Introduction

• Set in the Elizabethan era, specifically the late 1500s.

• Set in Germany, written and performed in England

Literary devices/stage effects

• Elizabethan dramas often used comic/minor characters to reflect themes and events within the narrative.

  • In Dr Faustus, Dick, Robin and Wagner serve as a parody of Faustus. Additionally, some appearances of the devils, such as 2.1 when Faustus asks for a wife, are comedic in nature.

• The element of disguise was also utilised to emphasise main themes and deeper meanings.

  • Disguise is used by Faustus when he tricks the Pope with Mepho, to show the silly things he uses his powers for.

  • Additionally, Faustus asks Mepho to hide his true appearance, therefore masking his true evil. This could be said to be used to cover up the true evil of the bargain he has made and what is waiting for him as punishment.

• Faustus loosely follows the conventions of morality plays, as they showed Christian morals.

  • The most popular was called Everyman, and told the story of a man choosing between salvation and damnation. In the end, they celebrate his salvation. This play also uses many allegorical characters.

• Faustus is based on the Faustbuch story (1587). It is a German story, and is a semi-mythical tale of the real life John Faust, a German scholar and travelling magician It is split into three parts, the signing of the contract, him travelling the world performing magic and finally him despairing his choices.

  • While Faustus follows this structure, the final part is the smallest, as Faustus abuses his powers until the end.

• Aristotle said a tragedy should create feelings of horror and pity in the audience.

  • In Dr Faustus, the audience would feel horror at his worship of Lucifer, but pity for his foolishness and non-repentance.

• Post-classical tragedy usually has more than one villain.

  • For Faustus, the main villain is Lucifer, however Mepho is his messenger. Additionally, Faustus can be seen as his own villain, as he causes his own downfall.

• Traditional classical tragedies highlight the isolation of the protagonist.

  • Faustus has many soliloquies surrounding repentance, which are usually interrupted by the good and bad angel. However these characters cannot be seen by Faustus, who ignores them, highlighting his loneliness.

• While the chorus was originally a group of actors, in Elizabethan dramas it often comprised of one man.

  • This was the case in Dr Faustus.

• Bathos a greek theatrical device to describe an anti-climatic or underwhelming scene.

  • In Dr Faustus, the final scene is him dragged to hell and not attempting repentance. An Elizabethan audience would have expected God’s mercy.

• There were many Elizabethan paintings of heaven and hell, such as Bosch’s Ascent of the Blessed and Hell.

• Protestants believed that hell was anywhere without God, including Earth.

  • This is how Mepho describes Hell to Faustus in 2.1.

• One reformer, John Calvin, suggested the idea of predestination, that God controls and decides the actions of our entire life, and whether we’re destined for heaven and hell.

• Many Greek tragedy devices were used in Dr Faustus:

  • Anagnorisis - when a principal character recognises a character’s true identity or the true nature of their circumstances. Faustus recognises his circumstances multiple times throughout the play, and the true nature is revealed at the end when Faustus is sent to Hell.

  • Catharsis - the process of relieving/ releasing strong emotions. Faustus does this during his breakdowns where he turns to God again. These emotions lead him to summon Helen of Troy for comfort.

  • Peripeteia - a sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances. This happens when Faustus receives Mepho and his powers.

  • Hubris - excessive pride. Faustus possesses this even before receiving Mepho, and his pride is the reason he aimed for this power.

  • Hamartia - fatal flaw. Faustus fatal flaw is his hubris, which causes him to become gluttonous for power and knowledge. Faustus believes he is entitled to such power, and therefore ignores all warning signs to devote himself to God.

• During this time, a tragic hero was an important figure who was led to failure by their hamartia, usually having other admirable qualities.

  • Faustus fits this description, as the audience is also led to pity his cluelessness of the fate that awaited him. He also appeals to a higher class audience with his classical references.

  • Mepho could also be said to fit this, as his fate is the same as Faustus. He followed Lucifer in his revolt against God and was sent to Hell with him, which is why he leads Faustus down the same path.

• Tragedy derives from the Greek word for goat-play, which suggests a tragic hero is a sacrifice to the Gods.

  • Marlowe links to the original meaning of tragedy, as Faustus dies to go to Hell, sacrificing his soul for momentary power.

• During this time, the theatre was divided into sections, with the higher up people having more money and their spots known as the ‘heavens‘. The ones in the bottom pit were referred to as groundlings.

  • Faustus appealed to these richer audiences with classical references and spoken latin, which would have also impressed the groundlings, even though they didn’t understand.

• Duality is a common theme in literature, where two opposing ideas are presented in order to contrast them.

  • Faustus contrasts heaven and hell throughout the play, although heaven is not often shown. This is done through the representations of the good and bad angels.

  • Another contrast is the power relations between Mepho, Faustus and Lucifer. While Faustus believes he has power over Mepho, however Mepho has the true power. Lucifer is also the one ultimately in control.

• In a 1920 production, drums were used for thunder and hierlings made artifical light. Costumes and props were used, and conjuring circles.

Religious shifts

• Mary ruled England between 1553-1558 and kept England Catholic.

  • After her death, her half-sister Elizabeth converted the country to Protestantism and ruled over 40 years.

• Dr Faustus is a scholar at Wittenberg university, also where Martin Luther taught in 1508. Martin Luther rebelled against the Catholic church and was a leading figure in Protestantism and other Christian denominations.

  • Faustus is linked to do this school due to the plays anti-Catholic sentiments, as shown throughout the Pope scene.

• Fake exorcisms were common, as shown by Samuel Harsnet’s 1603 book ‘Popish Impostures‘. This shows how superstitious the audience were that watched this play.

  • A major point was the conjuring scenes, which the audience would have considered actual conjuring. It caused many to faint and leave the play.

• Catholics were persecuted in England, with books like the Book of Martyrs by Foxe. Additionally, Elizabeth was fighting a cold war against Catholic Spain, which worsened their treatment.

• In 1587, Queen Elizabeth defeated King Philip II’s armada, preventing him from conquering all of Europe in order to link it to the New World.

• Queen Elizabeth had a personal astrologer, John Dee, who dictated the date of her coronation and her horoscope as a child. When James I became King in 1063, John Dee lost his popularity, and died in 1608.

• In this society, those who challenged power were severely punished. When the Pope sent Catholics to England to convert Christians, Elizabeth caught and publicly executed them.

• Magicians like John Dee described their work as white magic, as it brought them closer to God. However, Martin Luther warned that John Faust called the devil ‘brother-in-law‘.

Religious narratives

• Faustus and Mepho’s devotion to Lucifer can be compared to Godly devotion, such as Jesus’ devotion to God.

  • ‘no more must he commands must we perform‘ said by Mepho.

  • ‘great Lucifer‘ is how Faustus refers to him.

• In Christianity, despair is when someone loses their belief in God’s forgiveness. It is considered one of the worst sins.

  • An example is Judas, who’s major sin wasn’t the betrayal of Jesus but lack of belief in God forgiving him.

  • This can be compared to Faustus, who betrayed God by serving Lucifer and believes he has gone too far for forgiveness.

• The Great Chain of Being was a strict hierarchical structure during this time, which was thought to be decreed by God. At the top is God, then beneath him is angels, then kings, princes, nobles, commoners, animals, plants and minerals.

  • It was believed you couldn’t move up this chain, meaning commoners were stuck at the bottom.

  • Faustus tried to move up this chain, however he only ever entertained nobles and kings, and never gained any real power of his own.

  • Additionally, it is shown that conjuring can only bring people down this Chain, shown when Mepho turns Dick and Robin into a dog and monkey.

• The seven deadly sins - gluttony, lust, wrath, envy, sloth, pride and greed - were written upon as early as the 400s. These are mortal sins, meaning they damn the sinner to hell.

• Puritans believed that people should focus on personal worship over the Queen’s church, but also that many sins should be punishable by death. They also hated theatre, as they believed it was immoral.

• A succubus is a demon in female form that seduces a man, with an incubus being its male counterpart. Demonality was the term for sex between a demon and human.

  • Faustus could be said to have committed this crime, as he takes Helen of Troy as a lover, even though she is dead.

• People were highly superstitious, for example in a monograph by G.J.R he claimed there was ‘one devil too many‘ and people were so scared they rushed out the doors, and some claimed they saw Lucifer himself.

  • Faustus recieved a similar reception, with people fainting, leaving and believing they saw real demons and even Lucifer himself.

• In Inferno, the first part of the 1300s epic poem Divine Comedy by Dante, he writes about travelling through the nine circles of hell. He begins in Limbo, where philosophers are placed for following man’s virtues over God’s, and ends in treachery where Judas resides.

Renaissance

• Aristotle defined human beings as rational animals, explaining that reason is a core characteristic of human nature. He also defined the highest human well-being as living a life consistently with reason, which he coined eudaimonia.

  • This likely influenced the renaissance and humanist thinking, where discovery was emphasised.

  • Additionally, Faustus lives outside of this reason, by choosing power over his knowledge of hell and damnation.

• Philosophical stoicism is the realisation that virtue is only achieved through knowledge and awareness.

  • Faustus links to this as he seeks knowledge, but avoids awareness of what this knowledge leads to, causing his downfall.

• Renaissance man was a term used to describe a person who was a polymath (scholar in multiple fields).

  • Faustus is shown to be a scholar of theology, law, medicine and logic.

• Humanism became a popular movement between the 1500s-1600s. People preferred Greek philosophy, ideas of reason and individual conscience over religion. This idea of self-enlightenment was in opposition to traditional religion.

• The age of discovery was a major part of the renaissance, with breakthroughs in astrology and science. An example is the discovery that Earth was not the centre of the solar system, but the sun. More lands were also discovered by Columbus and Drake, growing their respective empires.

  • Faustus is also attempting discovery via demonology, with one of his main requests being that Mepho answer all questions he asks of him.

• Elizabethan medicine followed the four humours, and believed that shifts in personality and physicality were caused by imbalances in these. They were blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm, and domiances would cause:

  • Blood - sanguine, would be jolly, fat and optimistic.

  • Yellow bile - choleric, short-tempered, ambitious, thin and red-haired.

  • Phlegm - phlegmatic, slow, pale, lazy.

  • Black bile - melancholic, thin, yellowish, worrisome.

  • Faustus is likely to have had a black bile dominance due to his over worrying, however he may have had a yellow bile dominance due to his over ambition.

  • Marlowe may have intended to show that Faustus’ changes in personality were caused by an imbalance. Throughout the play, he becomes more temperamental due to his fear of Hell, and switches between God and Lucifer. Additionally, he boasts a lack of fear of Hell, showing he may have lost sense.

Marlowe

• He was arrested by atheism by the Privy council in 1593. He was accused of having materials of ‘vile heretical ideas‘ and boasting that ‘Christ was a bastard‘.