drama

I once read that "Dr Faustus" by Christopher Marlowe was a prime example of pre-Gothic horror, and I can put my name to that. The play has aspects of suspense, morality and tragedy, all couched in wondrous language. In its bare tragic tone, I think this story is the best one ever retelling the life of Faust. The "hero's" final mad soliloquy before being taken by the fiends is certainly among the strongest poetry I've read. I enjoyed it immensely, since it shook me to the depths of my soul. There is plenty of broad humour in the middle which kind of breaks the plot, but without it the tension might have been unbearable. If I could only write like this!

I do not feel Marlowe's "Faustus" is quite as good as his "Massacre at Paris" or "Edward II," but I still consider it an outstanding play. "Faustus" is very true to life in that many people can not stay behind the 'this far and no further point.' The opening is quite chilling as Faustus decides that the legitimate knowledge of this world is not good enough and he immediately decides to cross into forbidden territory even at the expense of his soul. To this day, I never have forgotten the chills I felt in 2.1 when Faustus signs the unholy contract. It is interesting that even after Faustus signs the contract, that he is presented with several oppurtunities to escape his fate: "Faustus, repent; yet God will pity thee" (2.2.12). But he can not give up the fruits of the contract. (His powers, having Mephostophilis at his command, etc.) After the chilling tension of the first 2 acts, Marlowe releases the tension for the next two acts by having Faustus perform several practical jokes (of an evil nature to be sure), but nevertheless it offers a release of tension while at the same time we can see how malignant Faustus has become. I once read that many people feel the 3rd and 4th act are way too silly and that they drag the play down. But I don't think this is the case at all. I can not help but think Marlowe was trying to point out that in all honesty, there was a worthless aspect of the fruits Faustus sold his soul for. Furthermore, Acts 3 and 4 help us to see the mentally disturbed side of Christopher Marlowe himself. In 5.1, Faustus has 1 final chance to avoid his fate, but he resolves himself to damnation after enjoying Helen of Troy. If I were a betting man I would be willing to wage that Marlowe is pointing out that sex is an ultimate driving force. To this day, I have never been able to forget the final soliloquy of despair in 5.2 followed by the demons carrying Faustus off to hell. Marlowe himself dedicated much of his life to blasphemy, and I can not help but feel he was coming to terms with the church and starting to realize he better cut it out or else. Not only is this an excellent play, but it also helps us to take a look at Marlowe himself.

My interest in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus is far different than most. Whereas the majority of readers are interested in the play for its basic themes of religion and the juxtaposing of the Medieval/Renaissance worlds, or for its value for the theatre, mine was specifically for *why* Faustus sold his soul to Mephostophilis, and what great feats of necromancy were performed.

Why was I interested in that? Certainly not because I have aspirations of being a Necromancer. That would be ridiculous. My interest was for research for a book that I'm working on, where a group of people engage in acts of magic that would be classified as necromantic.

So I was initially disappointed when I discovered that there was no necromancy here - nay, there is "nigromancy", which strictly defined means "black magic". That black magic is, of course, the summoning of Mephostophilis.

As I read further, however, I found that it contained exactly what I was looking for, and that the characters in the book I'm working on were surprisingly Faustian. The parallels were quite encouraging, and I took more from the work than I originally thought I would. I also enjoyed it tremendously for the themes and motifs which are its hallmark (mentioned above). It's a terrific play, and I'm now looking forward to seeing it performed.