Category Archives: Marlowe’s Faustus

Discussions of Christopher Marlowe’s “The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus”

Marlowe’s Faustus: Chorus, Soliloquies and Film Noir

Posted on April 18, 2021 by Brian H. Gill

“Doctor Faustus…” starts with a 194-word soliloquy. Sort of. It’s delivered by Chorus, named last in Marlowe’s “Dramatis Personae.” Ancient Greek tragedies had a chorus, acting like today’s narrators. Again, sort of. Aristotle said that chorus was a character, so … Continue reading →

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Christopher Marlowe and His World

Posted on March 6, 2021 by Brian H. Gill

I’d started writing about soliloquies in Marlowe’s “Dr. Faustus….” That reminded me of film noir and the Gunpowder Plot. So today I’ll be discussing Christopher Marlowe, but mostly his era: Elizabethan England. Along with European politics and whatever else comes … Continue reading →

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Pentheus, Pwyll and Pan Twardowski: Fairly Faustian

Posted on February 8, 2021 by Brian H. Gill

(Marguerite’s garden in Gounod’s “Faust,” set design by Édouard Desplechin. (1859)) Christopher Marlowe based his “Dr. Faustus” on Germany’s Faust legend, which was in turn inspired by Johann Georg Faust’s reputation. And on J. G. Faust’s abrupt death in 1520, … Continue reading →

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Rereading Christopher Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus”

Posted on January 6, 2021 by Brian H. Gill

“Dr. Faustus” keeps coming back. Christopher Marlowe’s play, I mean, not Johann Georg Faust. J. G. Faust lived five centuries back. Give or take a bit. Extracting his biography from folk legends, chapbooks and assorted other retellings? I’ll leave that … Continue reading →

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