Answer TWO of
the following for class:
Q1: The Chorus
of the Epilogue warns, “Regard his hellish fall,/Whose fiendful fortune may
extort the wise/Only to wonder at unlawful things” (395). Since
Epilogues/Choruses were often added by other hands or companies, does this seem
a fitting end or moral to the play? Is this a morality play about the dangers
of learning—or forbidden learning? Should it extort the audience to
collectively “burn their books”? Or is this merely one aspect—or a simpler aspect—of
the play that Marlowe envisioned?
Q2: Given
Faustus’ interest in cosmology, truth, and other divine secrets, why does he
use all his power simply to play tricks on popes, put horns on knights, and
conjure up grapes and dead women? Given that he has a personal demon to do his
bidding, are these surprisingly mundane conjurings? Why doesn’t he have more
lofty ambitions, and/or why wouldn’t he try to solve more ‘forbidden’ truths?
Q3: Scene 14 is
one of the most dramatic and poetic passages of the entire play, and Marlowe
uses the passing of time to great effect (notice the stage directions as he
speaks). How does Marlowe attempt to humanize him through some of his greatest
poetry throughout this scene, particularly in his final soliloquy?
Q4: This is the
A-Text of Dr. Faustus, which contains
many scenes that are not in the slightly longer B-Text. Some of these passages
might be additions, or they might be passages Marlowe himself revised after
further thought. If you had to perform the play, is there a specific scene or
passage you would omit either because it isn’t particularly effective, or because
you feel it is unworthy of the rest of the play? Briefly explain why the
removal of this scene/moment would improve the play.
Elyse Marquardt
ReplyDeleteQ2: Faustus has imagined himself as a great magician, bringing all the world to its knees in awe of the power he will have as a result of his interaction with demons. But when he does have power, he uses it to play stupid jokes and entertain himself in the most inane of ways. This could point toward the fact that he has been fooling himself the whole time and is not really in charge of these demons at all. Rather, they are in charge of him and are controlling him to turn him into the greatest fool that ever lived, instead of the most powerful king who ever ruled. Faustus is the slave of his powers, not vice versa. Just as the demons distract him from thinking about the eternal state of his soul with gifts and attractive sins, so they distract him from his great plans with the silliest pastimes of each moment.
Q3: Throughout this play, we have caught glimpses of Faustus's humanity in the moments of weakness he experiences. Now and then, he anxiously wonders how beneficial this contract with the devil really is; but then he always gets distracted by the sins of the moment, and we forget to feel sorry for him. But now nothing is left to Faustus. His time is nearly up, and each strike of the clock brings him closer to his doom. He has no sins left to distract him--or us--and therefore Faustus is laid bare to both himself and the audience. His desperation for salvation is almost palpable; and we are able to feel sorry for him without any of the disgust or mockery that we may have felt for him previously, due to his delusions of grandeur.
Elyse Marquardt
Yes, Faustus is himself a kind of metaphor for the man whose lusts and desires control him, shackling him to very earthbound pursuits rather than allowing him to tackle the mysteries of heaven and earth. The tragedy of the play is how quickly he abandons his lofty ideals and questions for very silly pursuits which bring him no joy but promise his doom. Marlowe seems to enjoy the pettiness of Faustus, which reminds us that knowledge is no end in itself--you have to use it as a tool for something greater. Ironically, this is why Faustus rejects rhetoric, medicine, law, and religion, which he sees as merely existing for its own sake. Then he falls into the same trap!
DeleteMason Horanzy
ReplyDeleteQ2- I think that Faustus has become slightly jaded with knowledge, and does silly things with his power “because he can”. Faustus expresses his naivety when he is given amazing power, but only uses them for his amusement. He is so enthused that he loses his foresight, much like a kid in a candy store.
Q4- I don’t think I would omit any scenes from the play. First of all, I feel that it is important to stick to tradition as much as possible, so I would try not to “butcher” the play. Second, I feel that the play is fluid and dramatic as is, and does not require extensive editing. Even the somewhat controversial comic relief scenes would remain in order to be faithful to the original. Plus, a little comedy relief is always a nice touch.
I understand, but you HAVE to 'butcher' a play--there is no traditional Dr. Faustus, since we have two versions, each of which is "the right one." We have no idea which one is more definitive, whether the earlier or the later, and every performance has to decide to do one or the other, or to cut, or to juxtapose, etc. So when you already go that far, the small next step is to say "do we really need this scene?" Also, consider the audience--how much silly comedy would be too much for our tastes? I could see it all working, but some audiences might tire of the rather pedestrian jokes and long for more of the fire and brimstone of Mephistopheles and Lucifer.
DeleteQ1: I think the Epilogue is a fitting end to the play because it wraps the play up with a nice bow, outlining the moral very nicely. I think they did that because back in the time when Dr. Faustus was written, no one could speak out against the church. By even writing these words, Marlowe committed a huge sin against the society of the time. The person who wrote the epilogue was making sure that Marlowe covered his bases and couldn't be held responsible for the actions or words of people who watched the play. He, and everyone associated with the play- if questioned- could just say "listen, we told them it was just a play. We told them not to question God or the establishment".
ReplyDeleteQ2: While it may look like all Dr. Faustus does is use his powers and knowledge to do silly things, these things are just masking the real meanings of his actions. When he went with Mephistopheles to mess with the pope, he was really showing the audience that not even the highest authority of God's personnel can ward of demons and devils. That would give the people something to think about back in the days of Marlowe. When Dr. Faustus gave the knight horns, he gave the audience a nice laugh, but also allowed the audience to have some sort of equality. If they had ever been given a hard time by a knight or someone higher in the social hierarchy, they could take solace in the scene. So on and so on throughout the scenes. They may look silly to us, but they would really speak to the audience at the time.
Yes, the epilogue is a nice bow which seems to knock the play squarely back in the "morality play" genre from which it originated. But it also reminds me of the moral to Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner--"to love all things both great and small," etc. It's correct, and it's fitting, but it's not enough. It only hints at one reading and perhaps not the prime motivation for Marlowe to write this play or be drawn to Faustus. Why do you think he humanized a character that simply needed to exemplify the human sin of pride and arrogance?
Delete3) Faustus realizes his mistake in the beginning. He's swayed by Lucifer and Mephistopheles, as they tell him not to mention God or his "deal" to anyone. I think it all becomes very apparent to him that this is real, and that he's actually going to Hell. He asks for God's forgiveness, even though he knows his fate is inevitable. "O God/ If though wilt not have mercy on my soul/Yet for Christ's sake, whose blood hath ransomed me/Impose some end to my incessant pain" (Marlowe 394). He had a choice to make, and he chose The Life instead. He wanted to be successful in life (he didn't really use his power to do much of anything, but mainly to impress those around him), and I think that I think he found out how insignificant his life on Earth is as opposed to an eternity in Hell.
ReplyDelete4) I'm a very traditional person, myself. I don't like change very much, so I feel like I wouldn't change any of the scenes at all. Marlowe may have changed the original script, but it was HIS play. He can do whatever he wants with it. I, on the other hand, think there is no problem with the play as it is. However, if I am to argue with myself, I do think that Scene 11 came out of nowhere. Faustus used his "power" to cheat the Horse Courser, then his leg came off as the Courser tried to waken him. All while Faustus ponders on his awful life decision of selling his soul to the Devil, and he realizes that his time is coming to an end. That's probably the only scene that I would take out, just because it seemed so out of place - unless Marlowe was just using it to show his readers how much of an (excuse my language) ass he is.
Do you really think he realizes his mistake early? I think you're right, he has flashes of doubt and mortality, but these are easily shaken aside by his logic or his pride. I think it might be more accurate to say that early on, he has doubts, and he learns to shake these and becomes lost in his own pleasures and the seduction of Mephistopheles. Maybe in the first weeks or months he sees his error, but he spends most of the rest of his life in a delusion of power. Then, too late, he tries to find the logical loophole to get out of it.
DeleteQ1. I think that this is a fitting end to the play; however, I do see it as a warning for those who are considering testing morality. In the last line, "To practice more than heavenly power permits," the audience is being told that knowledge is good, when you are learning the right things. This passage is warning against dark teachings, allowing Faustus to be the example of how knowledge can be bad. This is also a way to further signify that while the play was talking about ungodly things, it was not condoning them. As a way to speak about some of these taboo topics, especially against the church, this allows Marlowe to further remove himself from these ideas, perhaps keeping him safe in both the public and the church eye.
ReplyDeleteQ2. Throughout the play I found myself asking this question time and time again. Faustus is made into such a Renaissance man, that the audience is lead to believe he is in the pursuit of real knowledge, yet when he is given the power to learn anything he plays tricks and seems mindless. I wonder if this is Marlowe's way of showing the audience that Faustus is above all a man, the same as many of them. This also inserts a perfect way to reach the audiences of lower classes who may not be concerned with the pursuit of knowledge themselves. It is important that Marlowe find a medium in which he is able to speak to both audiences. His petty use of his new found powers is also a way for Faustus to flaunt his disobedience and further prove that he is not scared of being damned, and he is able to do whatever he wants to.
Great points--he is the consummate Renaissance man, especially in the negative sense. He is too overweening and prideful, and refuses to believe he has anything more to learn, and everything to teach. Yet the questions he asks in the beginning of the play are just and are important to Marlowe's society. He's not a fool, he just loses sight of why he asked the question and sought knowledge in the first place. It ironically became an end in itself, which is why he abandoned all the other traditional arts.
DeleteQ2. Before Faustus sold his soul, he had grand ambitions for using his power to solve the mysteries of the world and accomplish great things. However, once he was actually given the power, it was almost as if he didn’t know what to do with it and therefore used it to accomplish frivolous things. I am surprised that Marlowe was an atheist because to me this play sends a strong Christian message. It is almost as if it is saying if you reject God you will be left without a sense of true purpose and will be content with meaningless ambitions.
ReplyDeleteQ3. In this final scene we see Faustus as someone who has come to the end of himself and is feeling the weight of his decisions. Marlow accentuates his humanity by showing us the raw anguish he is experiencing, anguish which grows stronger with each strike of the clock. In one second he seems to be almost calling to Christ while in the next he is cursing himself for the destiny he has chosen. This passage humanizes him because he is laying bare the emotions that every human at one time or another feels, those of guilt, remorse, and fear.
Well, Marlowe may or may not have been an atheist; he was arrested for allegedly saying he was (we'll read about that soon), but it could have just been blackmail. His plays certainly suggest that he had a fascination for outsiders and Machiavellian characters, and this play is no different. He seems to take a tried-and-true genre, that of the morality play (where moral standards are dramatized before the audience) and gives it more of an edge. Faustus is more complex than he needs to be for such a simple message (don't make deals with the devil). And even Mephistopheles is more interesting and human than he should be. Which makes us ask, "what did Marlowe really want to dramatize in this play besides the moral?"
DeleteMarilyn Kull
ReplyDeleteQ3: This scene is particularly riveting because of the amount of awareness we see from Faustus. Not only is he aware of his impending doom, but he is aware of the fact that he will be damned to hell. Faustus is humanized through the text as he pleads for salvation. His final hour is spent reflecting on the fact that he learned nothing and gained nothing.
Q4: I would remove scene 11 because it made the least sense to me. I didn't pick up on the humor when I read the text on my own, not did I pick up on the (literal) leg pulling. For me it was a "black magic"-less scene that felt very out of place. It leads into scene 12 by introducing the Duke and Ditches, but it is overall not necessary to the plot.
What do you think makes him finally aware of his fate? Is it just the expiration of his contract? Does something else in the play signal the reality of what he dismissed before as myth or superstition? And even in this final speech, doesn't it suggest that he can still beat it? Does he really give up until the very final line?
DeleteQ2: Faustus uses his new found powers to do strange things; however, I believe Faustus show his inner most desires through the actions he takes. He shows he never had a normal childhood or young adult life when he defiles the Pope and summons a lover out of the Myths. He was denied love and religion because of his pursuit of knowledge. Marlowe shows the viewers that the "Renaissance Man" suffers in his personal life to gain the high knowledge of the time through Faustus' actions.
ReplyDeleteQ3: Faustus is humanized in the final scene when he shows his fear of Lucifer. He te3lls the scholars to leave out of fear for them and even trembles when thinking about calling out toe God for help considering he has been told if he does he will be rippe4d apart. Marlowe shows the truly human side of Faustus here with an emotion all the viewers have felt and really pounds home the sense of damnation with Faustus' fear in his final soliloquy.
That's a good point: as a scholar from a young age (and he would have had to devote his life to it), he's had little interaction with society or the opposite sex. So maybe this is like a teenager who suddenly winds up alone in college. The first year is often not spent as wisely as it should be! For Faustus, that freshman year is 24 years or so! And then, of course, it's too late.
Delete1. It's not that the play demonizes knowledge and learning. It just shows the dangers of over-stepping. That the truly learned and wise would understand where the line is drawn and when it is better to repent for trespasses over that line. And to make use of what they already know as well as how learning is never truly done. Faustus was mistaken when he assumed he knew all there was to know at the beginning, a position afforded to him by privilege and a comfy living. That carries over to his treatment of demons (you can't exist!) and his quickness to take back any repenting (admittedly helped by the fact that Lucifer and Mephistopheles was on that, so, so fast).
ReplyDelete2. It's rather odd that such a learned man went to such depths to A)receive his knowledge and B) do so little of true value with it. It shows that, despite his great intellect, he's actually really immature. He had such high aspirations at first (to cure diseases once and for all to name one) but when he finally receives the power to do so he's blinded by it. Though, to be fair, it doesn't seem like he considered it worthy of his time in the first place. He didn't just want to be well learned, he wanted to have the freedom to do whatever he wants. Previously, he never would have gotten away with slapping the Pope, but with a demon serving him, it's no problem... Like Candide, curiously enough, when he finds El Dorado. Only Faustus sold his Soul and Candide literally stumbled into paradise.
Kenia Starry
Yes, in Q2. is reminds me of our discussion that he's basically a teenager--he uses his powers for petulant outbursts, revenge, and naughtiness. He wants to show the world who he is rather than understand the world. He spends twenty-odd years doing little more than conjuring grapes and doing cheap magical tricks. That's the sting to "be careful what you wish for": you might get it, and might not know what to do with it!
DeleteDevin Martinez
ReplyDeleteQ1: When we first got into this play, I found myself trying to decide if Dr. Faustus is a character that the audience is supposed to feel sorry for, or if he is someone to learn from. I believe that The Chorus of the Epilogue is a fitting end to the play because, to me, it sums up my perspective of what the play is trying to give the audience. In the lines “Regard his hellish fall,/Whose fiendful fortune may extort the wise/Only to wonder at unlawful thing” (395), I believe the message is a clear warning to those who might feel the urge to follow the movement of questioning things that had otherwise or previously just been credited to God. I think the idea is to be knowledgeable, but never in excess. I don’t believe the idea is about the dangers of learning but rather the dangers of seeking knowledge for power.
Q2:I believe that Faustus is naive when it comes to the sort of power he is seeking out. As a simple human, Faustus has obtained all the knowledge available to the known world and is seeking more from the unknown. While the design is set for an all-powerful being, Dr. Faustus’ true self shines through. His true self being one that, not unlike others, would only use to the power to pursue his own agenda. He does not set out with the intention to commit these pranks but rather takes advantage of the moment acting with emotion rather than logic, which is counter to Faustus’ entire persona. I would argue that because Faustus sees Mephis as an equal or even of less intelligence than himself, it has not even occurred to Faustus the type of power he has available to him. Faustus is too caught up in his own battle of wits against Lucifer to concern himself with solving more ‘forbidden’ truths.
Yes, Faustus lacks the wisdom to use his vast knowledge, and has never truly met his equal; he assumes that because he can command Mephistopheles, the latter is his inferior--yet M. tells him in no uncertain terms that only the promise of his soul keeps him from ripping him apart. His insistence on seeing a bond of friendship between them is touching and sad, and his final plea at the end of the play to "Mephistopheles!" is the first dawning that he has no friends in hell, which his own reading should have told him.
DeleteDaniel Bonar
ReplyDeleteQ2: I believe Dr. Faustus used his powers for lunacy because Marlowe wanted to make a point that humans were not made to meddle in the dealings of the metaphysical. While Marlowe himself may not have been the most spiritual person in the world, a commonly held belief at the time was that priests, nuns, and the Pope were the only mortals qualified to to really acquire an understanding of the spiritual realm. For the sake of drama I choose to see this a plow of the church intended to keep the groundlings of the audience scared of toeing the line between questions of morality and heresy.
Q3: Marlowe uses scene 14 to show us that while Faustus had every power he could possibly have, even Lucifer can't slow the passage of time. Time is the one thing that affects every class the same, and therefore all strata of the audience can become emotionally invested because everyone knows the fear of time running out. Marlowe is in effect pointing out that it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, or intelligent or stupid, time waits for no one and that what you do with you time absolutely makes a difference, especially in how you approach death.
Great responses--I like how you tied your reading into the prevailing orthodoxy and how it rescued the play from charges of heresy or satanic glorification. It's clearly a morality play when read in this light, even if Marlowe slipped in hints to suggest otherwise.
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ReplyDelete