Doctor faustus christopher marlowe (original) (raw)
Related papers
Doctor Faustus: A Critical Guide
Continuum Press, 2010
Critical consensus identifies Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, probably written and performed around 1588, as the first great tragedy in the English language, a powerful drama that ushered in thirty years of unparalleled dramatic creativity on the English stage. For over 400 years, Marlowe's most often read and most frequently performed play has been surrounded by conjecture; indeed, few works of literature have evoked such violent critical controversy as Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. Almost every aspect of the play has been questioned: the text has been contested; the authorship has been challenged; the date has been disputed; and the meaning has been debated. This volume seeks to guide the teacher and student of Marlowe-and, of course, all successful teachers are also students-through the labyrinth of critical controversy associated with Marlowe's most popular play, and to aid all students of Marlowe in gaining a fuller appreciation of the originality and profundity of this work.
Misreading Faustus Misreading: The Question of Context
First published in The Dalhousie Review 65.4 (Winter 1985-86): 511-33. (I have made several small changes to the text, and have updated some of the notes to incorporate references to more recent scholarship.) This essay argued, through a close and also historically contextualized reading of Marlowe's play, that attentiveness to Faustus's persistent habit of misreading could open up a form of analysis that might hope to correct contemporary misreadings of the play.
Brolly Journal of Social Sciences, 2024
The article underpins the theatrics of the tragic hero’s fall in Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. Theological concepts related to sin and damnation are applied to interpret the ironic inversions leading to the downfall of Faustus. The choice of “spectacle of blindness” emphasises the link between theatricality and irony. The concept of metatheatre is used to portray the fall of Faustus. Irony reaches grandeur thanks to the interweaving of metatheatre and the carnivalesque. The research legitimises the existence of the concept of the theatrics of irony. The research delves into the intricate layers of irony woven throughout the play as the titular character embarks on a fateful journey from humanity to damnation. Faustus’ relentless pursuit of perceived divine imperfections, his portrayal as a shrewd manipulator of thought, and his refusal to acknowledge the true nature of his transgressions are meticulously crafted into a dramatic spectacle by the playwright. Marlowe's adept use of irony is exemplified through intentional inversions and deviations from the play's source material, The English Faustbook. Embracing irony as a spectacle of blindness, the analysis reveals the amalgamation of carnivalesque elements, comedy, burlesque, and metatheatre in the play’s theatrics of irony. Faustus’ tragic downfall unfolds as a nuanced interplay between serious, tragic consequences and moments of buffoonery or carnivalesque revelry. The analysis positions Doctor Faustus as a distinctive work, departing from traditional interpretations and venturing into new theatrical aesthetics, emphasising the spectacular and the metatheatrical. The article is available online on the following links: https://journals.lapub.co.uk/index.php/brolly/article/view/2696 https://journals.lapub.co.uk/index.php/brolly/issue/view/117/123 https://journals.lapub.co.uk/index.php/brolly/issue/view/117
Dr Faustus and the (Ir)Resolution of the Word
Book Chapter: Decoding Christopher Marlowe, 2019
With these words Dr. Faustus takes leave of his scholastic companions and stands alone to face his destiny. He has given his word to Mephistopheles, and has signed a deed composed of words, which are, quite literally, of ominous import. This essay purports to investigate the concept and career of the 'word' in the play TheTragical history of Dr. Faustus, with special emphasis on naming and the proper name. In the beginning, we are made to recall, 'was the Word', the incipit of St. John's gospel in the New Testament of the Bible. Readers in the twenty-first century are also reminded of a rival claim to the mystery of origin: in the beginning was the deed (or act), as Goethe's Faust muses.
The Early Date of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus
Academia Letters, 2022
There is no consensus about the origins of Marlowe's Faustus, one of the outstanding works of English literature. This work is known today on the basis of printings of 1604 and 1616. Much Marlowe criticism has treated these texts in detail, without being able to establish a clear line of development from their ultimate source, the German Faust Book, which appeared first in Frankfurt on September 4, 1587. The Faust Book on which Marlowe's Faustus was based has been available to scholars only in a second edition, that of 1592; a first edition has not come to light. Although the precise date of the first performances of Marlowe's stage play remains a mystery, there is a plausible bridge that can link the first English Faust Book with the first printing of Marlowe's work. Three texts, the English Faust Book, the earliest printing of Marlowe's stage play, and the Faustus ballad share features that help recover facts about the period in which Marlowe discovered the English Faust Book. At the same time, the English Faust Book also became the basis of a ballad that treats Faustus' unfortunate fate. I hope to show under what circumstances a significant convergence of The English Faust Book, the Faust ballad, and Marlowe's stage play took place. John Henry Jones with his groundbreaking edition of The English Faust Book set the basis for resolving issues these crucial relationships. Unfortunately, because of his focus on English sources, Jones overlooked important research by German scholars.[1] When the Faust Book was published in Germany, it was an instant best seller. Numerous illegal re-printings followed this unprecedented success. This printing phenomenon undoubtedly inspired a quick translation into English. The title page of this 1592 publication indicates that the original copy that was based on the Faust Book published in Frankfurt was "in convenient places imperfect matter [was] amended." This second edition of the English Faust Book showed Faustus having been born near Wittenberg and then studied at the university
Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus: The Post-Renaissance English Tragedy
2013
This paper is foregrounded in the premise that Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, one of the towering tragic protagonists in English Drama over the ages, is a singular character who embodies in his being the spirit of inquiry and revolt with the purpose to transcend the limits imposed on human life and endeavor by traditional religion and morality. Faustus is viewed as an embryonic protagonist for the post-Renaissance English tragedy as the potential of his character is subverted by the preclusion of sin and damnation as necessary contingent conditions for any effort to assert individual will over the established order.
Modern Problems of Editing: The Two Texts of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus
Literature Compass 2, 2005
Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus , as well as being one of the most popular and enduring dramatic works of the English Renaissance, is also among its most textually problematic. The fact of the play's existence in two greatly differing and notoriously unreliable texts has long been a challenge for editors, and one that has traditionally been overcome by the production of amalgamated editions that seamlessly blend the 'best' elements of both texts. Over recent years, however, the role of the editor has begun to change significantly, and modern developments in textual scholarship have made it very unlikely that this method can survive. This article will examine the influence of post-structuralist theory on the editing of early modern drama, and the affect that this has had on our perception of Faustus as a single and unified entity.