Comedy In Doctor Faustus.

Last English Lit lesson we looked at comedy and the idea of comedy in the play Doctor Faustus. We started off talking about comedy and what we thought it meant and was. Obviously everyone knows what comedy is, but it ended up being pretty hard to explain, I ended defining it as a "form of entertainment which makes you laugh or amuses you, a.k.a, HANNAH' Well, she is a VERY funny gal! We then talked about other things about comedy , such as what makes it comedy, so kind of a relief of tension, breaking of taboo's etc. 

After this we looked at the idea of Renaissance Comedy, and we wrote that comedy as a genre, during the Renaissance times, was more about mistaken identities, love and marriage. Then there was comedy in a tragedy, which was more about 'lower' status characters outwitting their 'higher' status characters, and was more like wordplay and slapstick. This in turn lead us on to the point of our lesson, comedy in Faustus. 

We looked at the final scene of Act 1, so Act 1 Scene 4, and discussed its comedic values and the point or worth of it being included in the play as a whole, as well as where it is in the play. This scene is in between to quite vital scenes, the one where Faustus meets Mephistopheles and before he sells his soul. DUN DUN DUN! Anyway, in the scene, the character Wagner is trying to convince the character, who we have just been introduced too, Robin, to be his slave basically. The situation between Wagner and Robin is meant to mirror that of Mephy and Faustus. However, although it seems to mirror the scene before, this scene is meant to be funny and well full of comedy. It was so funny, like really really funny...

After reading the scene we started quickly discussing reasons and possibilities as to why the scene as included and why it was placed in between two very serious and important scenes. I feel the main reason, and I sort of mentioned it earlier, for why the scene was included was because it mirrored or was parallel to the events between Mephy and Faustus and I feel Marlowe wanted to ridicule and mock Faustus. Marlowe does this successfully because he creates a contrast and comparison between the lowly "boy" that is Robin and the great Doctor Faustus. He does this by making Robin rejects Wagners offer of becoming his servant boy and so causes Fautus to appear foolish and well stupid. This would be comical to a Renaissance audience because, when we looked at their style and the criteria for their comedy, it mentioned lowly status outwitting higher status. So, although Robin didn't outwit Faustus personally, he technically outwitted Faustus with his overall decision,and so placed the lowly person as being more clever (?) than Faustus, who felt he was better than "divinity...medicine...law and theology."

Other slightly weaker interpretations as to why the scene was included are:

• It was used to relieve tension from the audience, as the two scenes surrounding this scene touch on what would have been a pretty heavy subject for them, e.g. the corruption of religion and association with the devil. 
• Its connected to relieving the tension, as I felt he wanted to lift the atmosphere because he included the scene as he was trying to break, what would have been considered during his times, as a taboo subject (Not entirely sure) 
• Faustus was trying to ridicule norms, so in this context I feel Marlowe was trying to ridicule the fear the audience feels towards certain parts of religion etc. (Not entirely sure myself again)

As you can probably tell I'm not really entirely sure or certain as to why this scene was included and why it was included where it was, but if I become more certain or we go over it more in class them I will blog about it. 

Done. 

The Legend of the Extra Devil in Faustus.

Well this will be a nice short blog on a rumour, or legend about an extra devil in the play or performance Doctor Faustus.

Basically, a long time ago, 16th Century times, the play Doctor Faustus gained an infamous reputation of having a real devil/ spirit on stage with the actors. This occurred around 1594ish, when a member of the audience claimed he had seen an extra devil character on stage, which in turn scared both the audience and the cast/actors. Supposedly, according to rumours and legend, the appearance of the extra devil occurred several times and caused many to believe the play was cursed, which in all honesty acted in Marlowe's favour and caused the play to become more popular.

Done.

Stage and Production.

Doctor Faustus is a play and therefore it needs to be performed in a theatre (yes THEATRE, not TheEter) to arrive at a clear interpretation of its meaning. However, depending on the performance and presentation, the interpretation of the meaning and of the performance as a whole may change/ be different. So, in the quick blog I will noting how different interpretations may occur in Doctor Faustus.

Marlowe wrote Doctor Faustus during the Elizabethan times, or, in a Literature view of History, the Shakespearean times. This means Marlowe most probably intended or designed his play to be performed on a Shakespearean type of stage, with a large so called "thrust stage" projecting into the auditorium. This type of stage would have caused the audience to feel involved and close to the action of the play, which may have been the intention of Marlowe, because, as a free thinker, he would have wanted the audience to begin to question their beliefs and their religion.

Whereas, today, although there are still stages which project in to the audience, like the Crucible, it is not as common as it would have been during Marlowe's day. The style of stage could possibly (although this is a long shot) affect the way in which Faustus is interpreted, as the distance between the stage and the audience will cause a modern day audience to feel less involved compared to during Marlowe's time and so don't become as caught up in Faustus action's and cause them to question their beliefs. I did say it was a long shot because people will interpret it differently because we have very different beliefs to 500-600 years ago and so the play won't be as controversial, rather than it being down to the stage but hey ho, I'd already started typing it.

The 3 main forms of symbolism on stage is:
 -Clothing
 -Props
 -Above (raised platform, area of the stage)

Clothing and Props are, truthfully, kind of obvious ones. The clothes the character is wearing and the objects they are either holding or using will create different interpretations and meanings, as they can show the wealth and status of a character as well as showing what is unfolding or about to unfold in the play. During the Marlowe's time, the clothes for characters would have been mostly donated by aristocrats.

The less obvious out of the three is the Above, however, when it was explained to us in class it made the most sense. Above refers to either a raised platform or even a balcony, just an area of the stage which is higher than the rest. It can create symbolism as placing a certain character on a elevated part of the stage can represent or symbolise or show their status and wealth, like props and clothes can, or it could even suggest they are possibly spirits or ghosts. However, when you read plays a stage direction may say "[ blah enters from above]" and therefore the character arrives from above or is above, so it can be symbolic or literal.

All 3 the factors mentioned above would be key or vital to a play when Marlowe was alive because the stage(s) were often bare. This meant that the audience would learn more from the way the character was dressed, stood and holding compared to what was the on the stage with the character.

We looked at a possible example of how Faustus could be presented in Act 1.1, where the Good Angel and the Bad Angel try to persuade and talk to Faustus. We were asked to draw out the stage in which we thought this scene should be presented to the audience. Like it would have been during Marlowe's time, I kept the stage bare apart from a bookshelf and a chair which were in a far corner of the stage. I included these because I thought it would help show further Faustus intellect but because they were at the far side of the stage in a corner I thought it would also show that he has started to turn his back on studying traditional forms of well studying. Then I had Faustus in the centre of the stage and had to slightly elevated stages just behind him, basically in line with each shoulder and an Angel would be on each stage, separated. One would be in all black the other in all white and Faustus in normal get up. Plain and simple. Faustus would not turn to either of the angels, wouldn't approach them or acknowledge them, however he would walk from one to the other to show his indecision.

Done.

Passion Play.

A passion play is a dramatic presentation depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ: his trial, suffering and death. It is a traditional part of Lent in several Christian denominations, particularly in Catholic tradition. The plays have their origin in the Easter Play which was born out of church ritual. The first passion play was performed in Latin in the 13th Century.

Frankenstein.

So I've finally gotten round to blogging about the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

I knew Frankenstein quite well before I read the book and to be honest, it kind of ruined the novel for me. Don't get me wrong, it is still a good book but when you know what happens then it's not as fun to read. The only time it is good to know what happens in a book is Harry Potter because no matter it is still a good read.
So yeah, unlike The Bloody Chamber and Doctor Faustus I was a bit reluctant to read it because I already knew what was going to happen, however, a few things did still surprise me.

Everyone pretty much knows the story of Frankenstein but I'm going to blog about it anyway. So, Victor Frankenstein creates a monster, as he is obsessed with bringing people back to life and basically being God. He hates his creation so much and quickly regrets what he has done. His monster disappears somewhere and kills Frankenstein's little brother, Victor returns home. Justine is killed and he feels guilty. He meets the monster who tells him about his life for the past year or so and ask Frankenstein to make him a companion. Frankenstein goes to England and starts making the monster a friend but then destroys it. Monster see's and kills Victor's friend Henry. Frank is then imprisoned for this murder, but he is then let out. Goes home, marries Elizabeth. She dies on their wedding night. Frank's dad dies a little while later. Frank chases the monster to somewhere cold, struggles and dies on board a ship where he had told them his story. Monster is distraught at this and basically drowns himself or freezes to death. So yeah, its a very happy story fully of happy moments!

Now time for the real point of the blog! What I thought about it.

Overall I enjoyed the novel, I was just a little reluctant to read it at the start because I already knew the story and so was a little unenthusiastic because I felt there was little left to learn and discover. However, I was wrong!

One of the main factors which I really liked about Frankenstein was how it was told from different characters, there were the letters at the beginning, then of Frankenstein and then of the monster etc. I especially liked when the monster was retelling his year since he had left Frankenstein. I found this particularly interesting because it helped show how the monster became the way he was and how the solitude and rejection lead to him becoming resentful of humans. I felt it helped show a more human side to the monster and furthered the corruption of Frankenstein's actions. Truthfully, my favourite line from the novel was "I am malicious because I am miserable". It feels as if the monster isn't trying to justify his actions but explain them instead - he wants the suffering to stop.

One thing which surprised me in the novel was how much time passed, I'm not surely entirely how much time passed in the novel but I think it was near ten years. I don't whether Shelley was trying to show how long Frankenstein had to live in fear and misery over what he had done and his losses or whether she is trying to show the extent of the suffering which the monster had to receive. Additionally, I noticed that on every letter in the novel there was a day, e.g. 11th September however the year was left off, "17-", I'm not entirely sure as to why Shelley did this, part of me feels she might have done this to make the story have a more timeless feeling, suggesting that this sort of corruption could occur at any point in history, however, part of me doubts this because the century was still included. Oh well, I'll have to research it and find out.

Oh, one thing I thought about when reading the novel was the effect Frankenstein's mother's death had on him. I always, when we were watching the movie, assumed that Frankenstein created the monster because he wanted to be like God, he wanted to be able to make people immortal. However, I now also feel the loss of his mother would have had an effect on Frankenstein and therefore could have been a possible cause, as well as wanting to be known for achieving the impossible and such a medical feat, for creating the monster as the loss of his mother suddenly would have shaken and upset him and so maybe he feared death and feared the loss of his loved ones - I felt this was shown when Frankenstein thought about death, there was a quote about worms eating the flesh and how it disgusted him.

Anyway, yeah, it was a good novel and I much prefer the tale of Frankenstein now because I wasn't really a fan of the adaptations, I felt the story of the monster's past (sort of) helped create a back story to the monster and therefore helps create sympathy for him and show further how corrupt Frankenstein's actions were.

What is the audience supposed to think of Faustus...now?

**UPDATE** (on my previous blog of the same title)

We started going over Act 1 Scene 1 today in class and we were told to blog on how we now think the audience are supposed to think about Faustus. Before we went to the beginning of Act 1 Scene 1 I blogged about how I thought the chorus suggested for the audience to reserve their judgement of Faustus. However, I also suggested that they might feel sympathetic of the character Faustus because it was implied or suggested that their could be a downfall for him and that maybe we can't control what happens to us e.g. him.

Anyway, I now feel the audiences perception of Faustus will have completely changed. There were, now I look back on it (Prologue), hints of what I'm about to suggests.This is going to be in either note or chatty form because I'm too tired to do a complete essay style blog.

I now feel the audience is supposed to view Faustus as an arrogant, self-important and almost selfish character, as Scene 1 suggests that he turns down respected professions, such as law and medicine, because he cannot gain from them. Faustus views Law as "paltry legacies" which is "too servile and illiberal" for him and doesn't want to become a doctor (medically) because he has completed it, "hast thou not attained that end". I believe this would make Faustus appear arrogant and selfish to the audience because it suggests that if there is nothing to gain, power wise, from the profession then why would he do it? He wants to become a "deity" and not be controlled.

However, this could also make the audience sympathise/ feel sympathy for Faustus as it appears the audience, especially when it comes to religion and divinity, appear to have a better understanding of each subject compared to an intelligent man. This is shown through Faustus response to having a profession in divinity, as he suggests there is a Catch-22 element to it, "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, why then belike we must sin and so consequently die". I believe this will create sympathy towards Faustus from the audience because it suggests that he has a limited and naive view of religion, as many will believe that Jesus can save them and therefore they are not doomed.

The audience may believe that Faustus is arrogant because he wants to be, and believes he can be greater than "Emperors and Kings" and not restricted like they are by their "several provinces". Faustus want of being greater than "Emperors and Kings" will be significant to the audience because during the Elizabethan times, the time in which Marlowe wrote the play, it was believed that the King, or the Queen, was chosen by God and was therefore of the highest power behind the Pope (depending on religion and form of religion) and God. Therefore, Faustus' belief and want of being greater than a King will make him appear arrogant to the audience because he is suggesting he can change and defy God's choices.

Another factor which I personally feel makes Faustus looks like a arrogant character is because he refers to himself in the third person, "settle thy studies, Faustus". I believe this would make the audience believe Faustus is arrogant because even men of great power, whether social, political or religious, don't refer to themselves in third person.

However, others may not agree with this view as it could be argued that Faustus is only referring to him self in third person, not because he is full or arrogance and self-importance, but because he is a rational man and he is trying to gain a different, almost outside perspective/opinion of his dilemma and therefore reinforces the belief or opinion of Faustus intelligence.

Faustus also appears to at one point mock religion because after picking up a book of divinity he laughs, "Ha" and so I believe this would suggest to the audience that Faustus believes he is above the law and belief of religion and can therefore laugh at it because he doesn't believe in its importance and significance and so furthers the sense of arrogance around Faustus. (Sorry that was badly explained!)

However, this could also be Marlowe's opinion of religion being mirrored or reflected through the character of Faustus as Marlowe was an atheist and believed in people questioning religion and the bible. Additionally, there is a stage direction for when Faustus "[picks up the book of magic]", whereas when he picked up a book on divinity there was no stage direction included and so I believe it reinforces the idea that Marlowe, and therefore the character of Faustus,  is trying to mock religion and show that he believes there are other more important books than the bible or that of "divinity".

I also believe the audience will now feel Faustus has an obsession with power as the qualities he most desires are "Of power, of honour, of omnipotence." Faustus desire of becoming omnipotent will be most significant to the audience as it was believed that God was omnipotent (had unlimited power) and so the audience may believe that the character Faustus is, for lack of a better word, power hungry.

**One thing I realised I hadn't mentioned for some reason about the audiences perception of Faustus from the Prologue is that he is intelligent man - I sort of mentioned it through the mention of his possible downfall, but yeah, mention of "he profits in divinity", "shortly graced with a doctors name" etc, implies Faustus is a man of intelligence and academia. **

So, as you can see it appears my opinion of what the audience are supposed to see Faustus has almost completely changed. I believe they are now meant to see that he is arrogant (therefore presents a possible fatal flaw?) and power hungry. He has remained intelligent and I still believe the audience is supposed to feel sympathy for Faustus, however it is now for different reasons.

Done!

What was the audience supposed to think of Faustus?

Personally I think you should stop reading this now and go and find some other blog because I can certainly promise you a terrible blog. Just don't bother. Stop.

What was the audience supposed to think of Faustus? 

I started answering this question in class, albeit terribly, after we had finished reading the Prologue of the A text of Doctor Faustus. Here is what I wrote, it is terrible.

I believe Marlowe wants the audience to reserve their judgements of Faustus and his actions and possibly sympathise or even empathise with the character. Marlowe achieves this by using the chorus to suggest to the audience to "patient judgements we appeal our plaud" which therefore suggests they should keep an open and possibly unprejudiced mind towards the character and the play.

I also believe Marlowe implemented this idea further  to the audience (of reserving judgement on Faustus) by causing them to question whether the lines of good and bad are as straight forward as they believe and are taught. The reference to "heavens conspired to overthrow" suggests that even those who are perceived and believed to be of the purest kind can make mistakes and commit acts of evil and wrong doing. This therefore suggests to the audience that any condemnation towards Faustus should be reserved as almost anyone could be tempted and commit sins.

However, others may believe that Marlowe wanted the audience to question their beliefs in God rather than reserve their judgements on Faustus because Marlowe was a known atheist and is suggesting or implying that God and heaven related beings can be as corrupt and evil as the Devil.

Furthermore, I believe the audience is supposed to sympathise the character of Faustus as the chorus/prologue includes a simple detail of his upbringing and hints at a possible demise. The audience is told of how Faustus is "born of parents base of stock" yet he "shortly was graced with doctor's name" but became "glutted". A downfall is not mentioned, just hinted and so leaves a question as to whether there is one. However, I feel Marlowe included this detail to create a sense of sympathy in the character because a man of such greatness and potential can lose it all through one "glutted" mistake or decision.

Finally, I feel Faustus' simple upbringing and start creates further sympathy for the character from the audience as it makes him the 'every man', and suggests to the audience that this mistake which Faustus made could happen to anyone, not just people who are of greater social standing.

*I also believe Marlowe is trying to hint to the audience that only so much temptation can be thrown at a man, or a woman, before they can't resist any longer and can therefore happen to anyone.

So, if you've read that you are probably regretting it because it was so badly written, which I know it was, but I honestly struggled to write a decent and well written answer to that for some reason, so sorry!