Doctor Faustus Elizabethan Tragedy Play Written By Christopher Marlowe

Doctor Faustus or The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus is an English tragedy play set in the 16th Century Europe. The play was written by the eminent Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe and is based on the story of Faust. The play narrates the gripping story of a man named Faustus who agrees to sell his soul to the devil in exchange of knowledge and power. A closer insight would show that the play reveals the degradation of a person who favors material gain over his spiritual beliefs and as a consequence has to let go of his soul.

Doctor Faustus was first premiered in 1589. However it was published for the first time 1604. Marlowe had already passed away eleven years prior to the plays first publication. The exact date of the plays composition cannot be ascertained and it is one of those Elizabethan plays that had along with certain other Shakespearean plays created quite a controversy. Between 1594 and 1597, the play was performed twenty five times by the Admirals Men. That shows the plays popularity even in those times.

Two versions of the play Doctor Faustus exists however it is difficult to determine the relation between the various texts under these versions. It is possible that the available version is a modified script of the original play because it was fairly possible to drop, add or shorten scenes in the Elizabethan times. The playwright had almost no control over preventing changes in the plays performance or in its publication. It is even debatable whether the trivial comic scenes were part of the original play written by Marlowe.

Written in blank verse and prose, Doctor Faustus is divided in thirteen scenes in the 1604 version and twenty scenes in the 1616 version. The play has been divided into five acts in the modern texts. Usually in the main scenes, blank verse is used whereas prose is used for the comic scenes. Alike most other Elizabethan plays, the chorus provides the introduction and conclusion to the play and also doesnt speak to the other characters.

In the very beginning of the play Doctor Faustus, the chorus enlightens the audience on the nature of the play. It is emphasized that the story of Faustus is interesting to be told inspite of the fact that he belongs to the lowly class instead that of Kings and Saints. Faustus having achieved the fair enough wisdom and knowledge is keen to learn more. He takes the help of magicians to do so and encounters the devil in the process. Faustus decides to be damned in hell on being granted the highest possible wisdom and knowledge. The play traces the gradual fall of Faustus and his damnation. Doctor Faustus