FaustusLast Hour and Damnation Doctor Faustus c 1592

“Faustus’Last Hour and Damnation” Doctor Faustus (c. 1592) Christopher Marlowe

[The clock strikes eleven] FAUSTUS: Ah, Faustus. Now hast thou but one bare hour to live, And then thou must be damn'd perpetually! Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven, 5 That time may cease, and midnight never come; Fair Nature's eye, rise again, and make Perpetual day; or let this hour be but A year, a month, a week, a natural day, That Faustus may repent and save his soul! 10 O lente, lente currite, noctis equi! The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike, The devil will come, and Faustus must be damn'd. O, I'll leap up to my God!--Who pulls me down? -See, see, where Christ's blood streams in the firmament! 15 One drop would save my soul, half a drop: ah, my Christ!— Rend not my heart for naming of my Christ! Yet will I call on him: O, spare me, Lucifer!-Where is it now? ‘Tis gone: And see, where God stretcheth out his arm, 20 And bends his ireful brows! Mountains and hills, come, and fall on me, And hide me from the heavy wrath of God! No, no? Then will I headlong run into the earth:

25 Earth, gape! O, no, it will not harbour me! You stars that reign'd at my nativity, Whose influence hath alotted death and hell, Now draw up Faustus, like a foggy mist, Into the entrails of yon labouring clouds, 30 That, when you vomit forth into the air, My limbs may issue from your smoky mouths, So that my soul may but ascend to heaven! [The watch strikes] Ah, half the hour is past! 'twill all be past anon. O God, If thou wilt not have mercy on my soul, 35 Yet for Christ's sake, whose blood hath ransom'd me, Impose some end to my incessant pain; Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years, A hundred thousand, and at last be sav'd! O, no end is limited to damned souls! 40 Why wert thou not a creature wanting soul? Or why is this immortal that thou hast? Ah, Pythagoras' metempsychosis, were that true, This soul should fly from me, and I be chang'd Unto some brutish beast! 45 All beasts are happy, For, when they die, their souls are soon dissolv'd in elements; But mine must live still to be plagu'd in hell. Curs'd be the parents that engender'd me! No, Faustus, curse thyself, curse Lucifer

50 That hath depriv'd thee of the joys of heaven. [The clock strikes twelve. ] O, it strikes! Now, body, turn to air, Or Lucifer will bear thee quick to hell! O soul, be chang'd into little water-drops, And fall into the ocean, ne'er be found! [Thunder and enter THE DEVILS] 55 My God, my God, look not so fierce on me! Adders and serpents, let me breathe a while! Ugly hell, gape not! Come not, Lucifer! I'll burn my books! – Ah, Mephostophilis! [Exeunt with him ]

LANGUAGE THROUGH LITERATURE 1. a. – b. – Look at the word highlighted in green in line 2. What is “thou”? It’s a personal pronoun. Can you guess its grammatical function in the text? It’s a subject. c. Now highlight in green all the archaic personal pronouns in the text and say if they are subjects or objects. Then find their equivalent in modern English. PERSONAL PRONOUN FUNCTION MODERN ENGLISH thou (ll. 1, 2, 34, 40, 41); subject you thee (ll. 50, 52); object you thyself (49); object yourself

2. Can you find any other archaic words or grammatical forms in the text? Highlight them in yellow, then give the equivalent in modern English. ARCHAIC MODERN hast ‘Tis stretcheth hath yon forth ‘twill anon wilt wert have (l. 1) it is (l. 18) stretches (l. 19) has (ll. 27, 35, 50) those (l. 29) out (l. 30) it will (l. 33) soon (l. 33) will (l. 34) were (l. 40)

3. Read the text again. Highlight in blue all the words linked to the idea of time and its representation. Then group them according to the following headings Nouns adjectives hour (l. 1) ever-moving (l. 4) time (ll. 5, 11) perpetual (l. 7) midnight (l. 5) natural (l. 8) day (ll. 7, 8) incessant (l. 36) year (l. 8) immortal (l. 41) month (l. 8) week (l. 8) clock (l. 11) half the hour (l. 33) a thousand years (l. 37) a hundred thousand years (l. 38) no end (l. 39)

4. Look at the expression “Fair Nature’s eye” highlighted in pink in line 6 a. Say what the poet is referring to. • He is referring to the sun. b. This is a common rhetorical device: which one? • It is a metaphor. c. What is the verb linked to “Fair Nature’s eye” in the text? • The imperative “rise” is linked to “Fair Nature’s eye” in the text. d. What is the verb suggesting the opposite action? • The verb suggesting the opposite action is “to set”. e. What two nouns originate from these verbs • sunrise / sunset. GUIDED ANALYSIS 1. Consider the first part of the passage (up to line 32) a. What is Faustus obsessed by? – He is obsessed by the passing of time. b. Why? – Because he fears eternal damnation.

GUIDED ANALYSIS 1. Consider the first part of the passage (up to line 32) c. Faustus open his monologue with an invocation to himself. What may be the reason 2. for this quite unusual behaviour? – He knows he is the only one responsible for his eternal damnation but he doesn’t want to accept it : perhaps he’s just trying to convince himself to face reality and what is unavoidable (ll. 1 – 2). d. To whom does Faustus address his request for help in a last attempt to avoid damnation? – He addresses: – LINES 4 – 10 the celestial spheres (ll. 4 – 5); and the sun (ll. 6 – 8); – LINES 11 – 22 Christ (5 – 16), Lucifer (l. 17), mountains and hills (ll. 21 – 22) – LINES 23 – 32 the earth (l. 25), the stars (ll. 26 – 32). Now consider the second part. What is Faustus ready to do in the attempt to avoid eternal Hell? – LINES 34 – 38 He asks God to forgive him. – LINES 40 – 47 He wonders whether Pythagora’s theory is right and wishes his soul could enter an animal instead of suffering eternal damnation. – LINES 48 – 54 He wishes his body would turn into air and his soul into little water drops that would fall into the ocean. – LINES 55 – 58 He is ready to burn the book of black magic that gave him power in life but are giving him eternal damnation.

GUIDED ANALYSIS 3. Focus on time a. How much time passes between the beginning and the end of the dramatic monologue? • One hour b. Can we say that Faustus is obsessed by the idea of being damned for eternity? Give evidence. The whole passage reveals Faustus’ fear of death and eternal damnation as well as his despair of being saved. Stage directions as well as Faustus’ words stress the passing of time: [The clock strikes eleven] ; [The watch strikes]; [The clock strikes twelve]; “bare hour” (l. 2); “Stand still …. come” (ll. 4 – 5): “Fair Nature’s eye … day” (ll. 6 – 8); “O lente …. equi” (l. 10); The stars. . . strike) (l. 11); “Ah, half the hour. . . anon” (l. 33);

GUIDED ANALYSIS 4. Focus on language and style. a. What kind of metre does Marlowe use? • He uses blank verse*. b. How many syllables are there in most lines? • Ten syllables. c. What is the name of the metre used? • Iambic pentameter. d. How do we know/guess that Marlowe was conscious of addressing his drama to an audience made up of both learned and ordinary people? • The language he uses is rich in religious and philosophical references as well as in images; on the other hand a number of invocations and exclamations are made of short sentences which appealed to a less educated audience. 5. Personal response a. Which do you think are the most touching words in Faustus’ soliloquy? • Lines 10 – 22 are highly dramatic, as well as lines 51 – 52 and 55 – 58. b. Faustus’ final cry is “Ah Mephostophilis”: how do you interpret his last invocation? • He curses Mephistophilis who has led him to eternal damnation. • *Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter.

GUIDED SUMMARY 6. Fill in the blanks. Choose from the list below. soul repent soul shelter damnation soliloquy rather cause devil This passage is Faustus’ last soliloquy. He is alone in his room and is waiting for the devil to come and take him away. He is invoking God’s mercy to save his soul, but he doesn’t really repent. He knows the earth can’t give him shelter and he wishes he did not have a soul: he would rather be a brutish beast and live happily. His last offer is to burn his books which have been the cause of his damnation.