Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Aristotle’s definition = ‘neither good nor thoroughly bad’- question severity of F’s punishment
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tragedy = describes downfall of a great man on account of his hamartia
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Kastan ‘is the tragic motor human error or capricious (unpredictable) fate?’
 Tragic flaw that led F to his fate? - hubris
 ‘heavens conspired his overthrow’- universe governed by capricious deities?
Kastan ‘is the catastrohpy (tragic outcome) a just, if appalling, retribution?’
 Fate might be deserved but even so- cruel justice
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 Audience encouraged to sympathise with F- methods evoke this
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 Through imagination/speculation of ambitions- link to humanists
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 While his greatness is questioned we do nevertheless have a sense of his fall
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 Pity- epilogue ‘cut is the branch that might have grown full straight’-F’s potential
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 Increasingly degraded state- slapstick comic scenes- morality plays- socially lower characters
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Anagnorisis- recognition of some universal truth about humanity
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 Towards end- repentance on his mind- ‘I do repent yet I do despair’- evokes sympathy
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 Last soliloquy- methods- enhance dramatic atmos monosyllabic words ‘now hast thou’- mirroring
striking of clock
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 ‘I will be Paris’- sees himself as a hero
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 ‘Hell’s just a fable’- can you be truly heroic if you don’t understand consequences of your actions?
Fuses morality + classical tragedy
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 Kastan argues tragedy makes us question nature of the gods- just cruel?- at odds with Christian view
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 Compared to Icarus- ‘waxen wings’- in prologue- metaphor for attempt to usurp role of god
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 Greater complexity- F = psychologically complex
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• Places god on trial
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Illusion + reality
o F presented as unaware of the reality of damnation
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 Renaissance humanism revival- stressed individual/potential for learning- decreasing importance of God
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 Marlowe satirises academia- appears to generate this clever stupidity in which scholars debate
unnecessary topics- ‘hells a fable’- ignorance
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- Engages in philosophical argument with a figure who has experienced hell himself/offers vivid
pictures ‘tormented with ten thousand hells’ ‘strike terror to my fainting soul!’
- Hyperbolic language- foreshadowing F’s increasingly tormented state of mind
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- offers him ‘the fairest courtesans…as chaste as Penelope’- sexualised/exotic lang/classical
allusions M appeals to F’s
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 Want of a wife but describes himself ‘wanton + lascivious’/devil dressed as a woman- necromancy failing
to deliver
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o Doesn’t recognise own tragic fall from aspirations of flying ‘to India for gold’ to a lowly trickster figure
concerned with bawdy/carnivalesque
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 F’s conjuring seen- dramatic tension through lexicon of dark/natural imagery ‘gloomy shadow of
earth’ + personification of night ‘her pitchy breath’
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- Highly religious 19thC Protestant landscape- people believed in sin of dark magic/idea of physical
hell
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 Reflects power of language- even if reality audience know this is a play- threat of devils feel v real
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• Through poetic language both F + audience persuaded of H’s beauty
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o Illusion + reality- ambiguous concepts- neither audience nor F aware of which category he belongs to
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 Contrasted when F acknowledges ‘danger in words’- realising his mistakes- was living under
impression of an ivory tower illusion
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o Illusory nature of Christian narrative
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 Morally ambiguous- audience may believe in selling his soul- damned but Marlowe encourages us to
question this
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 Portrayal of 7 deadly sins- presented shambolic/frustrated comical figures not as important
characters central to Christianity
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- God’s sign ‘Homo Fuge!’
- M’s confidence trick- push F into suicide
o OM’s faith too strong- undermines illusion Marlowe created of power of evil
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 HofT- beautiful illusion of magic- played by boy in Elizabethan era
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o Elaborate language used to illustrate intellectual match
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 But education section of audience would’ve been aware of new idea-Copernicus’ heliocentric system
1543
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o Dominant in relationship?
 Marlowe implies M- talks to F using language to servant/equal/friend- not respectful ‘you’ ‘your’
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 Attitudes of humanists- self-congratulatory tone
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 Marlowe creating reaction in audience- idea F challenging God- Christian outrage
o M’s intentions with F ambiguous- scheming demon/initial warnings
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• Flattery of F ‘great as Lucifer’- appealing to F’s humanist desires
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• Epistrophe used with repetition ‘with Lucifer’- language of persuasion effects M’s tonewarning to not commit same error- loyalty to L
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• 1980s produce McGee’s rep of M ‘almost fatherly figure’- functions as a warning
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 F frequently mocks M ‘a plague on her for a hot whore!’- teasing
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Magic
o Illusionary nature
 ‘far inferior to the report’- gulf between stories + reality
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 Valdes- paints word pictures- subtle hints act illusionary nature
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 Blasphemous parallels with Christ- debased versions of his miracles
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 HofT- 16thC young man dressed as women- metatheatrical element- emphasise limits of magic
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• Agrippa- one of leading OP’s- belief through rigorous study man could realise full
potential/unite with mind of God ‘try thy brains to gain deity’
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• F thinks of magic as way for man to explore utmost limits of his potential
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• 1590s- old limits diminishing- ‘newfound world’
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o Corrupting influence
 Foreshadowed- Chorus ‘falling to’- pun- alluding- fall of man- Adam + Eve
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• Renaissance man
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 Swift degradation- privileged aerial tour of Eur to petty revenge on Knight
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Chorus- rich visual imagery ‘chariot burning bright’/empiricist ‘prove cosmography’- suggests
F’s drams have become reality
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• More inferior language/1st person/sycophantic/courtly language
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• ‘belly-cheer’- metaphorical gluttony- becomes literal- once described F’s hunger for
knowledge/power to F feasting/last supper- distracting himself for his fate
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- Panicked tone/dynamic speech/jerky punctuation
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 Limited lighting/stage effects- threatening/exciting atmosphere conveyed through the power of
language
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• Latin incantations- lang of religion/authority
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 Part of everyday thinking 1590 + reenergised by Neo-Platonism- swept Renaissance Europe 15thC
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Elizabeth 1st
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 Became trusted adviser of astrological/scientific matters to Q
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Punctures myths- don’t have to be clever
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 ‘but a man condemned to die’- sad tone- island of serious self-reflection surrounded by fascial
comedy
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 Comic scenes function to belittle F- show even servants can use magic
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 Although W sounds clever- Latin- commonly associated with authority/academic scholars- actually
comic scenes serve to belittle F
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How Marlowe shapes audience’s attitudes
o Encourages number of different attitudes to F
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• Chorus initially accuses F of being proud/actions depicted sinful-metaphor of gluttony
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 But (+) through F appealing to humanist strand of thought- directly contrasting Christian view
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• 1st soliloquy- wants to expand knowledge
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 Excitement- F not interested in ‘profit’ but discovery
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• Description of America as ‘new-found world’- tapping into expanding world/building
excitement in audience- mysterious novelty
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 Religious attitude- good + evil judgement of F- pride/desire to engage in necromancy = evil
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• Morality play- interest in progress of soul

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 Psychologically- F more complex then binary definitions- rapid mood swings- symptom of manic
depression?
• ‘despair’ to grandiosity (evidence needed)- in course of small speech
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• Allegorical figures good + evil angel- psychomachia- inner conflict- psychomachia
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Ambiguity towards F’s cleverness
 Use of Latin/talks airily about different academic subjects using finite words ‘depth’ ‘end’- desire to
get to limit of every subject
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 However later questioned as W- servant uses similar language/learns necromancy
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 Parallelism- linking comic scenes to previous more serious scenes- both F + W using scholarly
language but acting stupidly- clever sounding language for foolish purposes
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 Selective Bible verses F uses to win debate
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 F’s detachment from reality- ‘damnation terrifies not him’- protected by armour of arrogance
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Question whether F brave or foolhardy
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 Ironic use of polysemy ‘heavenly’- could be frivolous joke/highlight F’s blindness to spiritual
consequences
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 Casually speaks of ‘eternal death’- concepts ‘sin’ ‘hell’- just words to him
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 Or encourage f brave- perverted bravery- ‘Homo, fuge! Yet shall not F fly’- Latin language of
authority/decisive tone- suggest F being brave
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Function of Old man
o Functions as an allegorical figure- taking over Good angel
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 Wise adviser- urges F to take first step of repentance- acknowledging sin
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 Enters in middle of F’s speech to HofT- illustrates choice F had of redemption
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o Shape audience’s opinion/encourage question morality of situation
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 Extremity of OM’s language- vivid contrasting pictures of joys of heaven ‘celestial rest’ and pains of
hell ‘vile’
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 F’s sins ‘heinous’ ‘flagitious’- ugly lang
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 Forces F to face up to reality ‘stench’ ‘filthiness’- holds up hideous mirror
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o Represents faith/human embodiment of God himself
 Re-enters the scene/watches F as he falls hopelessly- step aside could suggest allusion to God’s
nature- watches over
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 Form of warning- harangues F reminding him of the foul nature of his sin
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 Ugly language reflects ugly truth of F’s situation/difficulty of repenting for F
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 Condemning language reminds of redemptive power of Christ’s blood who ‘must wash away thy
guilt’- indicating God’s merciful nature
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 Encourage questioning of Christian narrative- before OM scene audience haven’t actually seen F do
anything repugnant
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Strength/importance of faith in God
 Through faith OM defies attack on him by devils
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 ‘his faith is great’ M ‘cannot touch his soul’
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 Or represents F’s conscience- refers to God’s mercy/F as ‘sweet’- could suggest F’s ability to repent
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 OM tortured- question nature of God- if omnibenevolent- why does he allow this suffering?
 God interpret as sadistic/vindictive- sense of wrathfulness
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 Sparse appearances but presence is intriguing to audience
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o Comic relief scenes
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 Comic scenes mirror/mock main plot through ludicrous parodies
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 ‘dear brethren’- mocks contemporary Elizabethan religion with a distorted prayer
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 Demonstrates absurdities/pomposities of man- we gain sense of superiority by laughing at others
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 Choric position similar to chorus of a pagan drama- position defined by his passivity against activity of
other actors
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 Speaks in blank verse/iambic pentameter- contrasts other lower class characters- Robin + Rafe- only
speak in prose
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 W like M seems more able to understand repercussions of contract with the devil- sense of reality
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 ‘hath given to me all his goods’- suggests friendship
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Knowledge
o Presented through both actions + words of characters
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 Vulgar lang Act2 S2 accompanies lower register Robin +Rafe- servants ‘all the maidens…shall see
more than e’er felt or saw yet’- jargon language/lack of proper grammar present lower class
characters as uneducated in comparison to F’s elevated/pompous lang
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 W challenges this however using Latin- associated with authority/academic scholars
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 Both F + audience trust M due to uncomplicate response to F’s frivolous demands
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 Highlights M true cunning nature and manipulation of F
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 Overuse of hyperbolic language ‘fearful echoes thunder in mine ears’- presents callow
character/disregard for common sense
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 F flirts with repentance but never asks for forgiveness
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o Brief moments of intellectuality
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 Questions M ‘about hell’- audience locked in anticipation- a relevant/unanswered theological
question- shows inquisitive mind
o Marlowe commenting on theological debate betw predestination/freewill/what happens when social ladders
intertwine
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 Elizabethan playwrights commonly used comic interludes to ease the tension/refresh audience’s mind
to ensure play not consumed by intense drama
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 Sexual humour- cuckoldry ‘devils have horns’
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 Used in morality plays- employment of stock characters ‘cheeky servant’
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 Robin wanting to be turned into a ‘frisking flea’ in order to ‘tickle the pretty wenches’ plackets’debased humour
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 Thematic parallels- echo main plot throwing light on nature of F’s tragedy
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 F wanting a wife + Robin’s sexual innuendo ‘he keeps such a chafing’- double-entendre with sexual
connotations
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 Marlowe communicates reality of F’s ambitions/foreshadows his impending fate
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 Marlowe satirises academic scholars by using clever sounding lang but for foolish purposes
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 Fact that W learns magic/uses scholarly language undermines that
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 Marlowe- model of social mobility- originally lowly background- challenge to Great Chain of Beingsocial hierarchy fixed by God
Religious satire
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 Reformation- audience would’ve found this scene highly humorous
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Elizabeth 1st banned Catholicism 1558/ Catholic church referred to ‘whore of
Babylon’
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 Anti-papal jokes- uneducated people retaining many of old (Catholic) traditionally on Elizabethan
stage in order to deliberately mock Catholicism
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 Parody of catholic rituals- excommunication ‘cursed with bell, book and candle’
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 Serious purpose- hierarchy- F, W, Robin, Rafe- trickle-down effect of corruption/master-servant
theme
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Show F’s degradation- becomes part of comic scenes- emphasises how far he has fallen

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