Doctor Faustus

1
Doctor Faustus

• By Christopher Marlowe
• (Cristofer Marley)

2
Biographical Information on Marlowe

• Born in Canterbury in 1564 (2 months before
  Shakespeare)
• Son of a shoemaker
• Brilliant student
• Earned a scholarship and studied the Bible,
  theology, philosophy, and history at Cambridge
• Left college to carry out a secret mission for
  the government even today the exact nature of
  his mission is not known

3
More Background on Marlowe

• Cambridge life was a strange juxtaposition of
  secular and spiritual.
• Studied books that lead them towards the
  pleasures of the world, yet the students
  themselves lived essentially like medieval monks
• simple fun like swimming was severely punished.
• Although some of the details are foggy, Marlowe
  took a Masters degree three years later (1587).
• Cambridge tried to deny him the degree because
  they believed he had converted to Catholicism
• the Queen herself intervened and Marlowe was
  given his degree.

4
Marlowe after College

• Rather than taking Holy Orders, (Cambridge
  prepared all of its students to be clergymen or
  schoolmasters) Marlowe traveled to London to
  become a dramatist.
• Met and befriended powerful people such as Sir
  Walter Raleigh.
• Wrote plays in blank verse and had his first
  play, Tamburlaine the Great performed in 1587.

5
Troubles

• In 1589, Marlowe spent two weeks in jail having
  been charged with the murder of William Bradley.
  He was acquitted.
• In 1592, Marlowe had an injunction brought
  against him for killing a man in a street fight.
• Marlowe was deported from the
• Netherlands for counterfeiting gold coins.

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Major Writings

• His plays
• written in blank verse
• Contained villain-heroes
• influenced all subsequent drama including the
  great Bard himself.
• The Jew of Malta is a parody of Machiavelli.
• Marlowe and Faustus
• born of humble beginnings
• rebelled against the strict rules of class
• made money and names for themselves.
• men who desired knowledge and one who were
  accused of atheism
• Marlowe was probably a member of Raleighs School
  of Night, a circle of free-thinkers who indulged
  in indiscreet philosophical discussion and
  allegedly in blasphemies concerning the name of
  God.

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Death of Marlowe

• The supposed facts
• On Wednesday, May 30, 1593, Marlowe (age 29) and
  his friend Ingram Frizer began arguing over
  paying their bill at a tavern in Deptford.
  Marlowe, enraged, grabbed Frizers dagger and
  struck him twice in the head with it. The two
  struggled and Frizer regained control of his
  dagger and stabbed Marlowe twice in his head.
  One stab proved mortal as it entered Marlowe just
  above his right eye-ball.

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Yikes!

• Sounds painful

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But somethings fishy

• In the spring of 1593, a friend of Marlowes was
  captured and tortured by the Queens Privy
  Council.
• Based on information gathered from this friend
  (probably that Marlowe was an atheist), the
  Council was about to arrest Marlowe.
• Just before the arrest was to take place, Marlowe
  was supposedly killed in the tavern by his good
  friend.

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Really, really fishy

• Ingram, that friend, also happened to be a known
  con artist.
• Other friends present with Marlowe a fence, a
  former spy for the Queens secret service, and
  the cousin of the Queens most famous spy,
  Francis Walsingham.
• None of these friends severed their ties with
  Ingram after the alleged murder
• The Queen herself quickly pardoned Ingram on
  grounds of self defense.
• Many therefore argue that Marlowe was not killed,
  but faked his own death with the help of powerful
  friends (the Queen herself?!?) and escaped the
  country.

11
A Startling Possibility

• A handful of conspiracy theorists even go so far
  as to suggest that Marlowe went to Italy and
  wrote plays there which he couriered back to
  England. A colleague in the theatre claimed them
  as his own and had them performed on the stage..

12
Surprise!

• That man, of course, was William Shakespeare.

Although this theory is intriguing, many scholars
argue that it is highly unlikely and that the
similarities and commonalities between
Shakespeares work and Marlowes were due to
intertextuality.
13
Makes Sense!

• Why would Marlowe give up fame and fortune by
  faking his own death?
• To save his own skin! He probably would have
  been executed based on whatever information the
  Privy Council had.
• His reputation was already on shaky ground. He
  had been accused of atheism, blasphemy,
  subversion, and homosexuality. (They be fools
  that love not tobacco and boys!) His public
  image was quite burdened. Leaving England and
  giving his glory to someone else may have been
  necessary.

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Biographical Criticism

• What does background on Marlowe add to our
  understanding of his purpose in writing Doctor
  Faustus?

15
Critics Suggest

• Marlowe was accused of being an atheist which
  sheds considerable doubt on his intentions of
  moralizing from a Christian stance.

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Too Far-Fetched?

• While most of us have no interest in trying to
  conjure up devils, in what ways might we say that
  some people follow Doctor Faustuss path and
  sell their souls to Satan?
• What other texts allude to Faustian bargains?

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What about You?

• What do you want?
• What would you be willing to do to get it?
• What wouldnt you be willing to do? Where would
  you draw the line?
• Selling your soul to the devil for knowledge may
  seem far-fetched, but it may still fit today

18
Knowledge

• How much knowledge should humans have?
• Should we be able to know everything?
• In Marlowes time, knowledge was mainly gotten
  from books. From where do we procure knowledge
  today? Are there any sources like Faustuss
  black magic books Remember that when Faustus
  tries to repent at the very end he says, Ugly
  Hell, gape not! Come not Lucifer! / Ill burn my
  books! (V, ii, 196 197) that are considered
  evil or immoral?
• Should anyone and everyone be able to have all
  knowledge available?
• How might the following issues parallel Faustuss
  story
• Stem cells
• Cloning
• Designer babies
• Biological weapons
• Other Issues?

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Back to the Text

• How would Marlowe answer some of these questions?
  Think about his background and his text.
• In his time, who limited the amount of knowledge
  man should / could attain?
• Is Marlowe warning his audience against wanting
  too much knowledge OR is he condemning the church
  for limiting people?
• Lets look at some background information that
  might help answer the last question

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Magic

• During the time of Faustus, nature was believed
  to be a secondary cause of occurrences, God
  always being the first cause. Any study of
  nature, therefore, bypassed God and caused a
  suspicion of atheism.
• During medieval times, magic entailed trying to
  stop or reverse natural processes.
• During the Renaissance, this type of magic
  changed into a more scientific approach of
  finding ways to work in harmony with Nature.
• While Marlowe was at Cambridge, for example, many
  students of more traditional academia began
  turning to scientific research. Certainly
  Marlowes friend, Sir Walter Raleigh, typified
  the new man of the time whose pursuit for
  knowledge included both the rational and the
  occult.
• Faustus, as probably Marlowe, recognized Hell and
  the Devils personal pervasiveness, but he also
  wanted the powers of Nature even with its
  limitations. Consider the types of knowledge
  Marlowe requests it is often regarding the
  planets, planetary motion, etc.

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Faustuss Magic

• Think of the other so-called black magic that
  Faustus performs it is often related to changing
  a natural process.
• Changing a horse into hay when it touches water
• Eating large quantities of hay
• Living despite losing a limb and then
  regenerating that limb
• Producing grapes in the dead of winter
• Adding horns to men
• Changing men in to apes and dogs

22
Black Magic

• All of these magic tricks by Faustus bypass God
  as the primary source of all natural occurrences
  so were considered immoral or evil by the church
  / society of the time.
• Consider the horrible weather the night Faustus
  is dragged into hell. The scholars remark that
  such a dreadful night was never seen / Since
  first the worlds creation did begin! (V, iii, 2
  3). The status quo is returned at the end of
  the play with only God in charge of natural
  phenomenon.

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The Church in Doctor Faustus

• Bruno and the Italian Pope of the play
• The papacy had tremendous political power during
  the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance.
• Some popes (like (H)Adrian of the play), raised
  armies and even went to war themselves to settle
  disputes or to increase their land.
• (Remember 3.1 when Faustus first arrives in Rome
  and Mephostophilis shows him such store of
  ordnance / As that the double canons forged of
  brass / Do match the number of the days contained
  / Within the compass of one year (III, i, 41
  44).)
• Within England, antagonism between Anglicans and
  Catholics ran extremely high (consider Henry
  VIII!) and reached a fever pitch when Pope Pius V
  excommunicated Queen Elizabeth.
• Riots occurred as did the burning of Jesuit
  priests. Common villagers had to prove that they
  attended Anglican church each weekend.
• Marlowe lived during the height of the
  anti-Catholic sentiment and even spied on English
  Catholics abroad for the crown. (Remember his
  secret mission!)

24
Bruno

• Although Bruno is a fictional character created
  by Marlowe, his name alludes to St. Giordano
  Bruno.
• In the play, Bruno is the emperors choice for
  Pope and much hated by Adrian.
• Remember when Bruno tries to argue to the Pope
  that the emperor elected him and therefore he has
  rights to the Papacy, Adrian responds that the
  emperor will be excommunicated and he grows too
  proud in his authority, / Lifting his lofty head
  above the clouds, / And like a steeple overpeers
  the church. / But well pull down his haughty
  insolence (III, i, 133 136).
• Significance of this scene?
• A few lines later when Bruno questions Adrians
  ideas, Adrian questions, Is not all power on
  earth bestowed on us? / And therefore though we
  would, we cannot err (III, i, 152 153).
• The real Bruno was a Catholic who spent 8 years
  in prison for his heretical ideas which included
  agreeing with Copernicus and believing that the
  universe was infinite, containing infinite worlds
  inhabited by infinite intelligent beings.
• Bruno was eventually burned at the stake in Rome
  when he refused to recant his beliefs.
• Faustus favors this follower of natural magic
  over the sitting Pope, probably a hint at
  Marlowes real opinion of Catholicism and the
  nature of knowledge. Although Faustus is
  relegated to hell for his actions, Marlowe may
  not agree with the society and the religion that
  would send him there as it sent Bruno to the
  stake.

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Structure

• Looking at the elements of Marlowes structure
  may also help us to understand his intent

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Significance of Structure

• Doctor Faustus uses aspects of traditional
  dramatic structure
• Medieval morality play
• Alternating comic and serious scenes

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Morality Plays

• During the middle ages, in order to make church
  teachings accessible to the common people,
  clergymen began to dramatize stories from the
  Bible (mystery plays) and episodes from the lives
  of saints (miracle plays)
• These plays became too elaborate for the church
  to hold, so craft guilds took them over and
  created traveling stage sets for performances on
  feast days. These plays often lasted 3 days,
  included comedy, music, dance, and elaborate
  special effects to create the illusion of rain,
  lightning and flying. Peoples interest in drama
  was sparked.
• By the 1400s, professional acting troops were
  performing morality plays drama about the moral
  struggles of everyday people. They used
  allegory in order to present a lesson concerning
  the souls salvation
• The characters have names that indicated their
  allegorical significance, such as Truth,
  Gluttony, King, Mankind
• Everyman is the most famous morality play
  (written at the end of 15th c.)
• Message of play when we die, we take nothing
  with us from this world except the record of our
  good deeds
• Morality plays grew more sophisticated as time
  went by and set the stage for Elizabethan drama
  and geniuses such as Shakespeare.

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Morality Play Elements

• Clearest morality play element in Faustus Good
  Angel and Bad Angel.
• Marlowe deviates a bit from traditional morality
  plays, however.
• A formalist analysis helps a reader to understand
  Marlowes view of religion and morality.

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Comic Scenes

• The play is organized around alternating comic
  and serious scenes. Some scholars in the past
  have noted that the quality of the comic sections
  differs greatly from that of the serious and
  therefore may not have been written by Marlowe at
  all but rather added at a later time for sight
  gags which may have appealed to the groundling
  audience. The comic scenes also tend to be
  written in prose while the more serious scenes
  are written in blank verse. However, more modern
  scholars argue that the comic scenes are actually
  an integral part of the story.

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Comic Scenes Analysis

• How do the comic scenes parallel the dynamic
  character of Doctor Faustus?
• How do the scenes foreshadow events in the life
  of Doctor Faustus?
• How do the scenes serve to subtly mock
  Catholicism / religion?

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So What?

• In the last eight lines of the play, what does
  the Chorus say we should learn from Faustuss
  experience?
• Based on all that you know about the play,
  Marlowe, etc. what else might Marlowe want us to
  learn from his play?