Dr. Faustas
UNIT 2 THE TRAGIC DRAMA OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS
Structure
2.0
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4
2.5
Objectives Introduction
Doctor Faustus as a tragedy Doctor Faustus and the Christian Morality Tradition
The heroic character of Doctor Faustus The tragic premise in Doctor Faustus The strength of tragedy Act I : Doctor Faustus: The Unscholarly attitude Act I1 : The Unfolding of Faustus' tragedy Acts 111 & IV : The Comic diversion of tragedy Act V : The tragic denouement of Doctor Faustus Marlowe's achievement in Doctor Faustus
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
2.10 2.1 1
2.12
Doctor Faustus : appeal to 20"' century
References Key Words Questions Annotations Suggested Readings
2.1 3
2.14
2.1 5
2.. 16
2.1 7
2.0
OBJECTIVES
This Unit discusses how Doctor Faustus emerges as a great tragedy. The focus is on how it is modelled after a Christian morality play and how the play transcends the morality ethos within its structure to become a great human tragedy.
Doctor Faustus was written for the Admiral's Men and was staged in 1588. It's first Quarto edition was published in 1604. Several reprints of this Quarto appeared subsequently with some interpolations. in 1616, an enlarged edition of the
a ow ever,
play was p~~blished containing many comic scenes absent in the 1604 ed~tion. Contemporary editions of Doctor Fazfsfi~s depend on both tlie 1604 and 1616 versions of the play.
2.2
DOCTOR FAUSTUS AS A TRAGEDY
One has to wade through several conflicting traditions to look at the dramatic core of Doctor Faustus. The influence of the traditions of orthodox Christianity, of the Reformation the Renaissance, of Paganism, of individualism and the incipient scientific modernity is exhaustive in the play. One is lost in the pervasive or conflicting claims of these traditions. However, the strength of the play lies in its disturbing impact on the audience, whether Elizbethan or modern a fact that vouchsafes that the play is not exhausted by the claims of a
Structure
2.0
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4
2.5
Objectives Introduction
Doctor Faustus as a tragedy Doctor Faustus and the Christian Morality Tradition
The heroic character of Doctor Faustus The tragic premise in Doctor Faustus The strength of tragedy Act I : Doctor Faustus: The Unscholarly attitude Act I1 : The Unfolding of Faustus' tragedy Acts 111 & IV : The Comic diversion of tragedy Act V : The tragic denouement of Doctor Faustus Marlowe's achievement in Doctor Faustus
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
2.10 2.1 1
2.12
Doctor Faustus : appeal to 20"' century
References Key Words Questions Annotations Suggested Readings
2.1 3
2.14
2.1 5
2.. 16
2.1 7
2.0
OBJECTIVES
This Unit discusses how Doctor Faustus emerges as a great tragedy. The focus is on how it is modelled after a Christian morality play and how the play transcends the morality ethos within its structure to become a great human tragedy.
Doctor Faustus was written for the Admiral's Men and was staged in 1588. It's first Quarto edition was published in 1604. Several reprints of this Quarto appeared subsequently with some interpolations. in 1616, an enlarged edition of the
a ow ever,
play was p~~blished containing many comic scenes absent in the 1604 ed~tion. Contemporary editions of Doctor Fazfsfi~s depend on both tlie 1604 and 1616 versions of the play.
2.2
DOCTOR FAUSTUS AS A TRAGEDY
One has to wade through several conflicting traditions to look at the dramatic core of Doctor Faustus. The influence of the traditions of orthodox Christianity, of the Reformation the Renaissance, of Paganism, of individualism and the incipient scientific modernity is exhaustive in the play. One is lost in the pervasive or conflicting claims of these traditions. However, the strength of the play lies in its disturbing impact on the audience, whether Elizbethan or modern a fact that vouchsafes that the play is not exhausted by the claims of a