The Tragical History
of Doctor Faustus
by Christopher
Marlowe
(1564-1593)
Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)
• English dramatist and poet (Elizabethan)
• Major plays (tragedies):
 Tamburlaine the Great (c. 1587)
 Dr. Faustus (c. 1588)
 The Jew of Malta (c. 1589)
• Marlowe's Dramas
• Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus
Medieval Plays
• Mystery—enact events of the Bible, generally
part of dramatic cycles presented on a
religious holiday.
• Miracle—focus on enactments of the miracles
performed by the saints.
• Morality—focus on allegorical representations
of moral issues, designed to stand alone.
Doctor Faustus borrows many of the
conventions of the morality play.
The Morality Play
• Developed in the late Middle Ages.
• The central figure usually represents
humanity in general. (Faustus represents
humanity but is also an individual.)
• A dramatized allegory in which abstract
virtues and vices appear in personified form,
which serve as inspiration for various
characters in Renaissance drama.
Elements of The Morality Play
in Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus
• the battle over the spirit, waged by a Good Angel
and a Bad Angel.
• the parade of the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride,
Covetousness, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth,
Lechery.
• the potential for salvation, which exists until
Faustus finally succumbs to despair and gives up
all hope of being able to repent.
Summary
• Prologue: Dr. Faustus, Rhodes, Germany
• Scene 1: Faustus dissatisfies with all the
knowledge he studies and determines
to study magic.
• Scene 3: Calls Mephastophilis, Lucifer’s minister
• Scene 5: Faustus surrenders his soul to Satan
and has great power among 24 years
Summary
• Scene 7: Amazes the Pope by becoming
invisible
• Scene 9: Calls the spirit of Alexander the
Great
• Scene 11: Brings ripe grapes in January
• Scene 12,13: When 24 years is almost over,
he begins to fear Satan and
nearly repents
He is carried off by devils at the end.
Themes
• Sin, Redemption and Damnation
– Sin: acts contrary to the will of God
In making a pact with Lucifer, Faustus commits
the ultimate sin: not only does he disobey God,
but he consciously and even eagerly renounces
obedience to him, choosing instead to swear
allegiance to the devil. However terrible
Faustus’s pact with Lucifer may be, the
possibility of redemption is always open to him.
All that he needs to do is ask God for forgiveness.
Yet, Faustus decides to remain loyal to hell.
• The conflict between Medieval and
Renaissance Values:
The medieval world placed God at the center of
existence and shunted aside man and the natural
world.
The Renaissance was a movement that began in
Italy in the fifteenth century and soon spread
throughout Europe, carrying with it a new emphasis
on the individual, on classical learning, and on
scientific inquiry into the nature of the world.
In the medieval academy, theology was the queen
of the sciences. In the Renaissance, secular matters
took center stage.
• Power as a Corrupting Influence
Gaining absolute power corrupts Faustus by
making him mediocre and by transforming his
boundless ambition into a meaningless delight in
petty celebrity.
• The Divided Nature of Man
Internal struggle (personified in
good angel and the evil angel, and the old man)
•
selling his soul to obtain power
•
drawn up the character of an intelligent
learned man tragically seduced by the lure
of power greater than mortally meant to be
•
the superstitious mind frequently deemed
magicians in league with the devil
•
ideal of humanism: damn nonetheless, thus
satirizing the ideals of Renaissance
Humanism
Structure
• In extant form the play shows the familiar
double-plot construction with buffoonery in
the subplot (in prose) to parallel the Faust
theme (the major plot—in verse).
• The Good and Bad Angels contending for the
soul of Faustus come straight out of the
medieval Moralities.
• 3 main parts:
1. The lure of Faustus
2. Faustus owns the magic power
3. The death of Faustus
Functions of the Comic Scenes
1.
2.
3.
4.
Cover passage of time.
Parallel and parody the main plot.
Foreshadow events to come.
Give comic relief.
Characterization—Faustus
• He is bold enough to sell his soul to the
Devil for ultimate knowledge.
• He is sometimes ultimately arrogant,
overly confident.
• He is a loner who faces the ultimate test
by himself.
• He can be viewed as naïve.
Characterization—Faustus
• A contradictory character:
 tells himself hell is not bad
￬￪
wants to go to heaven
 ambitiouswastes powers
• Represents the spirit of the Renaissance
Minor Characters
• Wagner: Faustus’s servant, a student
• Valdes and Cornelius: F’s friends, magicians
• Robin and Rafe: Ostlers at an inn
Even these two fools can learn enough magic to
summon demons.
• Emperor Charles V
• A knight at the court (Benvolio)
• Horse-courser
References /relevant links:
• http://mchip00.med.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-meddb/webdocs/webdescrips/marlowe278-des.html
• http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0831
904.html
• http://athena.english.vt.edu/%7Ejmooney/ren
mats/faustus.htm
• http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/english/al
len/meddram.htm