Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus": Parody or Tragedy?

Paper Summary:

The author of this paper suggests that Chrisopher Marlowe's work,"The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus", functions as a kind of medieval morality play but that, at the same time, the play is also a manifest parody of the Catholic faith. Throughout his critique of the play, the writer brings examples from the play itself to substantiate his arguments as well as references from other research papers and books.

From the Paper:

"In terms of its philosophy, Marlowe's play has been called atheistic in a quintessentially Renaissance fashion, condemning both Protestant anxieties about Catholicism as well as Catholicism itself. Biographically, this is supported Marlowe's likely membership in the infamous Elizabethan secret society known as the 'School of Night' along with Sir Walter Raleigh and the mathematician John Dee. A sampling of the words others claimed to be Marlowe penned by this secret association: "Them that love not tobacco and boys are fools. /The first beginning of religion was only to keep men in awe. /If the Jews, among whom Christ was born, crucified him, they knew him best" (Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, Renaissance Thought and the New Universe,, 1997). Initially, in the spirit of secularism and the Renaissance Faustus shines as: his "opening soliloquy expresses his desire to reach beyond the constraints of ordinary fields of knowledge" (Kinney 1997). But his attempt to transcend all limitations can only be articulated within the constraints of his own language and his own imagination" and seemingly deflates the possibility of dwelling in a world without God to limit human behavior (Kinney 1999). Ultimately, Faustus' desire for knowledge that transcends morality makes him attractive as a character on one hand, but when, as a mortal, he is given infinite power, he does not seek wisdom, but rather uses it in a petty manner to amuse himself, such as when he conjures up the 'Seven Deadly Sins' for his and Mephistopheles' enjoyment. "What character in English Renaissance drama better exemplifies desire and appetitiveness than Faustus? What character more thoroughly banishes the world in order to replace it with the solipsistic trappings of his fantasy" (Hamlin 2001, p.27)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus." Renaissance Thought and the New Universe. 14 Apr 1997. University of Dartmouth. 10 Sept 2008. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/MathCulture/4-14.html
• Hamlin, William. "Casting Doubt in Marlowe's 'Doctor Faustus.'" Studies in English Literature:1500-1900. Vol. 41, 2001. 10 Sept 2008. http://freessays.0catch.com/marlowehamlin.html
• Kinney, Claire. Notes on Dr. Faustus. English 381 Lecture. University of Virginia.25 Oct 1999. 10 Sept 2008.http://faculty.virginia.edu/engl381ck/10_25.html
• "The Magician, the Playwright and the Heretic: The Sixteenth Century: An Overview." W.W. Norton & Co. 10 Sept 2008. http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/16century/topic_1/welcome.htm
• Marlowe, Christopher. "The Tragicall History of Dr. Faustus." Electronic Edition. The PerseusProject. Tufts University. Edited by Hilary Binda.http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=1999.03.0010&layout.norm=compare

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