Doctor Faustus: Resurrecting the Chapbook
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Faculty of Arts and Philosophy Robin Verdickt Doctor Faustus: Resurrecting the Chapbook A comparison of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and its chapbook adaptations Paper submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in de Taal- en Letterkunde Nederlands-Engels August 2015 Supervisor: Prof. Sandro Jung Faculty of Arts and Philosophy Robin Verdickt Doctor Faustus: Resurrecting the Chapbook A comparison of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and its chapbook adaptations Paper submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in de Taal- en Letterkunde Nederlands-Engels August 2015 Supervisor: Prof. Sandro Jung ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks go out to Prof. Sandro Jung for his astute guidance and insight on the subject matter that helped shape this project. Further thanks go out to Rocio, for her patience in reading. CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 1 The play and the chapbook: re-evaluating the literary canon .................................................................. 1 Preamble to the comparison: the play, the chapbook and their story ................................................... 2 Chapter 1: Establishing the Scene ......................................................................................................................... 4 1.1. Early Modern Period ............................................................................................................................... 4 1.1.1. The theatre texts.............................................................................................................................. 4 1.1.1.1. The popularity of theatre texts challenged ........................................................................... 4 1.1.1.2. The fluctuating market of printed professional media ....................................................... 6 1.1.2. The Occult ...................................................................................................................................... 11 1.1.2.1. Henry Cornelius Agrippa ...................................................................................................... 11 1.1.2.2. Stage magic: performance and performatives .................................................................... 15 1.2. Chapbooks ............................................................................................................................................... 22 1.2.1. Characteristics ............................................................................................................................... 22 1.2.2. Out of Tradition ............................................................................................................................ 23 1.2.3. Playtexts and Chapbooks Revisited ........................................................................................ 26 1.3. The Play: Doctor Faustus .................................................................................................................... 30 Chapter 2: The Chapbook Adaptations ............................................................................................................. 37 2.1. Surface Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 37 2.1.1. Premise ............................................................................................................................................. 37 2.1.2. Edinburgh Edition ....................................................................................................................... 38 2.1.3. London Edition ............................................................................................................................. 40 2.2. Detailed Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 41 2.2.1. Edinburgh Edition ....................................................................................................................... 41 2.2.1.1. Structure and style .................................................................................................................. 41 2.2.1.2. Content comparison ............................................................................................................... 42 2.2.1.3. Final Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 55 2.2.2. London Edition ............................................................................................................................. 56 2.2.2.1. Structure and style .................................................................................................................. 56 2.2.2.2. Content comparison ............................................................................................................... 57 2.2.2.3. Final Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 76 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................. 78 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................................ 80 Words: 24,058. 1 INTRODUCTION THE PLAY AND THE CHAPBOOK: RE-EVALUATING THE LITERARY CANON A study on Doctor Faustus by Marlowe as a canonical work of English literature and theatre could scarcely be called groundbreaking subject matter. Drawing from various areas of knowledge, it has been dissected by an array of equally varying perspectives. From religious intertextual material to psychological analyses and influences in the arts, one has to wonder how Marlowe’s play can still serve as a pool of valuable study material. This leads us to the recent ‘discovery’ in Glasgow of several relatively untouched chapbooks, now made available to researchers, adapting the story of Faustus into a more accessible, cheaper format typical for the chapbook genre. Popular literature as a subject, namely, has often been overshadowed by the more traditional ‘recurring themes’ in scholarly research, such as those of canon literature and its formation. What lies at the core of the formation of the literary canon has been an especially notable element in academic debate. A traditional view is that all books in the literary canon share the element of ‘intrinsic quality’, suggesting that they have a lasting significance throughout history. Other common voices state that the literary canon should contain works that are particularly representative for a specific culture or period in time. Recent research has reformulated how we should approach the literary canon, however. When we look at chapbooks, we might consider how they fit into what we understand as the canon. Chapbooks themselves are not canon literature per se, but they are frequently an adaptation of a literary work that holds a place in the canon. The question to ask then is which ‘version’ would have been more culturally pervasive. After all, despite the heavy focus in research on the canon, one has to consider that these widely available adaptations of canon 2 literature must have had some impact of their own. The focus in the preamble to the core of this dissertation will therefore lie in making an argument for the significance of this folk literature. Seeing as these chapbooks have largely been unstudied hitherto, the analysis of the chapbooks will extend itself to a comparison with the play not only in influence, but also in content and style. This juxtaposition will be the intended core of the dissertation. Expectantly, this will prove to be a course assessment. A micro-analysis of relatively unstudied material needs to first provide a basis which further research can rely upon. The chapbooks might be categorized into various sections per mode, per clear translations and entirely different segments need to be highlighted; again, a matrix has to be built that is easily transferable to other research. PREAMBLE TO THE COMPARISON: THE PLAY, THE CHAPBOOK AND THEIR STORY Before we get to our micro-analysis, there are a few concepts that need to be explored and introduced. Firstly, the context in which both ‘renditions’ of the text appeared needs to be understood, meaning a short exploration of the early modern period will have to be given. Focus will lay on the availability of theatre texts. Tied in with this introduction to the early modern period are some thoughts on the occult and early modern superstition. The former will support the understanding of the debate on canon literature; the latter will prove exemplary in portraying how similar subjects are handled in different mediums, as one can expect a certain loss of dimension when ‘transferring’ the story from play to chapbook. Christopher Marlowe will feature in the latter, with some mention made of Marlowe’s relation to the occult ideas of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, a German magician whose work will prove to have a considerable influence on Marlowe’s play. 3 Secondly, to understand the debate on the literary canon and popular literature’s role in forming it even further, we need to gain a basic understanding