Marlowe and Doctor Faustus

Christopher Marlowe

the author of Doctor Faustus, is a shadowy figure, even though he is the second most important playwright of the period, after shakespeare

-attended Cambridge University, where he became one of the University Wits

-a group of playwrights who accompanied their lawyer friends to London after graduation

-writing plays for their wealthy companions

may have been a secret agent for Queen Elizabeth, and he existed on the shadowy fringes of London society

As a playwright and poet

wrote a handful of excellent plays−histories and tragedies−as well as a narrative erotic poem, Hero and Leander

master of blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) to the point that other playwrights called this kind of verse Marlowe's "mighty line" (Marlowe's Mighty Line, n.d.)

killed at Eleanor Bull's tavern in Deptford in 1593, stabbed in the head during a reported brawl

To this day, scholars debate over whether or not he was assassinated

rumored to have been a member of a free-thinking and atheistic group dubbed "The School of Night," reputedly led by Sir Walter Raleigh

Many scholars doubt that this group actually existed, but Doctor Faustus certainly conveys an ironic attitude toward conventional religion

theme of this greatest of his plays

-the search for illegitimate and unbridled power and what happens when one gets it

− and it still resonates, perhaps even more strongly, in today's power-driven and technological society

Conclusion

When Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, the Protestant king of Scotland, James VI, became James I of England

James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been executed by Elizabeth

During James' reign, tensions would build in English society. These tensions erupted into civil war in 1640 beginning the Puritan revolution during the reign of his son, Charles I

This period of tension, conflict, and radical government had a profound effect on the writers of the early 17th century

Next class...

• Continued discussion of Dr Faustus
• Overview of Critical Analysis 5 and Sonnet comparison