Customer Reviews
No work of the devil, this... - By: Kurt Messick, 04 Jan 2006 
'Was this the face that launched a thousand ships...' There are so many great linesin this play! The greatness of Marlowe was recognisedin his own time (a gentle modern reminder of this camein the film 'Shakespearein Love', when almost every actor auditioning chose a bit from Marlowe, & all of those defaulted to this play).
It is somewhat ironic that if Shakespeare & Marlowe were writing today, they should most like be charged with plagiarism & copyright infringement; 'The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus' is likewise not an entirely original construct of Marlowe's, but rather derives from an anonymously penned German poem translated into English shortly before Marlowe recast it for his play. The German poet Goethe was influenced by the same anonymous source, & perhaps knew of Marlowe's play during his writing.
Dr. Faustus may have been based on a brilliant professorin Germany a generation or two prior to Marlowe. In any event, the idea of the seduction of the power of knowledge was (and continues to be) inspiring. The idea of selling one's soul to get the object of one's desire is also not a unique concept. Knowledgein the ancient world often always involved the spiritual realm, which had both its light & dark sides (one has but to think of the Star Wars saga to see how such concepts remain firmly rootedin our own time). Faustus becomes a conjurer, & strikes a deal with Lucifer to maintain power & knowledgein return for his soul after 24 years.
Despite the temptations to repent, Faustusin Marlowe's text never manages to break free of the temptations. 'My heart's so hardened I cannot repent. / Scare can I name salvation, faith, or heaven, / But fearful echoes thunderin mine ears: / "Faustus, thou art damned." ' Even recognising this,in the span of this one monologue, Faustus talks himself out of despair with the temptations of knowledge & secret power. Unfortunately for Faustus, he spends so much of his time & power doing ultimately useless tricks that he ends upin a worthless position despite his deal, & pays the ultimate price for his deal with the devil.
Marlowe had great appeal to the play-going audience of his day, & his words were considered very powerful art, indeed. One story bears repeating, dealing with the performance history of the play: 'A legend developed that during a performancein Exeter,in one scenein which Faustus called up devils, the actors counted one more devil than the scene called for & realised that Satan himself wasin the their midst. In terror, they stopped the play; the audience bolted from the playing place; & the actors quitted the town the next morning.' Such was the power of Marlowe's rendering, that his language was thought to have magical conjuring power.
This edition is designed both for students as well as for those who might want to do the playin performance for classes. The spelling is modernised & edited for ease of reading. There are generous notes for the changesin the text versions (there was a publication of this textin 1604 & againin 1616 with changes & revisions). This text also includes many stage-direction & theatrical notes to give a good sense of how the play is performed. It includes many photographs of productions along the way. In addition to all of these features, editor Sylvan Barnet provides an introduction to the play which includes biographical details about Marlowe as well as more details about the background of the play.
Don't let the devil fool you - this is a good text.
A refreshing and enjoyable edition of a wonderful play - By: , 24 Mar 2001 I am currently studing this text for my AS level English Literature, I find this Christopher Marlowe play far more interesting & generally more enjoyable than any Shakespeare play, without a doubt. What a shame Marlowe died so young. I can't wait to continue reading this enjoyable & refreshing play. My friends also enjoy this massively & also can't wait to see how it ends. I will be reading Marlowe's other plays.
