C. MARLOWE (1564 – 1593) DOCTOR FAUSTUS (1592-93) FAUSTUS RISE AND FALL - ACT 1 SC. 5 (p. 105-106) FAUST: Mefistofele, prendi questa donazione: anima e corpo. Ma a una condizione, che si rispetti ogni accordo, ogni dettaglio che abbiamo stipulato. MEPHISTOPHELES: Faustus, giuro sull'inferno e su Lucifero di mantenere tutte le promesse che abbiamo stabilito tra di noi. FAUST: Allora ascolta mentre le leggo. Alle condizioni seguenti: Prima, che Faust sia uno spirito in forma e sostanza. Seconda, che Mefistofele lo serva e obbedisca ai suoi comandi. Terza, che esegua per lui o gli dia qualsiasi cosa. Quarta, che rimanga invisibile nella sua stanza o in casa. Ultima, che appaia al sottoscritto Johann Faust quando, come e in che modo questi preferisca. Io, Johann Faust di Wittenberg, dottore, col presente atto cedo corpo e anima a Lucifero, Principe dell'Oriente, e al suo ministro Mefistofele, e inoltre do loro pieno potere, trascorsi ventiquattro anni e senza violazione degli accordi di cui sopra, di venire a prendersi o portare il suddetto Johann Faust, corpo e anima, carne e sangue, nella loro dimora, dovunque sia. Firmato Johann Faust. MEPHISTOPHELES: Parla, Faust, riconosci questo come un tuo atto legittimo? FAUST: Sì, prendi! E il diavolo te ne compensi. MEPHISTOPHELES: E ora, Faust, chiedimi ciò che vuoi. FAUST: Per prima cosa voglio chiederti dell'inferno. Dimmi, dov'è il posto che gli uomini chiamano inferno? MEPHISTOPHELES: Sotto i cieli. FAUST: Sì, come tutto il resto. Ma dove? MEPHISTOPHELES: Nelle viscere degli elementi. Dove siamo torturati e restiamo per sempre. L'inferno non ha limiti, non è circoscritto in un unico luogo. Ma dove siamo è inferno, e dov'è inferno lì dovremo stare per sempre. E in breve, quando il mondo sarà dissolto e ogni creatura purificata, dove non sarà cielo sarà inferno. FAUST: Via, per me è una favola. MEPHISTOPHELES: Credilo pure, finché con l’esperienza non cambierai idea. FAUST: Perché, pensi davvero che sarò dannato? MEPHISTOPHELES: Per forza, perché questo è l'atto con cui hai venduto l'anima a Lucifero. FAUST: E anche il corpo. E con questo? Credi che Faust sia così stupido da pensare che dopo la vita ci sia altro dolore? Sono scemenze, storie per le vecchiette. 1. what Faustus gives Mephistopheles; He gives him the scroll. 2. what the conditions of the pact with the devil are; Faustus asks Mephistopheles to be a spirit in form and substance (line 9), to be his servant and bring him pleasures which are beyond the realm of human capacity (lines 10-14) for twenty-four years (lines 1718) in exchange of his soul (lines 17-20). 3. how Hell is described by Mephistopheles; Hell is under Heavens, it has no limits and it is a condition of human conscience (lines 27-36). 4. what the last exchanges between the two characters point out. While Mephistopheles points out that Hell is the reward for those people who live an enjoyable life of pleasure on Earth, Faustus does not believe in life of pain after the earthly condition. (lines 42-45). THE CLOCK STRIKES - ACT 5 (p. 107) L 'orologio suona la mezz’ora Mezz’ora è scorsa; Presto sarà la fine! Oh Dio, se non vuoi perdonare la mia anima, per amore di Cristo che col suo sangue mi ha riscattato, fissa un termine almeno ai miei tormenti: Che Faust viva nell’inferno mille anni, centomila, ma infine possa salvarsi. Ah, non c'è termine per le anime dannate! Perché non sei un essere senza anima? Perché è immortale questa anima tua? Se la metempsicosi di Pitagora fosse vera, quest’anima volerebbe lontano da me e io sarei mutato in una bestia. Le bestie sono felici perché quando muoiono, le anime loro presto vengono sciolte in elementi! Ma la mia vivrà nel duro inferno. Maledizione ai genitori che mi hanno generato! No, maledici te, Faust, e Lucifero che ti ha privato delle gioie del cielo. Suona la mezzanotte Oh, suona, suona! Ora, corpo fatti aria, o ti trascina Lucifero all'inferno! Tuoni e lampi Anima, sciogliti in goccioline d’acqua e cadi nell'oceano, così scompari, Entrano i diavoli Dio, mio Dio, non guardarmi così! Vipere e serpenti fatemi respirare! Non aprirti, brutto Inferno! Non venire, Lucifero! Darò fuoco ai miei libri! Ah, Mefistofele! Escono i diavoli con Fausto Enter CHORUS. Entra il Coro. Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, Spezzato è il ramo che poteva crescere dritto And burned is Apollo's laurel-bough, e bruciata la corona di Apollo That sometime grew within this learned man. che crebbe in questo sapiente. Faustus is gone: regard his hellish fall, Faust se n'è andato. Meditate la Sua caduta. Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the wise, La sua tragedia possa esortare i saggi Only to wonder at unlawful things, a una sacra paura delle cose illegali, Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits le cose profonde che attirano spiriti arditi To practice more than heavenly power permits. a esperire ciò che il cielo ha proibito. TEXT ANALYSIS Comprehension Answer the following questions. 1) What does Faustus do at the beginning of the passage? He speaks to himself and he hopes time may stop and midnight never come 2) What external event calls him back to reality? The clock which strikes the hours (line 11) 3) How long does Faustus still have to live? Only one hour 4) Whose help does he appeal for? He appeals to all terrestrial things in order to avoid his future eternal life in Hell 5) Does he really repent? No, he does not 6) Can you explain what Faustus means by his reference to Pythagoras' metempsychosis (line 42)? He wants to be transformed into an inferior beast in order to avoid eternal damnation 7) What does he do in line 49? He curses himself and Lucifer 8) Why does he say "I will burn my books"? He is ready to give up his knowledge by burning the books about magic arts, but it is too late. 9) Does Faustus save his soul after all? No, he does not. In the last part of his soliloquy Faustus regrets being a man because he cannot avoid damnation. Try to explain the symbolic value of: "blood" in line 14: blood is related to Christianity and redemption. "books" in line 58: Faustus's knowledge. Contextualization "Faustus is the typical Renaissance man": try to explain this statement Refer to Medieval and to the Elizabethan drama and explain why the play may be considered both a morality play and a tragedy. Suggestions: Doctor Faustus is considered a morality play because of its didactic aim, but the protagonist is a typical Renaissance man who wants to be the only maker of his own destiny. He is presented to us during his fall, which is ambivalent since he is aware both of his concrete triumph and of his spiritual destruction impossible ways Faustus thinks of to escape damnation: 1st part: stopping time, obtain God's mercy, metamorphosis into an element of nature. 2nd part: limited period of damnation, wish to be a sub-human creature Faustus changes in the development of the play. At the beginning he is so obsessed by desire for knowledge and worldly pleasures that he makes an agreement with the devil; but in the end he realizes the emptiness of his bargain which has brought him to final everlasting damnation. In fact the dominant mood in the soliloquy is one of anguish and despair. The Faustus who is speaking here is quite the reverse of the proud scholar who consorted with Mephistopheles in the first act. The man who longed to be more than human is now desperately trying to become less than a man: he is wishing to run into the earth / to be drawn up into the entrails of a labouring cloud / to turn into a foggy mist. He implores to be changed into some brutish beast / little water drops In short he goes through these stages: from a MAN up to SUPERHUMAN down to SUBHUMAN medieval elements - the Faustus of the German book was a magician and a necromancer - by refusing the place that was given to him at his birth, he committed what in the Middle Ages was considered as one of man's worst sins: the sin of pride - Hell is presented as a place of torment, physically made up of devils, adders and snakes - like all medieval magicians who gave up their art, Faustus swears to burn his books renaissance elements - Marlowe’s Faustus is presented both as a necromancer but also as a scholar and a theologian - in his longing for a new type of knowledge, he attempts to rebel against the limitations imposed upon man -according to Renaissance New Learning, Hell is no longer a place of torments but anyplace where God is absent -as a Renaissance scholar he used his books to rise from an anonymous existence towards individuality the final just punishment refers to a typical medieval play : morality plays Both in Marlowe's Faustus and in the morality plays there is the personification of abstract qualities and the dramatic qualities lay in the struggle in man's soul. So, doctor Faustus is considered a morality play because of its didactic aim, but the protagonist is a typical Renaissance man who wants to be the only maker of his own destiny. He is presented to us during his fall, which is ambivalent since he is aware both of his concrete triumph and of his spiritual destruction. Possible comment The final passage from Doctor Faustus shows the protagonist waiting in dread for the devil to come and take him off to hell.