Explore the extent to which Doctor Faustus can be viewed as a Morality Play.
You must relate your discussion to relevant contextual factors. (25 marks)
The concept of the morality play was popularised in the 16th century and revolved around
the struggle between good and evil for the salvation of the human spirit, mainly performed
to teach educational ethics about basic Christian values with the protagonist being the
reflection of Christianity. Marlowe is definitely seen to have picked up certain aspects of
morality plays in his play Dr. Faustus, which is also considered a Renaissance tragedy which
owes a lot to the medieval dramatic tradition.
The most obvious sign of a morality play can be seen in the presence of the good angel and
evil angel, which represent the two morally contradicting sides of an individual. Marlowe
usually introduces the angels while Faustus is wavering between repenting or continuing his
journey with the devil. They may be a physical portrayal of his innermost thoughts
represented for the audience, but they could also be viewed as actual angels who have come
to sway his mind. The deep-rooted religious beliefs of the 16th century audience would have
been shocked by the appearance of the angels, perhaps even believing they are real, and
thus their existence brings immense dramatic flair and excitement to the stage. One
example of the angels trying to sway Faustus is when the evil angel refers to holy acts as
“illusions, fruits of lunacy” in which he may be mocking the story of Adam and Eve, and
trying to make it seem “foolish” like a fairy-tale. The good angel however goes against this by
saying that “Contrition, prayer, repentance” will “bring thee unto Heaven”. The rule of three
used by Faustus here, showcases how unimportant and insignificant these holy acts are for
him, but the Good Angel tries to show him the right path. In the end however, he only picks
up on the last phrase which the Evil Angel says; “think of honour and wealth” of which
Faustus repeats “Of wealth?”. This is similar to when he selected certain scholarly quotes to
make his point and disregarded everything else in the first scene – the audience wonders if
he is naïve or is doing this on purpose. The reference to wealth however, could also be a sign
of the Renaissance tragedy with the Renaissance man lost in ambition for riches and wealth,
leading to a doomed finale. Here, we can see a typical example of a moral dilemma, and the
protagonist having to choose the ‘right path’ but failing to do so and creating a greater
tragedy for the end. The morality play “Castle of Perseverance” has strong parallels with the
scenes of the angels in Dr. Faustus which further emphasises that it has elements of a
morality play itself.
Another aspect of the morality play is when Faustus is tempted by Mephistopheles’ actions,
giving into his convincing incentives to stay with the devil while he could have repented.
Mephistopheles is an intriguing character as he does not just show signs of Machiavellianism
but also hints at being a friend or father-figure to Faustus. This makes the play a nontraditional morality play as the characters are usually wholly ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and do not leave
space for a grey area of interpretation. However, to an extent he does represent an aspect
of the morality play. For instance, Mephistopheles enters one scene “with Devils, giving
crowns and rich apparel to Faustus”. On the surface, this may just be Mephistopheles
wanting to pleasure his friend with a good time, like a best man on his stag night, but it is
more likely that he is doing this to manipulate Faustus into seeing the material pleasures of
signing the devil’s contract. Mephistopheles’ influence leads to Faustus’ continued wavering
– even when he is not in hell yet, Mephistopheles’ actions still make him suffer in his own
mind due to his constant indecisiveness. He manipulates Faustus with phrases like “then be
thou as great as Lucifer” and “I will be thy slave”, which are hyperbolic in hopes of meeting
Faustus need for praise and power, an aspect of typical Renaissance humanism. The
audience can tell that Mephistopheles is most likely only saying phrases like these to
increase Faustus’ already inflated ego and turn him towards the path of the devil, which
created dramatic tension as Faustus is not aware of this. Mephistopheles also ironically acts
as a teacher of Christianity sometimes, like when he teaches Faustus a lesson about love by
bringing in a vulgar representation of the wife he asked for and saying “Marriage is but a
ceremonial toy” which he mustn’t expect to be so easily given by magic – emotion,
commitment and love cannot be gained by simple wishes, but it is rather a ceremonial
Christian gift given by God. Here, the 16th century audience would be pleased by
Mephistopheles’ teachings and his following of tradition. Leo Kirschbaum, a critic, states
Faustus is an “unstable, foolish worldling” presented to the audience as a chance to learn
from his mistakes.
For the 16th century religious audience, not believing that you can repent at any time and
not having faith in God was one of the biggest sins which Faustus committed. He says “The
serpent that tempted Eve may be saved, but not Faustus” which is a superlative phrase as
the serpent led to the first ever act of sin committed by humanity. This undoubtedly shocks
the audience of the time, while it may be more of a simple hyperbolic statement for the
contemporary audience. Some may say his lack of hope and strength to turn back to God has
led to his tragic ending, where he begs his soul to “be changed into little waterdrops”,
connoting serenity and purity which he may never get again. Here, the morality play teaches
that once one has hit the point of no return and is only asking for redemption out of
desperate, untruthful folly, it will be too late and an eternal existence in hell will meet them.
Temptation and lust are thus presented as morally wrong in these scenes.
In conclusion, the play does show various elements of a morality play, with some critics even
calling Doctor Faustus a morality play. However, the fact that the devil and god are not in the
centre of the play, and that knowledge, ambition and the pleasures of life are also widely
portrayed shows that it is more than just a morality play, as Renaissance doubt is added to it.
The play shocks and wows the audience with vivid, dramatic opportunities for stage
presence and intends to exceed the limits of usually medieval plays which the audience
would be used to. While the contemporary audience will not be as taken aback, they also
experience excitement and disbelief at certain times of the play.