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Doctor Faustus (A TEXT)

by: Christopher Marlowe, John O'Connor

July 15, 2003

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Dr Faustus based on the A text (New Mermaids)

by: Christopher Marlowe

May 30, 2003
Dr Faustus is a play about a man who has pretty much achieved everything. He's endlessly clever and successful but he wants MORE. I think that feeling of desire and ambition is still such a driving factor in today's society that it's impossible to miss the relevance. He begins to dabble in dark magic, excelling at it, and conjures Mephistophalis, who allows Faustus to sell his soul to the Devil in return for twenty five years of Mephistophalis's services. So come twenty five years of rather pointless, hollow fun and achievement (the style of the scenes during this time deliberately reflects their shallow nature) and then the time comes when Faustus must pay the price he has promised...

This play changed my life. I can't quite put ... Read More:

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Doctor Faustus (Longman Literature)

by: Christopher Marlowe, Roy Blatchford, John Butcher

June 20, 1995
'Was this the face that launched a thousand ships...' There are so many great lines in this play! The greatness of Marlowe was recognised in his own time (a gentle modern reminder of this came in the film 'Shakespeare in Love', when almost every actor auditioning chose a bit from Marlowe, and all of those defaulted to this play).

It is somewhat ironic that if Shakespeare and Marlowe were writing today, they should most like be charged with plagiarism and 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 ... Read More:

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Edward II (New Mermaids)

by: Christopher Marlowe, Martin Wiggins, Robert Lindsay

March 31, 2003
This is a powerful play whereby Marlowe examines the humiliations that the King has to suffer due to his homosexuality. The reader begins to understand the great difficulty involved in balancing personal and political concerns, especially in centuries past. It sweeps the reader away into history, politics, corruption and controversy which exemplifies Marlowe at his best. I would recommend this play to anyone who has an interest in Renaissance culture or has enjoyed the works of Webster and Middleton & Rowley.

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Dr. Faustus

by: Christopher Marlowe

January 01, 2005
This is a powerful play whereby Marlowe examines the humiliations that the King has to suffer due to his homosexuality. The reader begins to understand the great difficulty involved in balancing personal and political concerns, especially in centuries past. It sweeps the reader away into history, politics, corruption and controversy which exemplifies Marlowe at his best. I would recommend this play to anyone who has an interest in Renaissance culture or has enjoyed the works of Webster and Middleton & Rowley.

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York Notes Advanced: "Edward II" by Christopher Marlowe (York Notes Advanced)

by: X, Christopher Marlowe

July 31, 2001
This historical play is better than some other plays by Marlowe because the events it is based on are, by themselves, well built and full of suspense. But Marlowe insists on the negative side of things. He sees Edward as a perverted King who only revels in carnal pleasure with his minions. He wastes the money of the crown and irritates all the Barons and the Queen. This leads to his death. Marlowe then shows Mortimer, the Queen’s lover, as a tyrant, a dictator, a criminal, an unpolitical figure, and that leads him to his fatal end. Marlowe likes gross events and bloody acts. He has all his « victims » executed on the stage and even Edward is killed in full sight of the audience in a most disgustful way in a dungeon that is the receptacle of all the ... Read More:

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The Complete Plays (Penguin Classics)

by: Christopher Marlowe

November 27, 2003
I bought this edition of Marlowe's plays for a Renaissance Literature course at uni, expecting a wealth of notes and annotations to explain social and historic contexts. I was quite disappointed to discover that the notes were very meagre and the only aspect of the plays that is covered in the notes is the mythological references. I think Marlowe is a brilliant playwright, but without a good edition you miss so much of the Renaissance thinking that went into his works.

The Penguin edition is not all negative, however; the editor explains the existence of the two versions, basing his edition on the 1616 B text, providing an Additional Notes section in which uses of the A text are given. Both versions of Act v scene i (the Old Man's Speech) are presented, ... Read More:

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Doctor Faustus and Other Plays: "Tamburlaine" Parts I and II, "Doctor Faustus" A and B Texts, The "Jew of Malta", "Edward II" (Oxford World's Classics)

by: Christopher Marlowe

July 10, 2008
After reading this I can well understand the Shakespeare related theories. Each play is well and timelessly executed.
My particular favourite is Tamburlaine, which (strangely enough) encouraged me to look into the history of the man behind the myth.

The one down side is his treatment of the Faust myth. It seemed clumsy, preachy, without the versatility offered by a more morally ambiguous treatment of other versions. Perhaps I have been spoiled by Goethe.

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Complete Poems and Translations (Penguin Classics)

by: Christopher Marlowe

October 25, 2007
After reading this I can well understand the Shakespeare related theories. Each play is well and timelessly executed.
My particular favourite is Tamburlaine, which (strangely enough) encouraged me to look into the history of the man behind the myth.

The one down side is his treatment of the Faust myth. It seemed clumsy, preachy, without the versatility offered by a more morally ambiguous treatment of other versions. Perhaps I have been spoiled by Goethe.

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Doctor Faustus and Other Plays: Tamburlaine, Parts I and II; Doctor Faustus, A- and B-Texts; The Jew of Malta; Edward II (Oxford World's Classics)

by: Christopher Marlowe

May 07, 1998
After reading this I can well understand the Shakespeare related theories. Each play is well and timelessly executed.
My particular favourite is Tamburlaine, which (strangely enough) encouraged me to look into the history of the man behind the myth.

The one down side is his treatment of the Faust myth. It seemed clumsy, preachy, without the versatility offered by a more morally ambiguous treatment of other versions. Perhaps I have been spoiled by Goethe.