Discuss Doctor Faustus as regards its construction. Do you think that it possesses what is known as organic unity?
Its construction is not one of the strong points of Doctor Faustus. In fact the greatness of this play is diminished by its construction being loose. The plot of the play is not well-knit or well-organised. To be precise, the play does not have a plot in the ordinary sense of the word. The object of the author seems to have been to reveal Faustus's mind to us at a few extraordinary and critical moments. The play is therefore a series of scenes, some splendid, some trivial, closely inter-connected in a time sequence and leading to the expected catastrophe. Our whole interest centres round the mind or the inner life of Faustus. Mephistophilis is the only other character who has any separate individual personality; the rest of the characters make very brief appearances and are meant only to throw some light on Faustus.
In the older versions of the legend of Faustus, the emphasis was on Faustus's various exploits and demonstrations of magical power. Marlowe presents these either through the Chorus or through a few comparatively brief scenes (which were perhaps not even written by himself). Marlowe's chief concern is the presentation of Faustus-Faustus's dreams of power, his initial resolve, the subsequent vacillations of his mind, his agonizing last moments, and his death. These form the main incidents of the drama, and give it whatever unity the drama has.
The play opens with a speech by the Chorus who gives us a brief exposition of the theme. Then Faustus is shown to us in his study. By the end of the first scene, his decision to practise magic is taken: "This night I'll conjure, though I die therefore". He has been encouraged in this resolve by Valdes and Cornelius but the resolve is essentially his own. The first scene is, indeed, masterly in its presentation of Faustus meditating upon the various branches of study, receiving the conflicting advice tendered by the Good and Evil Angels, speaking to himself about the glorious future that lies before him, and discussing his prospects with Valdes and Cornelius. The two Angels are Marlowe's own addition to the story. They are personifications of Faustus's own contrary impulses, good and bad, and symbolize his inner conflict.
Between the opening scene and the scene of the conjuration of Mephistophilis, there is a comic interlude (Act I, Scene II). There is another comic interlude between the conjuration of Mephistophilis (Act 1, Scene III) and the signing of the bond by Faustus (Act II, Scene I). The comedy in those intervening scenes is, of course, rather weak but it may be taken as an example of the practice, followed by certain play-wrights of the time, of placing a tensely emotional scene against a frivolous scene in which there is an element of parody. There is certainly point in the Clown's reply to Wagner (coming as it does immediately after Faustus has determined to make a bargain with Mephistophilis). Wagner has said that the Clown would "give his soul to the devil for a shoulder of mutton, though it were blood-raw". The Clown's reply is: "How ! my soul to the devil for a shoulder of mutton, though't were blood-raw ! not so, good friend; by'r lady, I had need have it well-roasted and good sauce to it, if I pay so dear."
The scene that follows (Act II, Scene I) depicts Faustus's inner conflict, the Good Angel and the Evil Angel urging him in opposite directions and the signing of the bond by Faustus. This scene is written with the same simple intensity as the opening scene. We are here much impressed by the quiet dignity of Mephistophilis. Mephistophilis here speaks like one who has not come overwillingly and with no desire to tempt. His replies to Faustus's eager questionings are at first rather casual but soon the tragic passion behind his restraint bursts forth when he describes the nature of hell:
Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscribed
In one self place: for where we are is hell,
And where hell is, there must we ever be: (Act II, Scene I, Lines 118-120)
The incident of the signing of the contract effectively shows Faustus's excitement, and his almost hysterical haste to put his new powers to the test by asking for a wife, "the fairest maid in Germany". Between this scene (Act II, Scene 1) and the one that follows (Act II, Scene II), an interval of time is supposed to have passed. Faustus has been enjoying the pleasures which his newly-acquired power has brought him. He has made blind Homer sing to him of the love of Paris and Oenon; and he has made Amphion produce ravishing music from his melodious harp. Compared with such delights, which were invented by Marlowe himself and which reflect Marlowe's own poetic temper, the later exploits of Faustus (at the court of the Pope, at the court of the Emperor, and at the court of the Duke and Duchess of Vanholt. not to speak of Faustus's dealings with the Horse-courser) are mostly crude and odious. Incidentally, the later exploits were borrowed directly from Faust-buch. In the same scene (Act II, Scene II), there is a fine moment when Faustus is stung by remorse and when, after the two Angels have spoken to him, he cries: "Ah, Christ, my Saviour/Seek to save distressed Faustus' soul". Lucifer himself appears, and compels Faustus to make a promise to think only of the devil and never to think of God or Christ. The parade of the Seven Deadly Sins which Lucifer offers as a "pastime" is another of Marlowe's additions to the story. The Seven Deadly Sins were frequently introduced in early English dramas, and they find a fitting place here. The grotesque self. descriptions of the Seven Deadly Sins are very vivid and forceful.
Then except for the two speeches by the Chorus at the opening of Act III and Act IV, there follow scenes of comedy which are generally regarded as one of the flaws of this play. In the first place, the comedy here is of the low, crude, farcical type. Secondly, the introduction of so much comedy in a tragic play is psychologically most inappropriate as it greatly dilutes and weakens the tragic effect. A brief comic scene to relieve the tension created by Faustus's inner conflict would perhaps have been quite in place, but several successive scenes of farcical humour were certainly uncalled-for. Even the scene at the court of the Duke of Vanholt, though not farcical, has nothing to recommend it.
If the intention of the author in introducing these scenes was to show the deterioration in the character of Faustus and Faustus's complete departure from his original grand designs (of walling all Germany with brass, driving the Prince of Parma from his land, etc.), it could have been done through the Chorus. If the intention was to fill the interval between the signing of the bond, and the ultimate damnation of Faustus with demonstrations of magic by Faustus, the device is very unfortunate. The unity of the play is certainly marred by the introduction of these clownage scenes for which no defence is possible. The scene in which Faustus cheats and dupes the Horse-courser is, perhaps, the worst from this point of view. The buffoonery of this scene is utterly unpardonable.
The last Act is, again, like Acts I and II, not only organic to the design of the play but also admirably written. In this Act, Faustus summons Helen of Troy to enable the Scholars to see with their own eyes "that peerless dame of Greece whom all the world admires for majesty". Immediately afterwards the Old Man appears and tries to awaken Faustus's conscience (which, incidentally, has never been asleep). Faustus feels miserable to hear the Old Man's words and realises that his damnation is imminent: "Damned art thou, Faustus, damned; despair and die". Faustus feels like committing suicide but the Old Man dissuades him from this desperate step. The Old Man goes, and Faustus laments the fate that awaits him: "Accursed Faustus, where is mercy now ?" "Hell strives with grace for conquest" in his breast. Mephistophilis appears and threatens to tear Faustus's flesh bit by bit for his disobedience to Lucifer, and Faustus begs Mephistophilis's pardon. Faustus now wants Helen as his paramour. Mephistophilis brings Helen, and Faustus goes into a rapture over her beauty. Faustus's apostrophe to Helen is one of the most celebrated passages in English drama.
When we next meet Faustus (Act V, Scene III), he is in the company of the Scholars. He is now on the verge of collapse, both physical and mental. He tells the Scholars that "for vain pleasure of twenty-four years hath Faustus lost eternal joy and felicity". The subdued talk of the Scholars as they bid farewell and go to pray is a masterly prologue to the overwhelming passion of Faustus's last hour. His final monologue is another famous speech which reveals in a most convincing manner the spiritual torture of a hopeless but repentant sinner who is about to be overtaken by death and damnation. The last four lines of this monologue are unsurpassed so far as their effect of horror is concerned:
My God, my God, look not so fierce on me!
Adders and serpents, let me breathe a while!
Ugly hell, gape not! Come not. Lucifer!
I'll burn my books! Ah, Mephistophilis ! (Act V, Scene III, Lines 120-123)
The devils take away Faustus. The Chorus enters and, with his simple solemn comment on Faustus's fate, the play comes to the kind of quiet ending which great tragedy demands.
Doctor Faustus has neither unity of time nor unity of place. Its action extends over a period of twenty-four years (not twenty-four hours), and its hero is not confined to one place but travels far and wide not only on the earth but through the air to the planets and the stars. Nor does the play have even the unity of action in so far as most of the scenes in Act III and IV are irrelevant and discordant. The play does, however, produce one dominant impression, and that is the tension and torture suffered by a man who, having resolved to ally himself with the Devil for the sake of power and pleasure, finds it impossible not only to retrace his steps but to repent of his sins except when it is too late.
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Christopher Marlowe | The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus | Important Questions With Answers
- What do you think is the cause of the tragedy in Doctor Faustus?
- Discuss Doctor Faustus as a Morality play. Or Elaborate the view that Doctor Faustus is a thoroughly "Christian" Document.
- Discuss Doctor Faustus as an allegory. Or Bring out the symbolic meaning of Doctor Faustus.
- Do you agree with the view that Doctor Faustus has a beginning and an end but no "middle" ? Or Discuss the structure or construction or design of the play, Doctor Faustus.
- Write a note on the Renaissance character of the play, Doctor Faustus. Or Discuss Faustus as a man of Renaissance.
- Write a note on Faustus's character as revealed in Marlowe's play. Or Show that Marlowe in this play is concerned with recording the mental history of Faustus. "
- Trace the various stages of Faustus's damnation. Or "This play presents the fall and slow moral disintegration of an ardent, but erring spirit." Discuss.
- Discuss the appropriateness or otherwise of the comic and farcical scenes in Doctor Faustus. Write a note on the comic and farcical scenes in Doctor Faustus. Do you think the introduction of these scenes in the play to be justified? Give reasons for your answer.
- Conflict is the essence of drama. Illustrate this dictum with reference to Doctor Faustus. Or Trace the mental conflict of Faustus from the beginning till his last hour on this earth.
- How does Marlowe portray the character of Faustus? Or What estimate of the character of Faustus have you formed?
- Discuss Doctor Faustus as regards its construction. Do you think that it possesses what is known as organic unity?
- "If Doctor Faustus is a great work, it is also a flawed one". Discuss