The One True Dave

Doctor Faustus

By Christopher Marlowe.  First performed in 1594 by The Admiral’s Men, Philip Henslowe’s company.

Speaking Characters:

Chorus

Doctor Faustus

Wagner, his student and servant

Good Angel

Bad Angel

Valdes (Magician)

Cornelius (Magician)

Three Scholars

Lucifer, Prince of Devils

Mephostophilis, a Devil

Robin, a Clown

Belzebub, a Devil

The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Covetousness, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth, Lechery

Dick, a Clown

Pope Adrian

Raymond, King of Hungary

Bruno, rival Pope appointed by the Emperor

Two Cardinals

Archbishop of Rheims

Friars

Vintner

Gentlemen at the Emperor’s Court: Martino, Frederick, Benvolio

The German Emperor, Charles the Fifth

Duke of Saxony

Two Soldiers

Horse-courser, a Clown

Carter, a Clown

Hostess of a Tavern

Duke of Vanholt

Duchess of Vanholt

Servant

Old Man

Mute Characters:

Darius of Persia, Alexander the Great, Alexander’s Paramour, Helen of Troy, Devils, Piper, Cardinals, Monks, Friars, Attendants, Soldiers, Servants, Two Cupids

Plot: Dr. Faustus, tired and frustrated with conventional avenues of learning, tries his hand at the forbidden arts with the initial idea of better helping mankind, ie curing the plague, etc.  However, Faustus is duped into falling into base pleasures and impressing his friends.  The play opens with Faustus alone in his study.  He conjures a devil.  Mephistopheles arrives – too ugly to look upon – and Faustus sends him back to return as something more pleasing. Mephistopheles returns as  monk.  They negotiate the contract wherein Mephistopheles will do Faustus’ bidding and answer all his questions (except those regarding Heaven) for four and twenty years in exchange for Faustus’ immortal soul.  Faustus says he doesn’t really believe in Hell so he signs.  Lucifer and Beelzebub arrive to “give Faustus some pastime” and show him the seven sins.  Faustus is excited.  He travels the universe with Mephistopheles and ends up at the Vatican.  There, the Pope has the rival Pope (a reference to the schism in the Roman Catholic Church during the 1300s) in chains.  Faustus has a great time abusing priests and actually punching the Pope as he has Bruno (the rival Pope) whisked away back to Germany on the back of a dragon.  Act III is actually very funny.

Act IV consists of making fools of several knights and a Horse-courser through trickery using a false leg, putting horns on Knights heads, showing the shades of Alexander the Great, and a horse made of straw (that dissolves in the river when the Horse-courser rides into it.  There is a large (possibly comedic) battle between the wronged Knights and Faustus’ devils in the woods.  The clowns, led by the Horse-courser confront Faustus at the house of a Duke and Duchess.  Faustus glamours the clowns to the delight of the Duke.

Act V begins with Wagner and the scholars talking about the change coming over Faustus.  The time is drawing near.  Faustus commands Mephistopheles to bring him Helen of Troy.  It is here Marlowe got his reputation for writing his “mighty line” by monologues like these: “Is this the face that launched a thousand ships/And burnt the topless towers of Illium?/Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss;/ Her lips suck forth my soul, see where it flies!/Come Helen, come, give me my soul again;/Here will I dwell, for heaven be in these lips,/And all is dross that is not Helena…”  Faustus is joined by an Old Man who tells him it is not too late to repent.  Faustus doesn’t believe him.  The clocks strikes, Lucifer and Beelzebub appear and drag him to Hell (through a Hell-mouth – a convention taken from medieval miracle plays).  The next morning the scholars find some of Faustus’ body parts strewn in the study.  The Chorus gives an epilogue warning about meddling in unlawful things.

I have directed this play twice.  It is known as “the men’s play” because there are very few women (two out of scores) and only one has lines.  Helen doesn’t speak.  However, both times I used an ensemble cast of half male, half female.  Many characters, like the angels, vices, clowns, etc. are not gender specific.  It has surprised me, however, how much pressure I have received to cast Mephistopheles as a woman.  I did not wishing not to reinforce the binary of the rational male pitted against the deceitful woman.

This play fits an expressionistic reading very well.  The world of the play revolves around one character who is present in (almost) every scene.  The world of the play changes depending on the perspective of the protagonist.  The allusion to deceit and illusion can be reinforced and layered by implying it may all take place in Faustus’ mind.

The tragic flaw in Faustus is his hubris.  He assumes he is more clever than the devil and pays for it.  His initial good intentions are quickly turned to pure hedonism and mean trickery including throwing huge parties, sleeping with Helen of Troy and punching the Pope.

I love this play.