because Marlowe finds no hope there. From the
author's point of view, Faustus' reading of the Bible, however
incomplete, may be essentially right.
-
Do you see other possibilities? Try to figure out why Faustus quotes
so selectively from the Bible.
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{ACT_I|SCENE_I ^paragraph 20}
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Faustus is instantly charmed by his books on black magic. For one
thing, they still hold secrets for him. Here's the ideal subject for a
man who wants to know everything. All those strange lines and
circles are so wonderfully mysterious.
Faustus dreams of power and imagines that magic will give him
mastery over the elements, dominion over the winds and the clouds.
What is a king, after all, compared to a mighty magician? With
magic, Faustus thinks it possible to become a god.
Faustus' ambition may seem less far fetched if you compare his hopes
of magic with our own expectations of science. We look to science to
carry us to the stars, to control disasters like famine and flood,
to cure disease and to prolong human life. Faustus looks to magic
for the power of flight and for freedom from death and old age. So our
own dreams are pretty close to Faustus'. The real difference lies in
our method. We try to make our dreams come true with the cool, factual
discipline of science, whereas Renaissance scholars like Faustus
turned, instead, to a curious blend of science and superstition.
The sixteenth century made no clear distinction between
astronomers (people who studied the stars through the newly-discovered
telescopes) and astrologers (people who used the stars to predict
human destiny). The word "astrologer" applied to both. In a similar
manner, early Renaissance chemistry included alchemy, the
pseudo-science of turning base metals into gold.
{ACT_I|SCENE_I ^paragraph 25}
Faustus, as you've seen, knows the experimental sciences. His room
is, in part, a laboratory. But he does not find it unusual to have
in his office both test tubes and necromantic books. For Faustus,
magic and science merge into a deep, dark area which was feared and
largely prohibited by the church.
As Faustus reaches out for this forbidden knowledge, two angels
suddenly appear before his eyes. The Good Angel urges him to "lay
his damned book aside" and return to God and the scriptures. The
Evil Angel tells Faustus to continue on the path he has chosen since
this will enable him to rival God in power.
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NOTE: THE GOOD AND THE EVIL ANGELS The Good and Evil Angels are
hold-overs from medieval morality plays. In this form of drama,
popular during the Middle Ages, they did battle for the soul of a
character known as Everyman. (The characters in medieval drama were
abstractions. Everyman, as his name implies, stood for all
humanity.) Marlowe has borrowed the device of the angels to
dramatize Faustus' inner struggle. The Good Angel is the voice of
his conscience; the Evil Angel, that of his appetites. Throughout
the play, the angels will appear on stage whenever a moral crisis is
at hand. And they will vanish as soon as Faustus has chosen his
course.
{ACT_I|SCENE_I ^paragraph 30}
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You'll notice that the Good Angel doesn't put up much of a fight.
Magic has taken too deep a hold on Faustus. "How am I glutted with
conceit of this!" indicates that he is wildly excited about magic. His
thoughts take wing. They fly all over the place. To India for gold and
to the New World for exotic fruits, then back again to the lecture
halls of Germany, where he will clothe the scholars in silk.
But wait. Faustus seeks knowledge and power, yet now he sets his
goals on luxury and wealth. Are Faustus' desires sensual or
intellectual? Does he want wisdom- or material comforts? You might
keep this question in mind as you read the play. Faustus is first
and foremost a scholar. But he's no professor in an ivory tower. As
the Chorus has pointed out, Faustus is a man of appetite. He may
love books as few men love them, but he also has a strong taste for
good food, rare gems, and rich clothing.
Some readers are disturbed by the sensual side of Faustus. While
they admire his quest for knowledge, they're dismayed by his bent
for luxury. If Faustus would stick to pure research into the
workings of Nature, he might be a noble hero in their eyes. But his
craving for lush fruits and silk garments make him seem undignified.
{ACT_I|SCENE_I ^paragraph 35}
Other readers regard Faustus' sensuality as an heroic quality. His
hunger for beauty and lust for life are part of the great
Renaissance adventure. The medieval church was unnatural in its
efforts to suppress bodily desires. Such readers conclude that Faustus
is right in giving full play to his senses.
What do you think of Faustus' desires? Do they enhance or diminish
him in your eyes? If offered unlimited power, in what direction
would your thoughts travel?
As Faustus embarks on his career in magic, he summons to his home
Valdes and Cornelius, two practitioners of black magic from Wittenberg
University. They have been in the neighborhood, if not in the
lecture halls, distracting students' minds with their conjuring
tricks. They also have called on Faustus before.
Faustus' greeting to Valdes and Cornelius suggests that they are
responsible for luring him into magic. Last time you came for
dinner, you talked me into it, Faustus implies. But no, he quickly
retracts his words. Magic is his own idea. He has reached the point
where he simply cannot concentrate on anything else.
Valdes is delighted with Faustus' news. He imagines a trio of
magicians- Cornelius, Valdes, and Faustus- who will take the world
by storm. With Faustus' brains and the experience of Cornelius and
Valdes, they'll all be rich and famous. But that's not what happens.
Valdes and Cornelius instruct Faustus in the basics of conjuring and
then send him off to practice on his own.
{ACT_I|SCENE_I ^paragraph 40}
The student magician quickly becomes a master who has no need of
partners for his act. This will isolate Faustus since he will now
practice magic without a human tie.
ACT_I|SCENE_II
ACT I, SCENE II
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Faustus has been missing from the university. The disputations,
which he was accustomed to win with his persuasive arguments (his "sic
probos," Latin for "thus, I prove") just aren't the same any more. Two
Wittenberg scholars, as they pass Faustus' house, wonder what has
happened to him.
The scholars make the mistake of stopping and questioning Wagner,
Faustus' half-servant, half-disciple. (The Renaissance called such a
person a "famulus.") Wagner considers himself superior to servants,
but obviously the scholars see him as a servant. They address him
contemptuously as "sirrah," a term appropriate for a menial worker,
and they quickly irritate him. For the rest of this scene, Wagner
takes his revenge by matching wits with the scholars and proving
that he is just as sound a logician as either one of them. This is all
part of a comic subplot, and to reinforce the difference in tone,
Marlowe has Wagner speak in prose.
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NOTE: PROSE FOR THE LOWER CLASSES Elizabethan dramatists reserved
poetry for their upperclass characters. Kings, nobles, and Doctors
of Divinity like Faustus generally spoke a formal, dignified
language appropriate to their station in life. Lowerclass characters
didn't usually merit the verse line. Servants and clowns like Wagner
and Robin could be expected to speak prose, the language of the London
streets.
{ACT_I|SCENE_II ^paragraph 5}
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Wagner is also speaking nonsense. When asked where his master is, he
answers that "God in heaven knows." Don't you know? the scholars ask
him. Ah, that doesn't necessarily follow, Wagner replies, wagging
his finger in their faces and reminding them severely that, after all,
he isn't God. No, Wagner isn't God. But he finds it necessary to say
so. In Wagner's insolence, there are echoes of Faustus' aspiring
pride. In fact, these scenes in the comic subplot are often called
"echo scenes" since servants follow in their masters' footsteps.
After Wagner answers insult for insult, he finally gives the
scholars the information they want. Faustus is having dinner inside
with Valdes and Cornelius. The scholars, shuddering at the mere
names of these two demon-traffickers, wring their hands and fear the
worst.
ACT_I|SCENE_III
ACT I, SCENE III
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In the pitch black of night, with an ominous thunderstorm brewing,
Faustus goes off to a grove to conjure spirits. As the thunder roars
and the lightning flashes, he draws a charmed circle on the ground.
The circle marks the spot where the spirits will rise. Inside the
circle, Faustus writes anagrams (or twisted versions) of the name of
God, spelling Jehovah forward and backward, as one might change
"God" to "dog." Faustus celebrates the blasphemous Black Mass and,
by so doing, demonstrates his growing commitment to necromancy.
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NOTE: THE BLACK MASS The Black Mass was a travesty of the Roman
Catholic service, and was conducted over the centuries by the
worshippers of Satan. The Black Mass mimicked the language of the
Catholic mass (Latin, in those days) and used some of the sacred
gestures in a way that perverted their meaning. For example, Faustus
sprinkles holy water and makes the sign of the cross. This mockery
of a holy rite contained a message for Satan: I denounce God, and I
serve only you. In the 1590s, it was an act of daring to perform
this sacrilege on the stage. Though Henry VIII had pulled England away
from the Roman Catholic Church in 1533, there were still English
people alive who remembered attending mass every Sunday during the
reign of the late Queen Mary. Even if Rome and all its works were
detested in England now, Satan was quite another story.
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{ACT_I|SCENE_III ^paragraph 5}
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The climax of Faustus' ceremony is his farewell to God and his
hail to the devils Lucifer, Demi-gorgon, and Belzebub. In the name
of the three princes of hell, Faustus calls upon the demon spirits
to rise. (Don't worry if you don't understand Faustus' speeches in
this scene. The convoluted Latin sentences were no more intelligible
to most of Marlowe's audience than they are to you. The playwright's
intent is to mystify and appall you with these Latin incantations.)
In response to Faustus' summons, Mephistophilis appears in the
hideous shape of a dragon. Faustus takes one look at the
fire-breathing monster, then tells it to go away and change its
appearance. You're too ugly for me, he says. And, in a satiric
thrust at a Roman Catholic monastic order, he orders the demon to come
back as a Franciscan friar. After a short delay, the spirit returns,
his dragon's scales exchanged for a friar's sedate hooded gown.
Why does Mephistophilis first appear as a monster, only to vanish
and reappear as a monk? Readers of Doctor Faustus disagree on the
meaning of this bit of quick-change artistry. Some think that the
devil is giving Faustus fair warning by portraying hell honestly.
Mephistophilis arises in the horrifying form of a dragon because
hell is a place of horror and damnation. It is Faustus, the
self-deceiver, who wants evil prettied up.
Other readers claim that it is all just good theater. The dragon
zooms on stage to scare the audience, and the friar follows to relieve
terror with laughter. It's open to interpretation and your opinion
is as good as any.
{ACT_I|SCENE_III ^paragraph 10}
Faustus is delighted with his demon spirit's obedience and
compliance. Faustus thinks, like Aladdin, that he has rubbed a genie
out of a lamp. (The genie's business, you recall, was to fulfill
Aladdin's every wish.) Faustus is ready with some pretty tall orders
for his spirit.
Now that you're here, Faustus says to Mephistophilis, of course,
you'll do everything I say. If I command it, you'll make the moon drop
out of the sky or cause the oceans to flood the Earth.
Can't do it, says Mephistophilis. Sorry, Faustus, but I work for
Lucifer, not you. My master has to approve every step I take. It turns
out that Faustus has been flattering himself. Magic hasn't brought him
half the power he thought. In fact, strictly speaking, he hasn't
summoned Mephistophilis at all. The spirit has come of his own
accord because he has heard Faustus "racking" (torturing with
anagrams) the name of God.
Mephistophilis explains in scholastic terms that Faustus'
conjuring speech is only the incidental cause ("the cause per
accidens") of his showing up. The real reason he has come is that
spirits always fly to souls who are in imminent danger of being
damned.
I'm not afraid of damnation, Faustus replies with bravado. Heaven
and hell, they are all the same to me. ("I confound hell with
Elysium," is what he says, dangerously equating the Christian hell
of flame with the blessed underworld of the dead in Greek mythology.)
{ACT_I|SCENE_III ^paragraph 15}
What does Faustus think about hell? He says hell holds no terrors
for him. He implies (he'll later make it explicit) that he doesn't
even believe in it. But if, in one breath, Faustus belittles the whole
idea of hell, in the next breath, he is eager to hear more about it.
Just who is this Lucifer you keep talking about? Faustus demands of
Mephistophilis.
Mephistophilis tells Faustus the story of Lucifer, the bright
angel (his name in Latin means light-bearer) who rebelled against
God and was thrown out of heaven. Lucifer's sins were "aspiring
pride and insolence," sins Faustus has reason to be all too familiar
with.
You are moving in a world which believed profoundly in order, in
knowing one's place and staying in it. The Renaissance inherited
from the Middle Ages a belief in a great chain of being that descended
from God all the way down to the sticks and stones. In this great
chain, every link, from the lowliest pebble to the angels on high, had
a divine purpose. If a link was broken because somebody reached
above his station, then chaos ensued.
In heaven, as on earth, order was strictly enforced. God reigned
in glory there over nine different levels of angels. Angels, being
without sin, were presumably without envy. They rejoiced in God's
order and sought only to uphold it. Lucifer was the exception, being
ambitious. Not content to serve God, he tried to rival Him.
In the eyes of the medieval church, Lucifer's aspiring pride was the
first- and worst- sin. Lucifer's rebellion and consequent fall created
hell and brought evil into the world. Is Marlowe endorsing the
church's view that ambition is a deadly sin? Does he imply that
ambition is a great virtue? These are important questions in Doctor
Faustus and are open to interpretation.
{ACT_I|SCENE_III ^paragraph 20}
So far, ambition has made Faustus jeopardize his soul through
contact with demons and through his denial of God. But ambition has
also made Faustus a first-class scholar. Without inner drive, he would
have remained the illiterate peasant he was born. Ambition has given
Faustus magnificent dreams- dreams like expanding the boundaries of
human knowledge- on which all progress depends.
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NOTE: LUCIFER AND ICARUS The image of Lucifer falling from
heaven, dark against a flaming sky, recalls the image of Icarus in the
prologue. Both Lucifer and Icarus flew too high, sought the sources of
light, and got burned in the process. Lucifer and Icarus are emblems
for Faustus. They tell you about the precedents and penalties for
soaring ambition. Their fate suggests that limitless aspiration is
ill-advised. But is it also wrong? At what point do you know whether
your ambition is too great?
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{ACT_I|SCENE_III ^paragraph 25}
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Faustus' next question to Mephistophilis concerns the nature of
hell. If you're damned, you're in hell, right? he challenges the
spirit. But if Mephistophilis is in hell, then why is he here? But I
am in hell, the spirit replies. Hell isn't a spot Mephistophilis can
point out on a cosmic map. It's a state of being that one carries
around inside. "Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it." For
Mephistophilis, hell is a real, if unlocalized place. It's where
Mephistophilis dwells and is an immeasurable distance from God.
Mephistophilis is a fallen angel. And for a moment, he acts like
one. Perhaps he remembers the higher things and this gets the better
of him, for he doesn't egg Faustus on. Instead, he tries to hold him
back and issues a warning:
-
O Faustus, leave these frivolous demands
Which strike a terror to my fainting soul!
{ACT_I|SCENE_III ^paragraph 30}
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The words are powerful. They show you a Mephistophilis afraid for
Faustus. The spirit knows what is to come for this foolish, arrogant
man. And he suffers for him in advance. Faustus, however, takes
Mephistophilis' pain for weakness. Can't you be more manly about
things? he asks contemptuously.
Faustus sends him to Lucifer with the message that he would like
to strike a bargain with the fallen angel: Faustus' soul in exchange
for twenty-four years of luxury, with Mephistophilis as a servant
who will cater to his every whim. Notice that Faustus refers to
himself in the third person, like a king. Why do you think Marlowe
does that?
Mephistophilis agrees and returns to the nether regions with no
further comment.
ACT_I|SCENE_IV
ACT I, SCENE IV
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We return to the comic subplot and the high-handed doings of Wagner.
Wagner's pride has been hurt by his encounter with the scholars in
Scene II. As a result, he is looking for someone to humiliate in turn.
Wagner hails the clown, Robin, with the same demeaning terms, "Sirrah,
boy" that he himself objected to from the scholars. Robin doesn't care
for this sort of treatment, either. Boy! he mutters indignantly. I'm
sure you've seen many "boys" with beards on their faces like mine.
Wagner tries another approach. He accuses the unemployed Robin of
being so down-at-the-heels that he'll sell his soul to the devil for a
piece of raw mutton. No dice, says the clown. Not unless the mutton is
well roasted and sauced. Like Faustus, Robin is willing to sell his
soul, but only if the price is right.
This exchange between Wagner and Robin is a bawdy pun on the word
"mutton." Mutton is sheep's flesh, but in Elizabethan English mutton
also referred to the human sexual organs. Robin is thinking less about
food than about the kitchen maid.
Wagner, who is Faustus' servant and disciple, has a hankering for
a servant-disciple of his own. And who better, he reasons, than this
out-of-work clown. Wagner makes Robin an imperious offer: "Sirrah,
wilt thou... wait on me?"
Faced with resistance, Wagner tries to buy Robin into his service by
offering the poor clown money. It's a trick which Robin fails to catch
in time. By taking Wagner's money, Robin is accepting wages. He's
offering himself as Wagner's man. Of course, there's a condition
attached to that money. He is to present himself, at an hour's notice,
at a place Wagner will name. And there he is to be carried off by a
devil. When Robin hears what the condition is, he drops the coins like
a hot potato.
{ACT_I|SCENE_IV ^paragraph 5}
Oh no! cries the clown. Oh yes, says Wagner, who conjures up two
devils to come to his aid. (Notice that Wagner is Faustus' disciple in
more ways than one. He's been practicing to good effect his master's
magic tricks.) The devils, Banio and Belcher, appear on stage in a
spray of fireworks. They chase the poor clown until, frightened out of
his wits, he agrees to Wagner's terms.
Robin will serve Wagner, call him master, and walk after him in a
manner that Wagner describes pedantically in Latin as Quasi
vestigiis nostris insistere (a high-flown way of saying "follow in
my footsteps").
ACT_II|SCENE_I
ACT II, SCENE I
-
With Mephistophilis gone, Faustus begins to have doubts about this
deal with hell. Must he go through with it and be damned? Or can he
still change his mind and be saved?
Faustus is seized with a sudden impulse to give up the game and
throw himself on God's mercy. It's an impulse that he fiercely
subdues. How can he, a denier of God, go crawling to God now?
Faustus tells himself to despair of God and trust in the devil. Yet
still he wavers: "Now go not backward, no, be resolute!"
You may be surprised by this hint of uncertainty in Faustus. What
happened to all his proud boasts of manly resolution? That's what
Faustus also wonders. He's disgusted by these signs of human
weakness in himself.
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
{ACT_II|SCENE_I ^paragraph 5}
NOTE: MARLOWE'S POETRY OF HESITATION In this speech, Marlowe has
altered the verse line to convey Faustus' feelings of uncertainty. The
meter is wildly uneven. The number of stresses varies with almost
every line. Within the lines themselves, there are many abrupt
pauses to break the flow of the verse. This poetry reflects the
nervous pacing of Faustus' thoughts. The speech starts off in one
direction, turns back on itself, and comes crashing down on the one
point of assurance:
-
To God? He loves thee not.
The God thou servest is thine own appetite,
Wherein is fixed the love of Belzebub.
{ACT_II|SCENE_I ^paragraph 10}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
In the midst of such candid self-assessment, Faustus sees the angels
again. This time, he does more than passively listen to their
advice. He actively questions them. "Contrition, prayer, repentance-
what of them?" Faustus doubtfully ticks off this list of virtues
like a man who has heard that such things work, but who's never had
the leisure to try them.
They're illusions, the "fruits of lunacy," according to the Evil
Angel, who has heard something in Faustus' voice which prompts him
to describe a praying man as an idiot, a pathetic figure calling in
the void to a God who does not hear. Forget such fancies, the Evil
Angel continues. Think of tangible things- such as wealth.
Wealth! Faustus seizes the idea with a passion. He shall have the
signiory of Emden- that is, he will control the wealthy German seaport
of Emden, one of the richest trading centers in all of Germany. (Did
the Evil Angel say this? Think for a minute. How many enticements have
been offered to Faustus by other characters in the play? How many
has he, in fact, invented for himself?) Faustus can already hear the
clink of gold in his coffers. In a fever of greed, he calls to
Mephistophilis to hurry back from hell with Lucifer's answer. And sure
enough, on the wings of a wish, the spirit flies into the study.
{ACT_II|SCENE_I ^paragraph 15}
Here's what my master says, Mephistophilis informs Faustus. You
may have me to serve you, as you desire. But first, you must promise
him your soul. Faustus protests that he has already done that. Yes, in
words, the spirit replies. But now, you must do it in writing.
Faustus discovers that there are various stages of commitment when
dealing with the devil. Faustus has already "hazarded" his soul (or
set it at risk) by foreswearing God and praying to Lucifer. But he has
not yet signed away his soul. Faustus can still back out of the
deal. But if he proceeds with it, he may never be able to back out.
Lucifer is leaving no loopholes. The devil wants a contract. And he
wants that contract written in Faustus' blood because blood
contracts are binding forever.
Faustus winces at the thought. Left to himself, he might never write
such a document. But Mephistophilis is there to give him "moral"
support. Just put up with this nasty little cut, the spirit tells him,
and "then be thou as great as Lucifer."
Taken at face value, this remark constitutes a glowing promise. Sign
this contract, Faustus, and you'll become as powerful as the monarch
of hell. But the comment is ironic. Mephistophilis sounds as if he's
deriding Faustus' ambitions. The spirit really seems to be saying,
"you think you'll be as great as Lucifer, but just wait and see."
Does Mephistophilis deliver his line sincerely? Or is there irony in
his voice? If so, he may be giving Faustus one last warning to back
off while he can. How does the offer sound to you?
{ACT_II|SCENE_I ^paragraph 20}
Faustus, however, is tone deaf to irony. He suspects no double
meaning in the spirit's words. And so he prepares to comply with
Lucifer's demands. But as Faustus stabs his arm to draw blood, he
finds that no blood will run. It has mysteriously congealed,
preventing him from writing the words that would give the devil his
soul.
We use the expression "My blood freezes over" to describe a
feeling of great horror. That is what happens to Faustus. The blood in
his veins- that which is human to him- freezes at the sight of this
hideous contract with hell. Mephistophilis acts quickly. He comes
running with a grate of hot coals to warm Faustus' blood and to set it
flowing again, so that the contract can be completed.
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: BLOOD IMAGERY Hold onto this image of flowing blood. You will
see it again in Act V, when Faustus has a vision of Christ's blood
streaming in the night sky and knows that one precious drop of it
would save his lost soul.
{ACT_II|SCENE_I ^paragraph 25}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
As Mephistophilis snatches up the coals, he winks at the audience
and whispers, "What will not I do to obtain his soul!" Clearly the
spirit has changed his tune. Earlier in the play, Mephistophilis did
his best to stop Faustus from damning himself. At this point, he seems
eager for Faustus' ruin. How do you explain it?
You can argue that Mephistophilis is simply doing his job. Since
Faustus has insisted on this unholy bargain, the spirit has no
choice but to hold him to it. Or you may feel that Mephistophilis is
at last showing his true fiendish colors. The spirit is eager for
Faustus' damnation because all demons want to add more notches to
their score of souls garnered for hell. Mephistophilis is not the most
consistent of characters. You will have to decide what motivates him
at various points in the play.
Faustus has finished writing his contract. "It is completed," he
says wearily, as he lays down his pen. "Consummatum est." Another
blasphemy! These are the words of Christ on the cross, rolling
casually off the tongue of a man who has just put his bloody signature
on a contract with the devil. Suddenly, Faustus has a hallucination.
He sees writing on his arm. "Fly, man," the inscription reads. Run for
your life. ("Man." Why "man"? Wasn't this contract supposed to make
Faustus immortal?)
{ACT_II|SCENE_I ^paragraph 30}
Mephistophilis is prepared for this sort of emergency.
Undoubtedly, he's played scenes like this before. He arranges a
diversion, something to take Faustus' mind off the perils of the
contract and focus attention instead on the delights it will bring.
Mephistophilis summons devils who enter bearing a crown and ermine
robes. The devils dance around Faustus, offering him these symbols
of power. Then they depart.
Faustus is delighted with the royal treatment and with the thought
that he can summon such demons at any time. He starts to hand the
contract over to Mephistophilis. (Notice it's still in Faustus'
possession, one reason why Mephistophilis is treating Faustus like a
king.) Then Faustus halts, claiming that he'd better read the contract
to Mephistophilis since he has made some changes.
Faustus, like Lucifer, is something of a legalist. He has added
articles to the contract, amendments to make sure he gets full value
for the price he is going to pay. Flattered by Mephistophilis, Faustus
assumes he can dictate his own terms to hell.
Most of Faustus' conditions are self-explanatory. They list the
terms of an agreement already understood. Mephistophilis will be at
Faustus' beck and call. He will appear in any shape that Faustus
commands. (No more unpleasant surprises like that dragon.)
But there is a new condition. Faustus shall be "a spirit in form and
substance." In other words, he will take on the physical attributes of
a demon. Like Mephistophilis, Faustus will be able to walk invisible
or fly through the air.
{ACT_II|SCENE_I ^paragraph 35}
Does this mean that Faustus actually becomes a demon? If so, then he
is lost from this point on in the play. If not, then he still has a
chance, however remote, of being saved. It is difficult, looking
back across the space of four hundred years, to be sure of the exact
rules of Renaissance demonology. But most scholars think that under
the terms of the contract, Faustus forfeits his human body but keeps
his human soul.
Faustus returns to the subject that fascinates him: the nature and
whereabouts of hell. Notice that Faustus always asks about hell
after he's made an irrevocable step toward hell. He leaps first,
then looks to see where he has landed.
Mephistophilis expands on what he's said before. Hell is a place
without limits. It's wherever the damned happen to be. The spirit
speaks matter-of-factly now. He's no longer worried about
frightening Faustus. The contract is signed. What's done is done.
But Faustus doesn't believe it. Come, come, he says. You're making
this up. Hell's an "old wives' tale." There is no life after death. We
die with our last breath. And that's the end of it.
Mephistophilis is amused in an ironic sort of way. Why, Faustus,
he asks, what do you think you have just signed? A contract with hell.
Then his amusement dies, and his irony turns bitter. You think there's
no hell, do you? "Aye, think so still, till experience change thy
mind."
As Mephistophilis points out, Faustus is being illogical. Faustus
has asked for a contract with the devil in order to enjoy the powers
that hell can give him. But if there is no hell, then there is no
contract and no demon spirit in the room.
{ACT_II|SCENE_I ^paragraph 40}
Faustus, the great logician of Wittenberg, shouldn't need
Mephistophilis to point out the flaws in his reasoning. He should
see for himself that this argument is not sound. So why doesn't he?
Perhaps Faustus is too fierce a skeptic to believe in a hell that he
can't see or touch. Faustus prides himself on being a scientist. He
prefers concrete facts to abstract ideas. And the hell described by
Mephistophilis is an undefined place. In fact, it makes Faustus
think of life itself:
-
Nay, and this be hell, I'll willingly be damned.
What, sleeping, eating, walking, and disputing?
-
{ACT_II|SCENE_I ^paragraph 45}
On the other hand, Faustus may be less a skeptic than an
opportunist. That is, he may change his beliefs to suit his desires of
the moment. Faustus seems willing enough to accept hell, provided that
hell promises to make him a king like Lucifer. He only doubts hell's
existence when it looms up before him as a place of punishment.
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: CONCEPTS OF HELL In this dialogue between Faustus and
Mephistophilis, you can see the clash of old and new ideas that
troubled Marlowe's generation. Coming out of the Middle Ages was the
orthodox vision of hell, the pit of quenchless fire and
pitchfork-carrying devils. Then there was the newer, more subtle
definition of hell offered by Mephistophilis. Hell was a gray,
twilight place from which God had withdrawn his presence. And finally,
there was the atheistic view, espoused by Faustus in this scene. The
only hell we could ever know was the hell of this world.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
{ACT_II|SCENE_I ^paragraph 50}
-
Faustus, however, is not disposed to linger on the subject. Now that
he has his contract signed, he is eager to test his powers and get
some questions answered. He turns to Mephistophilis with his first
demand. I'm a lusty man, he says. I need a woman to share my bed.
Get me a wife.
Mephistophilis is on the spot. He can't meet Faustus' first demand
because marriage is a sacrament, a holy rite of the church, and
sacraments lie outside his jurisdiction.
When Faustus insists on having this wish, Mephistophilis summons a
female demon, who arrives hissing and sparking like a firecracker.
Faustus dismisses her as a "hot whore." He's beginning to see that
hell keeps its promises in strangely unpleasant ways.
Never mind a wife, Mephistophilis consoles him. I'll give you the
mistress of your heart's desire. And better yet, I'll give you books
that will reveal to you the hidden secrets of Nature. I'll show you
everything you've always wanted to know about the trees and the stars.
{ACT_II|SCENE_I ^paragraph 55}
Faustus reaches greedily for the fabulous volumes handed to him by
the spirit. But as he leafs through the printed pages, he finds that
they contain only gibberish. This is worse than Wittenberg. "O, thou
art deceived!" he cries.
Remember we asked a little while back, "what does Faustus really
want, knowledge or sensual pleasure?" In this scene, Faustus reaches
for both, only to be disappointed on both counts. But while he's
merely annoyed by Mephistophilis' failure to produce a wife, he is cut
to the quick by the spirit's fraudulent volumes. It's this latter
deception that wrings from Faustus a cry of anguish.
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: A MISSING SCENE? Between Act II, Scenes I and II, there is
probably a lost scene in which Robin, the clown, steals one of
Faustus' conjuring books and runs away from Wagner to find work at
an inn. We will find him there in Act II, Scene III.
{ACT_II|SCENE_I ^paragraph 60}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ACT_II|SCENE_II
ACT II, SCENE II
-
Faustus is in his study, looking at the night sky. The sight of
the heavens lit with stars reminds him of the glories he has
sacrificed. Faustus' first instinct is to lash out at
Mephistophilis. You did this to me, he tells the spirit angrily.
Mephistophilis calmly denies the charge. No, Faustus. It was your
own doing, not mine. Do you agree with the spirit? Is Faustus being
unfair? Mephistophilis understands and tries to comfort Faustus with
the thought that heaven isn't such a wonderful place after all.
Prove your theory, demands Faustus the philosopher. And the spirit
gives him logical proof in an unexpected burst of enthusiasm for
man. After all, heaven was made for man. Therefore, man must be
"more excellent."
You might expect Faustus to agree with Mephistophilis. Faustus is
just the type to put man at center stage. His whole rationale for
denying God in the first place was his belief in human potential,
human greatness- a typically Renaissance ideal. Now, if ever, is the
time for a speech like Hamlet's "O, what a piece of work is man!"
But you don't get such a speech from Faustus. What you get from this
humanist-scholar is a purely Christian impulse to renounce magic and
repent. Can God forgive him, hardened sinner that he is? As Faustus
debates this vital question with himself, the angels come on stage for
the third time.
The Good Angel assures Faustus that God will still forgive him. But,
as usual, the Evil Angel has the stronger argument. God can't pity
you, Faustus. You're a spirit, a demon. (Remember the terms of the
contract.) You're not even a human being any more.
God would pity me, even if I were the devil himself, Faustus
retorts, using strange language for an atheist. That is, God would
pity me, if I'd repent. Ah, the Evil Angel throws out his parting
shot. "But Faustus never shall repent." It turns out to be an accurate
prophecy. Why doesn't Faustus repent? It's one of the great puzzles of
the play. This is his second attempt at repentance and his second
refusal. What is standing in his way?
{ACT_II|SCENE_II ^paragraph 5}
Maybe Faustus isn't very sincere about repentance, and all this talk
is lip service only. Some readers feel this way. Certainly there are
traits inherent in Faustus' character that make repentance difficult
for him. Pride is a problem. Faustus is too arrogant to readily
admit his errors. Appetite also trips him up. Faustus lusts after
the gleam of silk and the whiteness of a woman's arms. But God, in
this still half-medieval world, demands austerity. For Faustus,
penitence would mean the hair-shirt under a monkish robe and sandals
in the winter snow.
Maybe the contract is the big stumbling block, as Lucifer
intended. Faustus has told the Evil Angel that God can still pity him.
But he doesn't really seem to believe it. Whenever Faustus thinks
about salvation now, he is thrown into despair. He contemplates
suicide, as if to rush to his inevitable fate.
All the while, Mephistophilis spins his web, pulling Faustus
toward hell with his sweet magic tricks. The spirit gives Faustus just
enough pleasure to keep him wondering if there's more. As the angels
depart, Faustus relishes the memory of beautiful, ghostly concerts
in his study. By Mephistophilis' arrangement, the great bards of
ancient Greece have strummed their lyres for Faustus alone.
Perhaps, Faustus reasons, there's something to this diabolic life
after all. Come, Mephistophilis, he says, throwing off his mood of
depression, tell me about the stars.
-
{ACT_II|SCENE_II ^paragraph 10}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: MEPHISTOPHILIS' ASTRONOMY In the discussion that follows,
Mephistophilis presents Faustus with the common medieval view of the
universe. It is known as the Ptolemaic system, in contrast to the
Copernican view that we still accept today. In the Ptolemaic system,
the Earth stood at the center of the universe, with the sun,
planets, and stars circling around it. The universe was thought to
be made up of nine concentric spheres, ascending from the Earth
right up to God's Heaven. The spheres were those of the moon, Mercury,
Venus, the sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the stars, and the primum
mobile or first mover, the sphere which set all the other spheres in
motion. Each sphere was supposed to have an angel presiding over it.
In the text of the play, Faustus refers to the angel as a "dominion or
intelligentia," a ruling power or intelligence. Beyond the spheres was
God's empyrean, a heaven bathed in light. Some people believed (it
is the meaning of Faustus' question, "Is there not coelum igneum,
etc.?") that there were eleven spheres, adding a heaven of fire and
one of crystal to the scheme. It was a nice, orderly universe, with
the spheres nestled in each other's arms, making sweet music as they
turned. What Mephistophilis can't help describing to Faustus is a
majestic sweep of stars and spheres that could only have been imagined
by the mind of God.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Notice that Mephistophilis volunteers very little information
about the heavens. Faustus must pry for information from the spirit.
"Tush! These are freshmen's suppositions," the scholar protests.
What Mephistophilis makes such a great show of disclosing, Faustus has
learned years ago in a course called Introduction to Astronomy. Ask
yourself why the spirit is being so evasive. Does he begrudge
Faustus a share of his secret knowledge? Or does he sense that the
stars may be a dangerous topic of conversation?
{ACT_II|SCENE_II ^paragraph 15}
Faced with this coy cosmic voyager, Faustus feels a tremendous sense
of frustration. Imagine a modern scientist talking to a visitor from
outer space who knows- but who won't say- what a black hole really
looks like or what kinds of life exist among the stars. Faustus
wants to know, for example, why such phenomena as eclipses occur at
varying intervals, if the whole system of spheres turns on a single
axle-tree. The sun and the moon, he reasons, should always be in the
same relative positions, as they spin around the earth.
Mephistophilis hedges. He retreats into Latin and reels off a pat
academic formula, arguing that the spheres turn at different
velocities.
"Well, I am answered," mutters Faustus, meaning that he isn't
answered at all. Here is hell again, dealing with him in half measures
and half-kept promises. But Faustus grasps the real point of this
lesson in astronomy. He's been wondering in silence how this whole
great system of spheres came into being. And now he asks
Mephistophilis, "Who made the world?"
The spirit has seen this coming, and he absolutely refuses to answer
the question. But Faustus hardly needs Mephistophilis to tell him. God
made the world, the God he doubted, the God whose existence is
proven by the spirit's grim silence. If there is no God, why should
His name be banned in the kingdom of hell?
Forget about Heaven, Mephistophilis warns. Think about hell,
Faustus. That's where you're going. "Remember this!" he calls out
while waving the blood-signed contract in Faustus' face. But Faustus
has finally, inevitably, broken down. He falls to his knees calling to
Christ, his Savior. Only it isn't Christ who answers Faustus' call. It
is Lucifer who emerges from a trap door on stage, with Belzebub by his
side. You're mine, Faustus, the monarch of hell proclaims. You gave
your soul to me, and I have come to claim you.
{ACT_II|SCENE_II ^paragraph 20}
Lucifer's appearance comes at a highly sensitive moment. Just as
Faustus cries out to God, the arch-fiend arrives. Some spectators
might wish that Marlowe had sent the Good Angel flying to Faustus'
side, but instead he sends Lucifer, restless with purpose.
What's the message? Is Marlowe saying that people who play with
matches get burned? Faustus has chosen to unleash the forces of
hell. And now he falls victim to powers beyond his control. Or is
Marlowe making a broader and more devastating statement about the
presence of demons and the absence of God in this world? Men cry out
in need. And God stays in his heaven silent, while the devil pays
house calls.
Faustus takes one look at his visitors and caves in. This man,
with dreams of being a king, trembles like a slave before the regent
of hell. Faustus starts to babble outrageous things about pulling down
churches and murdering priests.
Lucifer is pleased. Now that he is again sure of Faustus, he
arranges some entertainment to take the unhappy scholar's mind off
himself. This is the second diversion hell has created for Faustus. In
this play, diversions are like tranquilizers. They are hell's handy
remedy for sorrow and stress.
Lucifer and Faustus witness a pageant of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Pride, the sin which felled the angels, is the leader of the pack. The
rest follow in a grimly comic review of human vice.
{ACT_II|SCENE_II ^paragraph 25}
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS The Seven Deadly Sins are Pride,
Avarice, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, Lust, and Sloth. These were called
"the deadly sins" because, in church dogma, all other sins were
supposed to stem from them. Marlowe borrowed the idea of the Seven
Deadly Sins from the medieval morality plays. Often, in medieval
drama, the sins provided a comic interlude, as they do here. At the
very least, they were human traits which all spectators could identify
in themselves.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
{ACT_II|SCENE_II ^paragraph 30}
Faustus converses with all the sins, but especially with Gluttony.
Can you imagine why Gluttony might be his favorite? After hearing
their stories, he dismisses them with a wave of the hand, as if he saw
in this parade of vices no particular application to himself.
In spite of their crassness, the Seven Deadly Sins are a thorough
delight to Faustus. "O this feeds my soul!" he exults, when the last
of them goes from the stage.
Why do some regard this pageant as a turning point for Faustus?
One clue to help you phrase your answer is that we hear no more
about God from Faustus until the very end of the play.
ACT_II|SCENE_III
ACT II, SCENE III
-
Robin has stolen one of Faustus' conjuring books and is feeling very
self-important. His job is to care for the horses at the inn, but he
can't be bothered with such trifles. He orders Dick, another clown, to
walk the horses for him. (In some editions of the play, Dick is called
Rafe or Ralph.)
The semi-literate Robin pores over his book, breaking into a sweat
as he tries to figure it out. "A by itself," he drones, repeating a
child's formula for learning the alphabet. Then he manages to
recognize a word. "T... h... e." Robin is making progress, when Dick
saunters over to see what the book is all about. A conjuring book, ha,
says Dick. I bet you can't read a word of it.
Can't I though? Robin retorts. I'll work such magic that I won't
need a job. I'll live like a king, and I'll get you free wine in every
tavern in Wittenberg.
This is magic Dick can understand. He's won over by Robin's grand
promises. The two clowns go off together to get roaring drunk, leaving
the horses unexercised and the devil to pay the bill.
Magic, you see, has a strange effect on people. In Act I, when
Wagner learned how to conjure, it was no longer good enough to be
Faustus' servant. Wagner wanted to have a servant of his own. Now
Robin has similar ideas. He doesn't see why he should slave for an
innkeeper when he can summon a demon to provide all his wants.
ACT_III|CHORUS
ACT III
THE CHORUS
-
The Chorus returns to fill you in on Faustus' activities over the
years. Go back for a moment to the Chorus' speech in Act I. Has his
attitude toward Faustus changed? In the opening speech of the play,
the Chorus seemed to disapprove of Faustus. Now you just may hear a
note of admiration in his voice.
Look at the exploits the Chorus has to relate. Faustus- who couldn't
get a straight answer from Mephistophilis about the heavens- now flies
among the stars himself in a dragon-powered chariot. Faustus soars
higher than an astronaut, right up to the ninth sphere of the
universe. And while he's up there, he gets a chance to correct the
maps of Earth. These are high adventures, indeed. For once, hell has
lived up to its promises.
Marlowe now maneuvers Faustus' chariot into a landing pattern and
brings the scholar-magician skimming down over the Alps into Rome.
ACT_III|SCENE_I
ACT III, SCENE I
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: ROME AND THE ELIZABETHAN ENGLISHMAN In Elizabethan England,
Rome was the target of many criticisms. In those days, the Vatican
wasn't just a religious institution. It was a political power and a
hotbed of European Catholic plots against Protestant England. For
years, Rome had incited English Catholics to rebel against Queen
Elizabeth and to place the Roman Catholic, Mary, Queen of Scots, on
the throne. Rome had also been involved in Philip of Spain's 1588
attempt to invade England by sea. Not surprisingly, Elizabethan
audiences roared their approval whenever Catholic clergymen were
portrayed as greedy monsters or as stuttering idiots. This scene,
then, offers a sample of Catholic-baiting. But first, Marlowe provides
an interesting exchange between Faustus and Mephistophilis in their
airborne chariot.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Faustus is calmer now than when you saw him last. He has come to
terms with his situation. He intends to make the best of a bad
bargain. He tells Mephistophilis that all he wants is to get the
most pleasure possible out of his remaining time on Earth. The
spirit approves. He praises Faustus' attitude. There's no use, he
agrees, in crying over spilt milk. Mephistophilis has known for
centuries that life means the graceful acceptance of limits. Now,
Faustus seems to know it too.
{ACT_III|SCENE_I ^paragraph 5}
What kind of relationship do you sense between Faustus and
Mephistophilis in this scene? Faustus calls the spirit, "Sweet
Mephistophilis, gentle Mephistophilis" in a way that could mean
affection- or fear. And the spirit seems happy, in an austere way,
to be sightseeing at Faustus' side. Is there a real bond between the
two? Or only a false camaraderie that dissolves the instant Faustus
defies the spirit's authority? What evidence can you offer in
support of your opinion?
Faustus and Mephistophilis have come to Rome at a time of papal
festivities. The Pope is celebrating his victory over a rival. (The
collision between the Pope and Bruno, described in this scene, belongs
only to the 1616 text.) A magnificent papal procession enters. The
red-robed cardinals carry great jewelled crosses. The dark-robed monks
and friars chant their prayers. The Pope follows, leading a prisoner
in chains. The prisoner is Saxon Bruno, a German pretender to the
papal throne. In a ruthless display of power, the Pope climbs to his
throne on his conquered rival's back.
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: ON POPES AND KINGS During the Middle Ages, Roman Catholic
pontiffs were often at war with secular monarchs and with each
other. Sometimes there were two rival candidates for the papacy, and
neither was willing to back down gracefully. So the question was
settled by force of arms, with secular kings backing one candidate
or the other. That's what happens in Doctor Faustus. King Raymond of
Hungary has supported Pope Adrian, while the Holy Roman Emperor (a
German king despite his fancy title) has backed the Antipope Bruno.
When a ruler like the Holy Roman Emperor defied the Pope, the
pontiff had a weapon to use. It was called the "interdict," a papal
curse laid upon rulers and all the people in their domains. While
the interdict lasted, all church sacraments were denied throughout the
entire kingdom. That meant no one could be married by a priest, no one
could receive holy communion, and none of the dying could receive last
rites. After a few grim years of this treatment, kings sometimes bowed
to the pressure of their people and submitted to the church. When
Adrian arrogantly threatens to depose the Emperor "and curse all the
people that submit to him," he is talking about using the interdict.
{ACT_III|SCENE_I ^paragraph 10}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Faustus decides, for sheer mischief's sake, to intervene in this
clash of the pontiffs. He will prick a hole in proud Adrian's balloon.
As the cardinals troop off in solemn conclave to decide Bruno's
fate, Faustus sends Mephistophilis to put them all to sleep. While the
cardinals snore away, Faustus and Mephistophilis tiptoe among them and
steal two of their gowns. Disguised as cardinals in brilliant red
silk, Faustus and the spirit appear before the Pope. Dolefully they
declare Bruno to be a Lollard (a Protestant heretic) and recommend
that he be burnt at the stake.
The Pope agrees. To Mephistophilis' glee, he and Faustus receive the
papal blessing. "Was never devil thus blessed before!" the spirit
laughs. Faustus and Mephistophilis are given charge of the prisoner
Bruno and are told to lock him up in a tower. But they have other
plans for the papal pretender. They spirit him over the Alps to the
safety of the Holy Roman Emperor's court.
ACT_III|SCENE_II
ACT III, SCENE II
-
As part of his victory celebration, the Pope is holding a banquet.
Servants enter to lay out sumptuous food. Faustus and Mephistophilis
reappear on stage. They have shed their borrowed cardinals' robes
and now make themselves invisible in order to wreak havoc at the
feast.
The Pope ushers in his guests of honor, King Raymond of Hungary
and the Archbishop of Reims. (In the 1604 text, the Pope's guest is
the Cardinal of Lorraine.) One of the Vatican cardinals timidly
interrupts. Excuse me, your holiness, he asks. Don't you want to
hear our decision about the heretic Bruno? I've already heard it,
the Pope answers, dismissing the cardinal with a wave of his hand.
When the poor cardinal persists, the Pope suspects treachery. What
do you mean you didn't pass sentence on Bruno? And what do you mean
you can't produce the prisoner? the Pope demands.
The Pope has good reason to be upset, but being the perfect host, he
has the cardinal hauled off in chains without interrupting the
feast. Graciously, he offers a choice bit of meat to King Raymond,
explaining that the beautiful roast had been sent to him by the
Archbishop of Milan.
As Raymond reaches out with his fork, the meat suddenly
disappears. It is snatched away from the Pope's hand by the
invisible Faustus. The startled pontiff looks around, but of course he
sees nothing. He tries again with another "dainty dish," then a cup of
wine. Both disappear in the same astonishing way.
"Lollards!" screams the Pope. (Those wicked Protestants are
capable of anything.) The Archbishop suspects a ghost, and the Pope
agrees. To exorcise the evil spirit, the Pope frantically crosses
himself.
{ACT_III|SCENE_II ^paragraph 5}
Faustus, annoyed by the holy sign sprinkled like salt all over his
food, boxes the Pope on the ear. The Pope, wailing that he has been
slain, is carried off by a group of distracted cardinals. The feast
breaks up in disarray. The friars come on stage to curse the unseen
spirit in their midst with bell, book, and candle.
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: THE FRIARS' DIRGE Bell, book, and candle were the symbolic
elements of the rite of excommunication. They reflected the last words
of the solemn ceremony: "Do the book, quench the candle, ring the
bell." The friars' dirge that closes this scene is a grimly comic echo
of the Black Mass performed by Faustus in Act II, Scene I. Faustus
turns the phrase bell, book, and candle "forward and backward," just
as he has done earlier with the letters that make up the name of God.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
{ACT_III|SCENE_II ^paragraph 10}
-
The Vatican banquet is sheer slapstick comedy, and many readers
are disturbed by its presence in the play. You have moved from the
flickering hell fires of the early scenes into the world of Laurel and
Hardy. After making you shudder at his black magician, Marlowe
suddenly invites you to guffaw.
What is Marlowe's purpose? Is he demeaning Faustus, deliberately
making his hero trivial in your eyes? Look, Marlowe may be saying,
here's a man who bargained away his soul for superhuman power. And
what does he do with that power, once he gets it? He uses it to play
silly tricks on the Pope.
If this is Marlowe's message, then this scene has a Christian moral.
Faustus takes up with the devil and is debased by the company he
keeps. You can trace Faustus' decline, within the act itself, from the
pursuits of star travel to his mindless clowning at the Vatican feast.
Other readers see a different interpretation of Marlowe's sudden
change from seriousness to farce. The real clown of the Vatican
banquet, they note, isn't Faustus at all. It's the Pope. If
anything, Marlowe is making an anti-Christian statement. He's saying
that churchmen are pompous fools. He uses a Roman Catholic example
because it was open season on Catholics in the England of the 1590s.
But the truth is, he means all churchmen, Catholics and Protestants
alike.
ACT_III|SCENE_III
ACT III, SCENE III
-
At last sight, Robin was in search of a tavern where he promised his
sidekick Dick to conjure up spirits, both the kind you work magic with
and the kind you drink. Now you find the two clowns fleeing for
their lives, with the vintner (or wine-seller) in hot pursuit. Robin
has stolen a wine cup which he pawns off, in a bit of stage fooling,
on Dick. When challenged by the vintner, Robin is outraged and plays
innocent. Cup? Never saw your cup in my life. Frisk me, if you like.
Like Faustus, Robin has acquired the art of making wine cups vanish
into thin air.
The vintner, sure of his man but cheated of his evidence, grows
angrier by the minute. Feeling the situation get out of hand, Robin
whips out his conjuring book. Abracadabra, he mutters (or the Latin
equivalent). The spell works, and Mephistophilis appears.
Robin feels a rush of elation, but Mephistophilis is thoroughly
disgusted. Here he is, servant to the great prince of hell, whipped
around the world at the whim of these ruffians. He will teach the
clowns a lesson. With a wave of his wand, Mephistophilis turns Robin
into an ape and Dick into a dog. The pair will make up a circus act,
the ape riding on the dog's back and performing silly tricks.
There are penalties for meddling with the powers of hell, though the
clowns are too thoughtless to feel them. Robin and Dick scamper off
stage, apparently delighted with their fate.
ACT_IV|CHORUS
ACT IV
THE CHORUS
-
The Chorus gives you a glimpse of the human side of Faustus. His
friends have missed him while he's been away- which may seem odd since
Faustus has seemed like a loner.
After his travels abroad, Faustus stops home for a rest. All this
flying about the world has proved to be bone-wearying. Magic or no
magic, Faustus is tired.
Faustus' friends greet him with affection and awe. Here's a man
who knows the heavens first-hand. Faustus walks the streets of
Wittenberg with an aura of star dust about him. His fame as an
astrologer (astronomer) spreads throughout the land. He is even
invited to the Holy Roman Emperor's court.
ACT_IV|SCENE_I
ACT IV, SCENE I
-
The court is in a state of excitement. The Anti-pope Bruno has
just materialized from nowhere. (Remember Faustus and Mephistophilis
whisked him out of Rome.) And Faustus follows hard on Bruno's heels
with the promise of some fabulous entertainment.
Faustus has told the Emperor he will raise the shade (that is,
ghost) of Alexander the Great. Faustus intends to summon from the
underworld the ghost of the greatest conqueror the world has ever
known.
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: ALEXANDER THE GREAT Alexander was king of Greece and
Macedonia in the fourth century B.C. He was called Alexander the Great
because, during his brief reign, he extended Greek rule all the way to
Egypt and India. He was a young, handsome, and fearless ruler,
considered by the ancient world to be almost a god. Darius of Persia
was Alexander's enemy. The two kings clashed in battle when Darius'
army blocked Alexander's path to conquest in the East. Alexander's
paramour or lover is unnamed. But she is apparently the lovely
Thais, whose beauty was celebrated in ancient Greek poetry and song.
{ACT_IV|SCENE_I ^paragraph 5}
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-
Martino and Frederick, two gentlemen-in-waiting, are bursting with
expectation. Nothing like this has ever been seen in Germany before.
But there are skeptics about the court. Benvolio, in a nightcap,
recovering from a hangover, yawns at the whole business. Haven't
they all had enough of magic lately, what with Bruno's whirlwind
arrival from Rome? How can you bear to miss the show? Frederick asks
Benvolio. Well, I suppose I'll watch it from my window here,
Benvolio replies without enthusiasm. That is, if I don't go back to
bed first. (The entire Benvolio episode is found only in the 1616 text
of Doctor Faustus.)
ACT_IV|SCENE_II
ACT IV, SCENE II
-
The Emperor praises Faustus abundantly for his role in Bruno's
rescue. "Wonder of men, renowned magician, / Thrice-learned Faustus,
welcome." The Emperor speaks the flowery, extravagant language of
the court, and Faustus responds in kind.
The magician promises the Emperor that his magic charms will "pierce
through / The ebon gates of ever-burning hell." Benvolio, at his
window, sneers at Faustus' words. What a silly, transparent boast!
Admittedly, Faustus' language is pompous. But is he really boasting?
He does mean to raid the underworld for Alexander's ghost. (Faustus,
you recall, makes no distinction between the classic underworld,
Elysium, and the fiery Christian hell.)
When the Emperor asks to behold Alexander the Great and the fabulous
Thais, Benvolio yawns again. If Faustus can produce these two, he
mutters to himself, let me be turned into a stag. Benvolio's remark is
meant as an aside. But Faustus overhears it. He promises the skeptical
knight that he shall get his wish.
Faustus holds everyone in court but Benvolio in a state of
breathless expectation. Trumpets sound. Alexander the Great and Darius
enter with drawn swords. Alexander slays his enemy and places
Darius' crown on Thais' lovely brow.
The Emperor is ecstatic. He jumps up from his throne and rushes over
to embrace Alexander. Before he can do so, he is stopped by Faustus'
cautioning hand. The figures he has summoned, Faustus warns, are
"but shadows, not substantial." They can be seen, but not touched, nor
can they be spoken to. (Remember Faustus' warning when Helen's
spirit appears in Act V.)
{ACT_IV|SCENE_II ^paragraph 5}
The Emperor wants to prove the reality of these ghosts. Since he
cannot touch them, he has another test in mind. He has heard that
Thais had a single imperfection, a mole on her neck. May he look? Yes,
the mole is there. Faustus has raised Thais as she was, warts and all,
accurate to the last detail.
Yet these shades seem only half real. Although they are Alexander
and Thais to the life, they are airy things which cannot interact with
flesh-and-blood human beings. They play their silent parts as if
they were inside a thick glass cage. So perhaps they have
entertainment value only, and Faustus is wasting his vast power on a
fairly trivial trick.
The Emperor is impressed. Are you? You will have to decide whether
this feat of Faustus' is just a circus act or a display of power
worthy of a great wizard.
Faustus now turns his attention to Benvolio. Look, he points at
the knight, snoring at his windowsill. Benvolio's head is weighed down
by a heavy pair of stag's horns.
-
{ACT_IV|SCENE_II ^paragraph 10}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: BENVOLIO'S HORNS In Elizabethan England, horns on a man's
head were a sign that he was a cuckold. In other words, his wife had
been unfaithful to him. The Elizabethans did not sympathize with
cuckolds. They regarded wronged husbands as figures of ridicule.
Benvolio's plight is terrible, indeed. Not only has he lost his normal
appearance, he's become an object of raillery for the entire court.
Those horns are Benvolio's punishment for skepticism. Faustus, a
skeptic himself on certain subjects, does not take it kindly when
people disbelieve his magic.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
As Benvolio awakes and feels his head with horror, Faustus addresses
him with icy mirth. "O, say not so, sir. The Doctor has no skill, / No
art, no cunning" to put a pair of stag horns on your head. Faustus
is really rubbing it in, when the Emperor intervenes. He requests that
Faustus (an Emperor's request is a command) restore Benvolio to his
normal shape.
ACT_IV|SCENE_III
ACT IV, SCENE III
-
Benvolio promises to take revenge on Faustus. He convinces his
friends, Martino and Frederick, to help him. They lay ambush for
Faustus in a wood.
Either Faustus guesses their plans or his demons tip him off, for he
enters the wood wearing a false head on his shoulders. The ambushers
attack and strike off what they assume to be Faustus' head. They
admire their grisly trophy and plan to wreak all sorts of
indignities on it.
Faustus, of course, isn't dead at all. He's merely lying in wait for
Benvolio, Frederick, and Martino to make complete fools of themselves.
Then he picks himself off the ground, keeping his hood pulled down
over his shoulders, and speaks to the terrified conspirators. Where,
they wonder in panic, is his voice coming from?
The "headless" magician informs the appalled knights that their
efforts to kill him have been in vain. For twenty-four years, until
his contract with the devil expires, he can't be killed or injured. He
leads a charmed life.
Faustus summons his spirits (notice there are three of them now)
to drag the ambushers through the wood. Throw Martino into a lake,
he orders. Drag Frederick through the briars. Hurl Benvolio off a
cliff.
{ACT_IV|SCENE_III ^paragraph 5}
As you've probably noticed, there's a lot of roughhouse and ghoulish
stage business in this scene. What do you think is the point of it
all? This second encounter with Benvolio doesn't advance the plot, and
it doesn't tell you anything new about Faustus. You've seen him get
the better of Benvolio before. If you can't think of a point, then
you'll understand why some readers suspect this scene isn't Marlowe's.
The mindless horror, plus those additional demons, may point to a
collaborator's work.
ACT_IV|SCENE_IV
ACT IV, SCENE IV
-
Benvolio, Martino, and Frederick have taken quite a beating at the
hands of Faustus' spirits. They drag themselves out of the mud and
briars to find that each of them now wears a pair of stag horns on his
head. They steal away to Benvolio's castle, where they can hide
their shame and live unobserved by the world. The horns are
permanent now, since there is no merciful Emperor around to make
Faustus take them off.
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: ON MAGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS If you have read Shakespeare's A
Midsummer Night's Dream, you may want to compare Benvolio's fate
with that of Bottom the weaver. In Shakespeare's play, the mischievous
fairies give Bottom an ass' head to wear through the long summer
night. But in the morning, they restore Bottom to his original
appearance. In contrast, Benvolio and his friends are left to wear
their stag horns forever. Shakespeare, with his love of harmony and
his tenderness even for fools, restores the world to normal.
Marlowe, perhaps a crueler spirit, leaves undone his magician's
devilish work.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ACT_IV_SCENE_V
ACT IV, SCENE V
-
A horse-courser, or horse-trader, approaches Faustus with an offer
to buy his horse. In Elizabethan times, horse-traders were known for
being cheats and sharp dealers. The trader offers Faustus forty
dollars (German coins) for his horse but apparently the price is
low. Faustus suggests fifty, but the horse-trader pleads poverty, so
Faustus agrees to the deal.
As the trader starts to lead the horse away, Faustus stops him
with a warning. Ride the horse anywhere, but not into water. Why
not? asks the suspicious trader. Faustus offers no explanation, but
the reason is simple. The horse is a demon spirit which will vanish in
water.
The trader suspects some hidden power in the horse that Faustus
didn't want to reveal. He rides the animal into a pond. Two seconds
later, he's left sitting on top of a wet bundle of hay.
So the sharp dealer is outsmarted. Was Faustus being honest with the
man when he told him not to ride the horse into water? Or was he
deliberately arousing the trader's curiosity, knowing full well the
man would take the first opportunity to satisfy it? The question is of
interest because it makes you wonder how much humanity is left in
Faustus. As soon as the trader departs, Faustus has one of those
moments of introspection which occur so rarely now. "What art thou,
Faustus, but a man condemned to die?" Possibly, Faustus has remembered
that we are all human beings condemned to die. Perhaps he has felt a
fleeting sense of brotherhood with the poor trader.
More likely, however, Faustus has intended all along to cheat the
horse dealer. He's devised this elaborate trick to distract his
thoughts from approaching death. The faster Faustus runs, the less
time he has to think. Whenever he stops his feverish activity, as he
does for a moment now, the terror comes upon him. Faustus escapes
his fear this time by falling asleep.
{ACT_IV_SCENE_V ^paragraph 5}
The wet horse-trader returns in a rage to demand his money back.
He finds Faustus asleep on a chair, and he tugs at the magician's
leg to wake him up. To the trader's horror, Faustus' leg comes off.
(Remember, Faustus has a demon's body now, and he can play macabre
tricks with it.) The trader flees in terror with Faustus yelling
"Murder!" at the top of his lungs. Faustus roars with laughter at
his joke. He has the trader's money, and the trader has no horse.
Is this scene funny? Are you supposed to laugh with Faustus at the
horse-trader's rout? Or are you supposed to be shocked and saddened at
the level to which Faustus has sunk?
ACT_IV|SCENE_VI
ACT IV, SCENE VI
-
The horse-trader meets the clowns, Robin and Dick, in a nearby
tavern. (This episode is found only in the 1616 text.) The trader is
still fuming about his vanished horse. He tells his story, but he
changes a few details to make himself out a hero.
Know what I did to pay Faustus back for his nasty trick? the
horse-trader confides. I attacked him while he was sleeping, and I
yanked off his leg. No kidding? says Dick. I'm glad to hear it. That
damn demon of his made me look like an ape.
A carter or cart driver joins the party. He has a weird tale of
his own to tell. The carter has met Faustus on the road to Wittenberg,
where the magician offered him a small sum of money for all the hay he
could eat. The carter, realizing that men don't eat hay, accepted
the sum, whereupon Faustus devoured his whole wagon-load. It's
really a grotesque story. Faustus' runaway appetites seem to have
turned him into a fairy-tale monster, like a troll.
The carter, the horse-trader, and the clowns continue to drink
ale. Full of false courage, they decide to find the magician and
give him a rough time about his missing leg.
ACT_IV|SCENE_VII
ACT IV, SCENE VII
-
Faustus has been summoned to the Duke of Vanholt's castle, where
he's busy showing off his magic arts. He asks the Duchess, who is
pregnant, if there is any special food she craves. The Duchess
admits she has a yen for grapes. Only it's January, she sighs. Snow
covers the ground, and the grapes have long since vanished from the
vines.
Faustus replies graciously that grapes are no trouble at all. He
sends Mephistophilis whizzing around the globe to warmer climates. The
spirit returns in a twinkling of an eye with a ripe cluster of grapes.
This scene asks you to exercise some historical imagination. In
the twentieth century, we have electric freezers for storing summer
fruits and vegetables during the winter. But the Elizabethans
didn't. In their eating habits, the Elizabethans were strictly subject
to the seasons. With that point in mind, what do you think of Faustus'
latest trick? Is it just some good-natured hocus-pocus that you
shouldn't take too seriously? Or is Faustus doing something rather
impressive by thumbing his nose at the calendar?
The issue at stake, as you've probably guessed, is Faustus' dignity.
Either he retains the heroic stature he had in the early scenes, or he
deteriorates as he wades deeper and deeper into evil- and into the
illusions of Lucifer's hell.
You can make an argument for Faustus' steady decline that runs
something like this. In Act II, Faustus wanted knowledge and
questioned Mephistophilis about the stars. In Act III, Faustus opted
for experience and enjoyed the delights of travel. But by Act IV,
Faustus has become obsessed with food. All he can think about is
something to eat- hay for himself, "dainties" for pregnant women,
and so on. In other words, Faustus began with noble aims, but under
the influence of demons, he's gone steadily downhill. This leads you
back to the play's Christian moral.
{ACT_IV|SCENE_VII ^paragraph 5}
The rowdy crew from the tavern descends on the castle of Vanholt.
They bang on the gates and loudly call for Faustus to show himself.
The Duke is shocked and wants to call the police. But Faustus says no.
Let the louts be admitted. We'll all have a good laugh at their
expense.
The noisy, snow-splattered group invades the quiet stone halls of
the castle. They are drunk, and the horse-trader calls loudly for
beer. Then he starts ribbing Faustus about his supposed wooden leg.
(Remember, the trader boasted in the tavern about the way he injured
Faustus by pulling off his leg. The horse-trader, the carter, and
the clowns all believe Faustus is crippled.)
The trader wants to humiliate Faustus by publicizing his
deformity. Stop denying you have a wooden leg, he explodes. I know I
pulled your leg off while you were asleep. Faustus lifts his robe to
reveal two very healthy limbs. The tavern crew breaks into noisy
protests. Faustus decides it's time to silence the fools. With a
wave of his hand, he strikes each of them dumb in mid-sentence.
ACT_V|SCENE_I
ACT V, SCENE I
-
A puzzled Wagner appears on stage. He suspects his master is
dying. Faustus has made a will leaving Wagner all his property. What
troubles Wagner is that Faustus doesn't behave as if he is dying. He
doesn't lie in bed, for instance, and send for the priest. Instead, he
drinks the night away with his cronies from Wittenberg. What's Faustus
up to?
The scholars who are Faustus' guests this night beg him for some
after-dinner entertainment. They have heard of Faustus' reputation for
raising the shades of the dead. They want to see the most beautiful
woman who has ever lived- Helen of Troy.
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: HELEN OF TROY Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, fell in
love with Helen, wife of the Greek king, Menelaus. With the help of
the goddess of love, Paris stole Helen from her husband's side. The
enraged Menelaus called upon the other Grecian kings to help him
avenge his honor and win back his wife. The Greeks set sail for
Troy, and for ten years, laid siege to the city (this was the Trojan
War). Finally, unable to win a decisive battle, they entered Troy by
treachery (hidden inside the Trojan Horse) and burned the city to
the ground. The Trojan War was the subject of Homer's epic, The Iliad.
The Renaissance admired Homer above all other poets. In this scene,
Faustus acts like a truly great teacher by bringing the greatest
epic of the classic world to life.
{ACT_V|SCENE_I ^paragraph 5}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
As Helen walks across the stage, the scholars sing her praises.
She is incomparably beautiful, "the pride of Nature's works." As the
scholars' words suggest, Helen represents the glories of this world,
set against the glories of the next. With her bright eyes and
radiant hair, she is Nature's ultimate challenge to God.
An Old Man comes on stage now to present God's side of the case. You
must imagine what he looks like to understand what he means to
Faustus. The Old Man is stooped over and walks with a cane. He has
wrinkles, gray hair, and weary eyes.
Though Faustus is twenty-four years older now than he was at the
start of the play, he shows none of these signs of age. His contract
with the devil has protected him. Faustus' demon body is untouched
by the indignities of time.
{ACT_V|SCENE_I ^paragraph 10}
Yet the Old Man's eyes shine with a light of faith that captures
Faustus' attention. When the Old Man speaks, Faustus listens
respectfully. There is no scoffing from the magician now.
The Old Man gently scolds Faustus for the magic which has lured
him away from God. So far, he tells Faustus, you have sinned like a
man. "Do not persevere in it like a devil." He means that Faustus
still has a human soul and can be forgiven by God.
The Old Man's words tear through the veil of illusion that magic has
created in this Wittenberg house. They set off a final struggle in
Faustus, though, as in Act II, Faustus at first despairs at the very
idea of salvation.
You might imagine how he feels after all those years of denying
God and serving Lucifer- all the favors he has had from hell. How
can he back out of his bargain now? "Hell claims its right," a right
which Faustus acknowledges. And he will do hell right by killing
himself.
-
{ACT_V|SCENE_I ^paragraph 15}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: ON SUICIDE Suicide is a mortal sin which will damn Faustus
just as surely as the expiration of his contract with Lucifer. As
Faustus is well aware, hell is not at all fussy about the manner in
which it acquires his soul.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Faustus reaches for the dagger which Mephistophilis- no friendly
spirit now- puts in his hand. The Old Man intercedes. He tells Faustus
not to despair and to remember God's mercy. He points to the sky
overhead. Look, an angel hovers there, ready to fill your soul with
grace. Faustus looks up. Does he see an angel too? Or is the air
vacant to his eyes?
{ACT_V|SCENE_I ^paragraph 20}
Whatever he sees, Faustus calms down and thanks his advisor for
his good counsel. The Old Man shuffles off, leaving Faustus to his
conscience- and to Mephistophilis.
The spirit is right there to threaten Faustus with torture if he
so much as thinks of repentance. "Revolt," he orders Faustus (he means
from these thoughts of God), "or I'll in piecemeal tear thy flesh."
Courage has never been one of the scholar's strong points, and he
pales at the threat. He urges Mephistophilis to turn on the Old Man.
Torture him. Him! Not me! Faustus pleads.
Mephistophilis shrugs his shoulders. I can hurt the Old Man's
body, I suppose, but I can't touch his soul. However, anything to
please.
And may I have Helen? Faustus asks, his thoughts abandoning the
grace he has been offered for the beautiful shade who has just crossed
the stage. I'll be back with her, Mephistophilis promises, "in a
twinkling of an eye." (That phrase again suggests a magician's sleight
of hand, when the audience barely blinks.) The caresses of the most
beautiful woman in history will be Faustus' last diversion and the
final payment hell will make for his soul.
As Helen returns, Faustus greets her with a speech that makes you
wonder if she isn't worth the price:
{ACT_V|SCENE_I ^paragraph 25}
-
"Was this the face that launched a thousand ships
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium [Troy]?"
-
Did Helen cause the destruction of a city, the agonies of war, the
death of ancient heroes? Who can doubt it? For such beauty as this,
Troy was well lost.
{ACT_V|SCENE_I ^paragraph 30}
Helen dazzles Faustus. Her radiance seems to bring tears to his
eyes, so that he describes not a woman but the shimmering effect of
light. Helen outshines the evening stars. She is brighter than flaming
Jove, the king of the gods, when he dallied in the arms of nymphs
whose very names (Semele and Arethusa) sound like all the pleasures of
love.
"Sweet Helen," Faustus murmurs in ecstasy, "make me immortal with
a kiss." He moves to embrace her. As Faustus kisses Helen, he cries,
"Her lips suck forth my soul!" Possibly this is a lover's rhapsody, or
a disturbing hint that Helen may be a succuba (demon).
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: A SUCCUBA A succuba was a demon spirit who assumed human form
to have intercourse with men. Intercourse with demons was an
unpardonable sin in the eyes of the church. If Helen is a succuba,
then Faustus, by claiming her as his lover, is beyond redemption. When
he says, "Her lips suck forth my soul!" he is being quite literal.
That's just what her lips are doing.
{ACT_V|SCENE_I ^paragraph 35}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
The Old Man, who has been watching this romantic interlude from
the wings, hurls damnation at Faustus like an Old Testament prophet.
He is set upon by devils. Torture is the test of his faith which he
passes with flying colors. Heaven opens its gates to welcome him.
Faustus sweeps Helen off stage in his arms. At best, he has chosen
worldly beauty over other-worldly grace. At worst, he holds a creature
whose fairness disguises an ugly moral reality. As the Old Man
enters heaven by the straight and narrow gate, Faustus takes the
primrose path to hell.
Yet, you should ask yourself how deeply you quarrel with Faustus'
choice. Suppose a religious advisor warned you against a passion for
the loveliest woman or the handsomest man in the world. What would you
do about it?
{ACT_V|SCENE_I ^paragraph 40}
Admittedly, Faustus doesn't love Helen in any meaningful sense. He
is infatuated with physical looks. But is Faustus' response to Helen a
sign of gross physical appetite- or of a moving sensitivity to beauty?
That's an important question because whichever it is, it's what
damns Faustus in the end.
ACT_V|SCENE_II
ACT V, SCENE II
-
In the 1616 text, Lucifer and Belzebub enter to watch Faustus' final
hours. They stand on a balcony above the stage, looking down at the
scene to come. The two princes of hell make a suggestive picture.
The devils are on top of the world, running the show.
Faustus comes from his study, where he has completed a new will. The
scholars of Wittenberg greet him with concern. They have come
expecting the usual food and good cheer. Instead, they find a
white-faced Faustus, the somber testament of a will in his hand.
Are you sick? they ask Faustus. Maybe it's only a bit of
indigestion, one scholar suggests. ("Surfeit," the word he uses, means
overindulgence of the appetite. Not a bad diagnosis of Faustus'
trouble.)
Part of Faustus yearns toward these companions. "Ah, my sweet
chamber-fellow," he turns to one of them who, years ago, shared his
dormitory. "Had I lived with thee"- had I stayed with the common
herd of scholars- "then had I lived still."
But part of Faustus insists on isolation, exclusivity. He takes a
certain pride in the enormity of his sin. The serpent who tempted
Eve may be forgiven, he says, but not Faustus. The magician will be
great to the last, if great only in his offense.
{ACT_V|SCENE_II ^paragraph 5}
The scholars give Faustus the usual advice. Pray, man. Turn to
God. But these are really just platitudes. The scholars lack the
wisdom to rise to the occasion. Finally, they withdraw into the next
room, leaving Faustus alone to die. As in the morality plays, the
friends of Everyman abandon him on the path to the grave.
In the 1616 text, there is a last exchange between Faustus and
Mephistophilis. Faustus accuses the spirit of having put temptation in
his way. "Bewitching fiend," he cries. "You're the one who's robbed me
of paradise."
Faustus made this accusation once before (see II, iii), and
Mephistophilis had denied it. But now the spirit freely admits the
charge. Yes, it was all my doing, Faustus. And one of my most
brilliant jobs. You almost slipped away from me while you were reading
the Bible. But I made sure you found no hope there. (Remember those
two Biblical passages which, when read together, seemed to prove to
Faustus that he was doomed? Mephistophilis is saying he made sure
Faustus read those passages back-to-back.)
This is quite an admission on the spirit's part. And for some
readers, it casts long shadows over the play. If Mephistophilis
stood unseen (and as yet unsummoned) at Faustus' elbow, turning the
leaves of the Bible, who knows what other nasty tricks he has
played? Switched a succuba for the shade of Helen, no doubt. Perhaps
even sent Valdes and Cornelius to call. Is Faustus responsible for any
of his actions? Or has he been just a puppet all this time, with
Mephistophilis pulling the strings?
To what degree, after all, has Faustus been in control of his
fate? It's not an easy question. You can cite plenty of evidence in
the play for free will. The Old Man's warning, for instance, makes
sense only if Faustus is free to accept the grace he is offered,
free to choose the Old Man's way. But you can also argue that
Faustus is right in his feeling that he's been doomed all along.
Mephistophilis' speech points in this direction. So does Lucifer's
unexpected arrival (II, ii), when Faustus desperately calls on Christ.
{ACT_V|SCENE_II ^paragraph 10}
Still in the 1616 text, Faustus is now shown the heaven he has
forfeited and the hell he has earned. As sweet music plays, a heavenly
throne descends toward the stage. The Good Angel appears and tells
Faustus, Ah, if you had only listened to me, there you would be seated
like the saints in glory.
The throne hovers above Faustus' head, within his vision, but
forever out of reach. And now, a trap door on stage opens, revealing
hell. The Evil Angel makes Faustus look down into the burning pit,
where grinning devils are torturing the damned. As Faustus turns
away in horror, the clock strikes the eleventh hour of Faustus' last
day on earth.
Faustus' final soliloquy runs fifty-nine lines, one for every minute
of the hour that remains. Time is the subject of the speech, as
Faustus tries frantically to stop time or at least to slow it down. He
calls to the stars to halt in the sky and to the sun to rise again
in the west, bringing back the precious day.
The poignant speech replays the heroic themes of Act I, only this
time in a sad minor key. Faustus wanted to be a god, to command "all
things that move between the quiet poles." But the stars wheel in
the heavens now in response to far different commands than his.
Faustus' cry of protest is grand, and grandly futile. Like every human
being since Adam, Faustus finds he is trapped in time.
-
{ACT_V|SCENE_II ^paragraph 15}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: "RUN SLOWLY, SLOWLY..." A classicist to the last, Faustus
recalls a line from Ovid, the Latin love poet. "O lente, lente currite
noctis equi." Run slowly, slowly, horses of the night. The line
falls ironically in the midst of Faustus' death scene, for the
difference in Faustus' situation and the original speaker's is
great. In Ovid's poem, the lover longs for night to last so that he
may continue to he in the arms of his beloved. Faustus, of course,
wants the night to endure because the sun will rise on the dawn of his
torment. The Latin words sound like a last attempt to cast a spell.
But it doesn't work. if anything, the pace of time speeds up. "The
stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Faustus has a vision. Far off in the night sky, he sees the
streaming blood of Christ. You remember when Faustus signed a contract
with the devil, his own blood refused to flow. He asked
Mephistophilis, "Why streams it not?" And the spirit brought coals
to set it flowing afresh. Christ's blood streams in the heavens now as
a sign of divine mercy, withheld from Faustus because of his own
denial of God.
{ACT_V|SCENE_II ^paragraph 20}
The clock strikes eleven-thirty. The seconds are ticking away much
too fast. And yet, time stretches away before Faustus in that
dizzyingly endless expanse we call eternity. Faustus will burn in hell
a billion years- only the beginning of his torment. Faustus wanted
immortality, and he has found it in an unlooked-for way.
The clock strikes midnight. The thunder roars. Leaping devils come
on stage to carry Faustus away. Faustus makes his final, frantic plea.
"I'll burn my books," cries this seeker of forbidden knowledge.
Well, he will burn for them, at any rate. And then a shriek,
"Mephistophilis!" A cry for help? An accusation? A shock of
recognition? Then Faustus disappears through the trap door into the
yawning mouth of hell.
-
If you are reading the 1604 text, the play ends here.
ACT_V|SCENE_III
ACT V, SCENE III
-
After a dreadful night, a quiet morning dawns. The scholars find
Faustus' torn body, and though they deplore his fate, they honor his
great learning. Wittenberg will hold a stately funeral.
The Chorus returns for a final word. He speaks like a Christian
moralist now. The Chorus has severe qualms about all this classic
learning. One has only to look at its effect on Faustus.
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: ON THE IMAGE OF THE BURNT LAUREL BOUGH The laurel was the
sacred tree of Apollo, the Greek god of intellect. When the Chorus
says, "Burned is Apollo's laurel bough / That sometime grew within
this learned man," he means that Faustus, the avid classicist,
followed the classics too far. Spurred on by the freedom of ancient
Greek thought, Faustus delved into knowledge forbidden by the
church. As a result, he found the searing Christian hell, never
imagined by the Greeks.
{ACT_V|SCENE_III ^paragraph 5}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Let Faustus' fall be a lesson to everyone, the Chorus continues, not
to practice magic. There is nothing wrong with curiosity, but for
God's sake, don't touch.
The great disturbance at Wittenberg is over. The scholars return
to their studies. The professors give their everyday lectures,
unassisted by ghosts. And peace returns to the university. Or does it?
Look again at the Chorus' last words:
-
{ACT_V|SCENE_III ^paragraph 10}
Faustus is gone: regard his hellish fall,
Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the wise
Only to wonder at unlawful things
Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits
To practice more than heavenly power permits.
{ACT_V|SCENE_III ^paragraph 15}
-
Faustus may be roasting in hell, but magic has lost none of its
appeal. Its very deepness testifies to its enduring fascination.
The old men of Wittenberg may have won the day for now. They have
succeeded, for the time being, in clamping down on the questionable
practice of wizardry. But the "forward wits," the young scholars,
are still champing at the bit, waiting for their chance to rush into
necromancy.
As long as young men have adventurous spirits, the university hasn't
heard the last of black magic. Not by a long shot.
TESTS_AND_ANSWERS
A STEP BEYOND
TESTS AND ANSWERS (MDRFTEST0
-
TESTS
-
TEST 1
-
_____ 1. Faustus sells his soul to the devil primarily for
-
A. immortality
B. limitless knowledge
C. Helen of Troy
-
_____ 2. The Vatican banquet is an example of
-
A. Faustus' great appetite
B. Marlowe's atheism
C. satire on the Catholic Church
-
_____ 3. One thing Faustus does not request of Mephistophilis is
-
A. a golden crown
B. a wife
C. information about the stars
-
_____ 4. When Faustus dies, the scholars of Wittenberg
-
A. deny him Christian burial
B. foreswear (give up) the practice of magic
C. plan a stately funeral
-
_____ 5. Robin the clown agrees to serve Wagner because he
-
A. needs money
B. is frightened into it by demons
C. wants to learn about magic
-
_____ 6. Faustus' contract with the devil specifies that Faustus
will
-
I. visit the heavens
II. have Mephistophilis to serve him
III. take on the attributes of a demon
-
A. I and II only
B. I and III only
C. II and III only
-
_____ 7. "Then be thou as great as Lucifer" is an example of
-
I. blank verse
II. poetic imagery
III. irony
-
A. I and II only
B. I and III only
C. II and III only
-
_____ 8. Lucifer calls for the parade of the Seven Deadly Sins in
order to
-
I. reward Faustus for his surrender
II. divert Faustus' thoughts
III. show Faustus his future in hell
-
A. I and II only
B. I and III only
C. II and III only
-
_____ 9. "Was this the _____ that launched a thousand _____"
-
A. woman... heroes
B. face... ships
C. angel... warriors
-
_____ 10. The proverb that best applies to Faustus is
-
A. pride goeth before a fall
B. a little learning is a dangerous thing
C. eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die
-
11. Is Mephistophilis Faustus' friend or his deadly enemy?
-
12. Why doesn't Faustus repent?
-
13. What role do diversions play in Doctor Faustus?
-
14. How does magic affect the comic characters, Wagner and Robin?
-
15. What does the Chorus think of Faustus?
-
TEST 2
-
_____ 1. In Doctor Faustus, hell is not described as
-
A. a burning pit
B. psychological pain
C. an old wives' tale
-
_____ 2. Faustus is tempted to take up magic mostly by
-
A. Valdes and Cornelius
B. the Evil Angel
C. himself
-
_____ 3. During the final hours of his life Faustus tries to
-
A. make his peace with God
B. stop the clock from striking midnight
C. hide from the devils who will come for him
-
_____ 4. The setting for Doctor Faustus can best be described as
-
A. Germanic
B. collegiate
C. cosmic
-
_____ 5. Faustus' next-to-last words are
-
A. "I confound hell with Elysium"
B. "I'll burn my books"
C. "Make me immortal with a kiss"
-
_____ 6. The episode with the horse-courser can be called
-
I. a bad joke
II. a diversion
III. highway robbery
-
A. I and II only
B. II and III only
C. I, II, and III
-
_____ 7. "What will be, shall be" is Faustus' argument for
-
I. disregarding the Bible
II. taking up magic
III. becoming the lover of Helen of Troy
-
A. I and II only
B. II and III only
C. I, II, and III
-
_____ 8. Faustus leaves Wagner his money because
-
I. Faustus is a lonely man
II. Wagner has been loyal
III. the scholars have proved to be fair-weather friends
-
A. I and II only
B. II and III only
C. I, II, and III
-
_____ 9. The emperor wants to see if Thais has a mole because
-
A. he doesn't believe in perfect beauty
B. the mole is hereditary, and Thais is his ancestor
C. he wants to make sure Thais is real
-
_____ 10. One of Faustus' saving graces is
-
A. responsiveness to beauty
B. a sense of humor
C. manly fortitude
-
11. What is the definition of hell in this play?
-
12. Faustus dreams that magic will bring him limitless power.
To what extent do his dreams come true?
-
13. How do the Old Man and Helen function as dramatic opposites in
Act V?
-
14. Is Faustus a Renaissance or medieval hero? Justify your
response.
-
15. Find three examples of hyperbole (exaggeration), and discuss
Marlowe's specific techniques.
-
ANSWERS
-
TEST 1
-
1. B 2. C 3. A 4. C 5. B 6. C 7. B
8. A 9. B 10. A
-
11. If you take the position that Mephistophilis is Faustus' friend,
you'll want to prove that Mephistophilis cares for Faustus and would
spare him hell's torments, if he could. You'll find your best
ammunition in the third scene of the play. Point out that, here,
Mephistophilis specifically warns Faustus against any involvement with
hell. He is honest and moving in his description of the suffering that
awaits Faustus. It is the arrogant Faustus who ignores the spirit's
danger signal.
When you deal with Mephistophilis in the later scenes- the
Mephistophilis who holds Faustus firmly to his agreement- be sure to
mention that the spirit isn't free. He is Lucifer's servant and must
obey his master's orders, however distasteful he finds them.
If you decide that Mephistophilis is Faustus' enemy, you will
argue that the spirit is eager for Faustus' damnation and plans for it
all along. In this interpretation, Mephistophilis' "friendly"
warning in Scene III is just a trick to get Faustus to trust him.
And once he has that trust, the spirit lies shamelessly to Faustus.
Mephistophilis cons Faustus into signing the contract with hell
under the totally false promise that Faustus will be "as great as
Lucifer." After Faustus has signed the contract, the spirit holds
him to it relentlessly. Mephistophilis bars Faustus' way to repentance
with daggers and threats of torture. If you are reading the 1616 text,
you can clinch your argument with the spirit's jeering speech in Act
V, Scene II, where he rejoices in Faustus' fate and boasts that he has
brought it about single-handedly.
-
12. There are two ways to attack this question. You can argue that
Faustus doesn't really want to repent. His failure to do so stems from
a lack of motivation. Or you can argue that Faustus wants
repentance, but isn't permitted it. All the forces of hell stand
between Faustus and God.
If you believe that Faustus is insincere in his talk of
repentance, you can marshall the following evidence: (1) Faustus is
a skeptic. He can't turn to God with any real feeling because he
doesn't believe in God. (2) Faustus is too easily distracted from
thoughts of repentance in order for his contrition to be genuine. Just
mention wealth to Faustus (II, i) or show him a beautiful woman (V,
i), and he forgets all about God. (3) Faustus is too proud and too
sensual a man to repent. He's just not the type to lead a penitent's
life of humility and self-denial.
If you believe that Faustus is sincere about repentance, then you'll
have to prove that he's trapped in sin by forces beyond his control.
You can mention (1) Lucifer's dramatic appearance (II, ii) when
Faustus is on his knees, calling to Christ. It would take a martyr
to stand up to the fury of the monarch of hell, and Faustus is no
martyr. (2) The Evil Angel's all-too-cogent argument. Marlowe seems to
have stacked the deck by giving the Evil Angel the persuasive words
and the Good Angel the weaker arguments. (3) Mephistophilis' threats
of torture, when the Old Man has all but converted Faustus. Poor
Faustus doesn't have the courage to face being torn apart. But then,
who does?
-
13. Diversions are hell's way of keeping Faustus' mind occupied,
so that he doesn't think about death and damnation. You should
choose at least three examples of diversion in the play and explain
what purpose each one serves. For example, you might discuss (1)
Mephistophilis' ad-lib show in Act II Scene I, which distracts
Faustus' attention from the warning inscription on his arm and gets
the scholar to hand over the contract. (2) Lucifer's pageant of the
Seven Deadly Sins in Act II, Scene II, which captures Faustus'
interest after his abortive attempt at repentance and makes him wonder
what other marvels hell has in store. (3) The trick Faustus plays on
the horse-courser in Act IV, Scene V, which takes the magician's
mind off thoughts of his approaching death. Faustus, well trained in
the ways of hell, provides this diversion for himself.
There are many other examples from which to choose. You might
discuss the elaborate feasts Faustus holds for the scholars of
Wittenberg (V, i); the journey to Rome (III, i); and the most
wonderful diversion of all, Helen of Troy.
-
14. To answer this question, you'll need to focus only on two or
three scenes in the play.
In Act I, Scene IV, Wagner has learned how to conjure. Being
Faustus' servant is not good enough for him any more. Wagner now wants
a servant of his own. Heady with the sense of his new powers, Wagner
summons two devils to impress the clown, Robin, into his service.
By Act II, Scene III, Robin has caught on to the idea. He has stolen
one of Faustus' conjuring books and plans to learn magic, so that he
can tell his master off and live on the devil's hand-outs.
For both these lower-class characters, magic means new ambitions,
aspirations above their station in life. You might want to mention
that Robin's swelled head gets him into trouble. The clown manages
to summon Mephistophilis, who turns him into an ape.
-
15. To answer this question, you will have to analyze carefully
the Chorus' language in his four appearances. (See the beginning of
Acts I, III, IV, and the end of Act V.) You may decide that the Chorus
has ambivalent feelings toward Faustus- that he admires Faustus'
achievement but deplores his godless beliefs. Or you may feel that the
Chorus changes his mind about Faustus over the course of the play.
In your essay, be sure to discuss the Icarus image and that of the
burnt laurel bough.
-
TEST 2
-
1. B 2. C 3. B 4. C 5. B 6. C 7. A
8. A 9. C 10. A
-
11. This is a tricky question because Marlowe makes use of three
different concepts of hell. (1) Though Faustus avails himself of
hell's services, at times he denies the existence of hell. In Act
II, Faustus calls hell "a fable" and claims that there is no hell at
all. (2) Mephistophilis, an apparent expert on the subject,
describes hell as a real, if unlocalized place. The spirit says hell
is where the damned dwell, forever banished from the light of God. (3)
Faustus is sent to a hell which is a very tangible pit of fire. This
is the hell suggested by the setting of Doctor Faustus, where a
smoking trapdoor is a constant reminder of flame just below the stage.
There is perhaps a fourth definition of hell implied in the play.
Hell exists, but it is here and now. Hell is the human condition. It
is life itself because in life we are subjected to the frustration
of our dreams and to the terrors of death and old age.
Do you find one definition of hell more convincing than the
others? If so, develop this in your essay and explain your choice.
-
12. Most readers of the play sense a large gap between Faustus'
original hopes for magic and the realization of those hopes. The
inspiration is grand, the price is terrible, and the stage business
verges on the ludicrous.
If you agree with this interpretation, you can prove your case by
comparing Faustus' glowing dreams in Act I with his trivial magic
tricks in Acts III and IV. Faustus envisions fabulous riches, but ends
up robbing a working man of his coins. Faustus dreams of power over
Nature, dominion over the winds and the clouds. Yet all he has to show
for it is a bunch of out-of-season grapes. Curiously, Faustus seems
smugly pleased with himself as he pulls off these silly stunts.
Somewhere along the line, the dreamer has vanished and the showman
in Faustus has taken over.
You will find it a little more difficult to argue that Faustus
realizes his dreams and becomes a great wizard after all. But you
can do it. You will want to point out the limits of Elizabethan
stagecraft and mention that Elizabethan audiences took the word for
the deed. In their eyes, a bunch of grapes stood for all of Nature, as
a pot stood for a kitchen or a bush for the Forest of Arden.
You should also mention that the Holy Roman Emperor, a sophisticated
ruler, is left speechless when Faustus summons the ghost of
Alexander the Great. And you will point to Faustus' truly impressive
feats of magic in the play- his trek among the stars, described by the
Chorus in Act II, and his raising of the most exquisite of Homeric
shades.
-
13. In the last act of the play, the Old Man and Helen are two rival
contenders for Faustus' soul. Of the two characters, the Old Man is
undoubtedly real. His gray hair and wrinkles are the harsh results
of life. Helen, on the other hand, is eternally young and beautiful.
Thousands of years after the Trojan War, she is as radiant as she
was on the day Paris stole her from her husband's side. But Helen is a
shade, a ghost, an airy thing not made of flesh and blood.
Point out in your essay that the Old Man is a spokesman for faith.
In the entire play, he's the only human being who believes
profoundly in God. The Old Man fervently pleads with Faustus to turn
from magic and its illusory delights. By precept and example, he tries
to persuade Faustus to accept heaven's grace.
Helen does not open her mouth. Nonetheless, she's an effective
spokesman for worldly pleasure. With her exquisite beauty, Helen is
a walking argument for love.
In your essay, you will have to take a position for or against
Helen's authenticity. If you think Helen is the real Helen, then
talk about her as Nature's supreme creation- this world's answer to
the next. If you think Helen is a demon spirit, then describe her as a
sort of watch dog for hell, brought on by Mephistophilis to guard
Faustus' soul against the Old Man's persuasions.
-
14. This is a difficult question, and one you can't answer by
reading Doctor Faustus alone. You will have to draw on your
knowledge of Shakespearean drama. You should also get a copy of
Everyman, so that you will have some first-hand information about
medieval morality plays. (You will find Everyman in many
anthologies, like the Norton Anthology of English Literature.)
The question is included in this guide because it's a popular essay,
and one you should be prepared to answer if you're studying Doctor
Faustus in a college-level drama course.
To argue that Faustus is a Renaissance hero, you'll want to point
out that, unlike Everyman, he is very much an individual. Faustus
has a well-documented background, a hometown, and an Alma Mater. In
this, Faustus resembles Hamlet, for example, whose upbringing in the
Danish court and whose scholarly pursuits are germane to Shakespeare's
play. Faustus also has distinctly Renaissance aspirations. He wants to
take advantage of the possibilities of knowledge and sensations that
were just opening up in the sixteenth century. The emerging sciences
fascinate Faustus. And his yen for New World fruits reflects his
interest in the recent voyages of discovery.
To argue that Faustus is a medieval hero, you will want to talk
about the many holdovers in Marlowe's drama from the medieval morality
plays. Faustus lives in a world of angels and demons, supernatural
beings who belong to the medieval stage. Like a medieval hero, Faustus
has direct dealings with heaven and hell. (God is a character in
Everyman, but divine intervention vanishes entirely from the English
Renaissance stage.) Finally, Faustus pays a medieval hero's penalty
for his sin. Because of his overbearing ambition, Faustus is sent to
an eternity of torment in hell. (Macbeth, for a similar transgression,
suffers agonies of mind in the here and now.)
Still a third possibility is to portray Faustus as a man caught
between two worlds. For help with this kind of answer, see the
sections on Characters and Setting.
-
15. The best examples of hyperbole can be found in Acts I and V.
If you choose as one example the Helen of Troy speech, you would point
out that the speech begins with a rhetorical question in which Faustus
implies that the whole world would be well lost for Helen's love.
The speech goes on to include highly poetic and exaggerated
comparisons. ("O, thou art fairer than the evening air," etc.) In
addition, it draws on Trojan War heroes to heighten Faustus' nobility.
You might mention, however, that an undercurrent of irony in the
speech works against the high notes of a lover's rapture. For more
help on hyperbole, see the section on Style.
TERM_PAPER_IDEAS
TERM PAPER IDEAS AND OTHER TOPICS FOR WRITING (MDRFTERM)
-
CHARACTER ANALYSIS
-
1. Is Faustus a hero?
-
2. What kind of relationship exists between Faustus and
Mephistophilis?
-
3. Why is Wagner Mephistophilis' heir?
-
4. Does Faustus choose to be damned? Or is he forced into it by
demons?
-
5. What role do Valdes and Cornelius play in Doctor Faustus?
-
6. Of all the things that Faustus desires, what does he desire most?
-
7. How does Benvolio resemble Faustus?
-
8. Write an entry in Wagner's diary, and date it from the last month
of Faustus' life.
-
9. Wagner tells Robin to follow in his footsteps. How does Robin
carry out the order?
-
10. Contrast the characters of the Pope and the Old Man.
-
11. Why do the central relationships of Faustus' life involve
spirits and shades, not human beings?
-
LITERARY TECHNIQUE
-
1. What is the point of the Icarus image in the prologue?
-
2. What examples of hyperbole (exaggeration) can you find in
Faustus' speech to Helen of Troy?
-
3. Why is there so much Latin in the play?
-
4. How does Marlowe change the verse line to show frustration or
uncertainty in Faustus?
-
5. Find three examples of irony in Doctor Faustus and explain what
purpose the irony serves.
-
SETTING
-
1. What do you learn about Faustus from his study?
-
2. Why is the University of Wittenberg in a state of unease?
-
3. What use does Marlowe make of the trapdoor on the Elizabethan
stage?
-
4. Compare the world of Doctor Faustus to a medieval painting.
-
THEMES
-
1. Would Marlowe agree with this statement: "A man's reach should
exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" (The quotation is from
Robert Browning's "Andrea del Sarto.") Why?
-
2. Does Doctor Faustus have a Christian moral? What is it?
-
3. According to Marlowe, hell is _______________. Finish the
sentence, and explain your answer.
-
BEYOND THE PLAY
-
1. What do Marlowe and Faustus have in common? Is Doctor Faustus
an autobiographical play?
-
2. Faustus and Macbeth are two men of ambition. How are they
alike? How are they different?
-
3. Is Doctor Faustus a tragedy or a morality play? Explain.
CRITICS
THE CRITICS (MDRFCRIT)
-
ON FAUSTUS
Proud Faustus is the most uneasy of men, the frailest conqueror, the
most sorrowful of atheists, uncertain of his uncertainties. Here
indeed is the weak man, terror-stricken by his own audacity,
irresolute at the very moment when he boasts of his inflexibility,
hurling defiance at God and Devil, but immediately mad with terror,
choosing now the soul, now matter; incapable of grasping the unity
of the world, of making a synthesis between this soul which he
cannot repudiate and this matter which imposes on him its laws. He
hopes, then renounces; summons, then rejects; brags and trembles.
-Henri Fluchere, Shakespeare
and the Elizabethans, 1967
-
If pity mixed with condemnation were the only feeling that Marlowe's
audience can have for Faustus, then he would still be a poor sort of
figure, tragic perhaps but only in a rather weak, pathetic sort of
way; an Edward II in fact. But again the experience of reading and
seeing the play tells us quite plainly that he is not that. There
are also a kind of strength and a kind of attractiveness. Both
reside in the quality of his imagination. "Megalo-manical fantasy"
is [the critic] Kirschbaum's phrase for this imagination, and it is
a fair objective analysis of the "diseased ego," a "case" in the
psychologist's notebook: but it is also remarkably deaf or blind to
the beauty of the lines in which the "case" expresses himself. Let
us take the most famous speech of all, Faustus' address to the
spirit-Helen of Troy.... What is in the foreground is poetry of
exceptional radiance and beauty: moreover, a fervour of spirit and
responsiveness to the presence of beauty that are powerful and
infectious.
-J. B. Steane, "Introduction" to
Christopher Marlowe: The Complete Plays, 1969
-
ON FAUSTUS AND MEPHISTOPHILIS
After the scholars have left, the mockery of Mephistophilis
administers a last turn of the screw: "'Twas I, that when thou wert i'
the way to heaven, Damned up thy passage; when thou tookst the book To
view the scriptures, then I turned the leaves And led thine eye."
Faustus weeps. It is a terrifying speech, recoiling on our whole
experience of the play. But without it the exploration of the
mystery of evil would not be complete; it is the dramatic equivalent
of the gospel's equally disturbing, "Then entered Satan into Judas."
From one point of view the play's devils are only symbols of "aspiring
pride and insolence," and it is simply Faustus's wilful pride that
turned the leaves and led his eye.
-J. P. Brockbank, Marlowe: Dr. Faustus, 1962
-
Faustus has in Mephistophilis an alter ego who is both a demon and a
Damon. The man has an extraordinary affection for the spirit, the
spirit a mysterious attraction to the man. Mephistophilis should not
be confused with Goethe's sardonic nay-sayer; neither is he an
operatic villain nor a Satanic tempter. He proffers no tempting
speeches and dangles no enticements; Faustus tempts himself and
succumbs to temptations which he alone has conjured up. What
Mephistophilis really approximates, with his subtle insight and his
profound sympathy, is the characterization of Porfiry, the examining
magistrate in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.
The dialogues between Faustus and Mephistophilis resemble those
cat-and-mouse interrogations in which Porfiry teaches the would-be
criminal, Raskolnikov, to accuse and convict himself.
-Harry Levin, The Overreacher, 1964
-
ON THE MESSAGE OF THE PLAY
If he had lived longer, perhaps Marlowe might have written a play of
true Christian affirmation, but he did not do so in Doctor
Faustus... though in that play, he seemed to be moving closer than
ever to traditional Christianity.
-Ronald Ribner, "Marlowe's 'Tragicke Glasse,'" 1961
-
No doubt, he (Marlowe) yearns all the more avidly with Faustus,
but with Faustus he condemns himself; the Good Angel and the Old Man
are at liberty, while Mephistophilis is in perpetual fetter. Yet, it
is just at this point that Marlowe abandons his preoccupation with
unfettered soaring, and seems to submit himself to ideas of durance,
torment, and constraint. If he is imaginatively identified with any
character, it is no longer Faustus; it is Mephistophilis, who
suffers with Faustus like a second self yet also plays the cosmic
ironist, wise in his guilty knowledge and powerful in his defeated
rebellion.
-Harry Levin, The Overreacher, 1964
ADVISORY_BOARD
ADVISORY BOARD (MDRFADVB)
-
We wish to thank the following educators who helped us focus our
Book Notes series to meet student needs and critiqued our
manuscripts to provide quality materials.
-
Sandra Dunn, English Teacher
Hempstead High School, Hempstead, New York
-
Lawrence J. Epstein, Associate Professor of English
Suffolk County Community College, Selden, New York
-
Leonard Gardner, Lecturer, English Department
State University of New York at Stony Brook
-
Beverly A. Haley, Member, Advisory Committee
National Council of Teachers of English Student Guide Series
Fort Morgan, Colorado
-
Elaine C. Johnson, English Teacher
Tamalpais Union High School District
Mill Valley, California
-
Marvin J. LaHood, Professor of English
State University of New York College at Buffalo
-
Robert Lecker, Associate Professor of English
McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
-
David E. Manly, Professor of Educational Studies
State University of New York College at Geneseo
-
Bruce Miller, Associate Professor of Education
State University of New York at Buffalo
-
Frank O'Hare, Professor of English and Director of Writing
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
-
Faith Z. Schullstrom, Member of Executive Committee
National Council of Teachers of English
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Guilderland Central School District, New York
-
Mattie C. Williams, Director, Bureau of Language Arts
Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, Illinois
-
-
THE END OF BARRON'S BOOK NOTES
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE'S DOCTOR FAUSTUS
BIBLIOGRAPHY (MDRFBIBL)
DOCTOR_FAUSTUS
FURTHER READING
-
CRITICAL WORKS
-
Bakeless, John. Christopher Marlowe. The Man and His Times. New
York: Washington Square Press, 1937.
-
Boas, F. S. Christopher Marlowe. A Biographical and Critical
Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1940.
-
Brockbank, J. P. Marlowe: Dr. Faustus. London: Edward Arnold Ltd.,
1962.
-
Eliot, T. S. Selected Essays. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World,
1964.
-
Fluchere, Henri. Shakespeare and the Elizabethans. New York: Hill
and Wang, 1967.
-
Gregg, W. W. "The Damnation of Faustus," in The Modern Language
Review, 1946.
-
Kirschbaum, Leo. "Marlowe's Faustus: A Reconsideration," in Review
of English Studies, 1943.
-
Leech, Clifford, ed. Marlowe: A Collection of Critical Essays.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1964.
-
Levin, Harry. The Overreacher. Boston: The Beacon Press, 1964.
-
Ribner, Ronald. "Marlowe's 'Tragicke Glasse,'" in Furman
University Studies, 1961.
-
Sachs, Ariel. "The Religious Despair of Doctor Faustus," in
Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 1964.
-
Steane, J. B. Christopher Marlowe: The Complete Plays. Baltimore:
Penguin Books, 1969.
-
Tillyard, E. M. W. The Elizabethan World Picture. New York:
Vintage Books, 1959.
-
Weil, Judith. Christopher Marlowe. New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1977.
-
AUTHOR'S OTHER WORKS
-
Dido, Queen of Carthage (Date unknown, probably the earliest play)
Tamburlaine the Great, Part I, 1587
Tamburlaine the Great, Part II, 1588
The Jew of Malta, 1591?
Edward II, 1592
The Massacre at Paris (Date unknown)
Hero and Leander, 1593 (Unfinished)
-
-
THE END OF THE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR BARRON'S BOOK NOTES
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE'S DOCTOR FAUSTUS