Doctor Faustus By Christopher Marlowe Cristofer Marley Biographical

Doctor Faustus By Christopher Marlowe (Cristofer Marley)

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

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.

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.

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.

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 Raleigh’s School of Night, a circle of freethinkers who indulged in indiscreet philosophical discussion and allegedly in blasphemies concerning the name of God.

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 Frizer’s 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.

Yikes! • Sounds painful

But something’s fishy… • In the spring of 1593, a friend of Marlowe’s was captured and tortured by the Queen’s 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.

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 Queen’s secret service, and the cousin of the Queen’s 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.

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 theatre claimed them as his own and had them performed on the stage. .

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 Shakespeare’s work and Marlowe’s were due to intertextuality.

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 giving his glory to someone else may have been necessary.

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

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

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”?

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…

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?

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…

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.

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

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.

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!)

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.

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

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

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 1400 s, 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.

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.

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.

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?

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?