Character of Doctor Faustus.pptx

Character of Doctor Faustus.pptx

1. Character of Doctor Faustus

2. 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 Faustus’s path and “sell” their souls to Satan? What other texts allude to “Faustian bargains”?

3. What about You? What do you want? What would you be willing to do to get it? What wouldn’t 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…

4. Knowledge How much knowledge should humans have? Should we be able to know everything? In Marlowe’s time, knowledge was mainly gotten from books. From where do we procure knowledge today? Are there any sources [like Faustus’s black magic books; Remember that when Faustus tries to repent at the very end he says, “Ugly Hell, gape not! Come not Lucifer! / I’ll 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 Faustus’s story: Stem cells Cloning Designer babies Biological weapons Other Issues?

5. 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? Let’s look at some background information that might help answer the last question…

6. 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 Marlowe’s 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 Devil’s 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.

7. Faustus’s 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

8. 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 world’s 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.

9. Bruno Although Bruno is a fictional character created by Marlowe, his name alludes to St. Giordano Bruno. In the play, Bruno is the emperor’s 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 we’ll pull down his haughty insolence” (III, i, 133 – 136). Significance of this scene? A few lines later when Bruno questions Adrian’s 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 Marlowe’s 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.

10. Structure Looking at the elements of Marlowe’s structure may also help us to understand his intent…

11. Significance of Structure Doctor Faustus uses aspects of traditional dramatic structure: Medieval morality play Alternating comic and serious scenes

12. 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. People’s 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 soul’s 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 15 th 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.

13. 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 Marlowe’s view of religion and morality.

14. 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.

15. 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?

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