Play plot summary
Faustus is respected professor who wanted to have more knowledge than he had already obtained. He then decides that he wanted to practise black magic and calls upon Mephastophilis (a devil) who warns him of the horrors of hell however Faustus does not listen. He commands Mephastophilis to go back to his 'master with an offer of Faustus' soul in return of 24 years of service from Mephastophilis'. During this process things go bad for the professor which makes him wonder if he should go ahead with the deal, however when Mephastophilis returns with an accepted offer Faustus takes it. Upon offer acceptance branded words on the professor's arms appear and he has even more doubts but the devils blinds him with 'riches and a book of spells to learn' and answers all his questions. The devil however does not tell him who made the universe which yet again brings doubts then the devil and Lucifer push the seven deadly sins into the doctor's life pushing away any remaining doubts.
Having all these powers Faustus goes round playing series of pranks on people including visiting the pop in invisible form and playing tricks on him and also demanding to meet Alexander the great which could be the equivalent of demanding to meet Obama just because you want to meet him. After years of silly tricks Faustus awakes an ancient beauty to impress a group of scholars an occasion in which an old man warns Faustus to repent , not knowing that this was his last chance to repent he drives him away.
The last thing the professor decided to do as time was coming to a close was telling the scholars about his pact, this shocked the respected man who started praying for him but at this point it was too late. At midnight the devils came to pick up his soul as agreed and Faustus is taken to hell, with his limbs left behind and buried by the scholars.
The writer
Christopher Marlow was actor and script writer who lived in the Elizabethan times. During this era earning a living as a writer was unheard of. Having graduated from Cambridge university with the Crown stepping in when the university declined to give him his qualification because they believed he had converted to Catholism in a protestant England led many scholars to believe that he was an agent for the crown. After getting his qualification he challenged the religion and society at the time through his writing. Marlow made his trademark by figuring out what his audience wanted (violent fiction) and giving them exactly that.
Four plays written by Marlow provided the famous William Shakespeare to create his four well known plays. Christopher provided Shakespeare with plots that he then explored in the majority of his plays. Jew of Malta became Massacre of Paris ; Faustus became Macbeth ; Edward the second became Richard the II and Timberlake was developed by William into the Henry plays. Shakespeare was much appreciated in his time however Marlow wasn't which is reflected in his early death at 29. History records suggest he was stubbed in the eye and accused of trison just before his death.
Elizabethan Era
This was an Era that was new to theatre, people didn't know how to take the idea of people challenging the church through writing however they started to ease up as time went on. I think that this is reflected on how Marlow was treated in contrast to William Shakespeare. This era also saw the war of the roses which was a 32 years of war for power from two branches of Edward III descendants. When I was looking up the war of the roses I came across the Tudor family rein (royal family at the time.)
This family's rein enforces that religion was a big factor in people's life in that era because it influenced how the country was run for example during this time we saw Henry VIII separate the church of England from the Catholics turning the nation protestant. Marlow was not given his qualifications because they believed he turn to catholism which shows the power of the religious separation at the time.
This religious war did not stop when Henry had decided the nation was to be protestant because Catholism was previously in power and people don't really like change therefore the war went on and in from 55 for three years the nation was once again catholic under bloody Mary.
Mary was the most hated queen in the country of England because of her horrific decisions of burning those that were against Catholism. There is a lot of hate towards this women however she didn't have it easy. Her father wanted a son but his mum had 4 miscarriages before her. He then had another wife then another till he got a son. The public celebrated the birth of the son which mentally took a blow to Mary's head , during this time there were rumours of Mary's execution which made her live in fear plus she was scared to be poisoned and I can only imagine how miserable this must have been for her. Years down her father passed away and her 9 year old brother was put in power and he grew up a strong protestant white washing churches and taking his father's steps to the next level. Edward asks Mary to turn away from Catholism however Mary refused as she had grew closer to her religion during the tough times in her life. Edward decided alongside the protestant church leaders that Mary Jane a cousin to Edward was going to take over because Mary was not protestant. This enhanced Mary's anger therefore she started a movement to get in power expressing that she was blood to Henry. People supported her but little did they know that giving her power was going to bring hell to those against Catholism. Everyone who had made her life a misery paid back through being burnt alongside anyone against Catholism , inserting fear in the public. The blood spilt got her the name bloody Mary and she decided to Mary a men who later on left her because she was barren which mentally attacked her putting her in a bad physical and mental state. This led her to think that she had upset God making her die a disappointed women an her sister taking over and uniting the nation through removing catholism.
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