Whatcha Readin'? Oh, Just Some Renaissance Plays
Continuing on in Renaissance reading, I started Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus last night and finished it this morning. It’s an interesting little tale of a scholar who has pursued and acquired all knowledge and takes on the dark arts. This is the play where “selling your soul to the devil” comes from and I assume is the model for the American folk legend of guys like Robert Johnson “going to the crossroads.” This was a very quick and easy read and I found it easier to get through than most Shakespearean plays. The language is quite beautiful and evocative at points and the last speech of Faustus is probably a standard in every stage actor’s repertoire. Or at least it should be.I was really pulling for Faustus to turn around in the end and accept God’s forgiveness, but alas, he dies in despair, unconvinced that he can be redeemed. Sorry if I ruined the ending for anybody.
An interesting side note-the author, Christopher Marlowe, was very close to being prosecuted for the crime of atheism at the time of his death.
Mark another one off the list of books I was supposed to read in college.
posted by Mike @ 2:33 PM
1 Comments:
This story is based off a folk tale that started in the 13..14...15th...(something like that) century. I wrote a very short play in college over Marlowe's Faustus..and then studied Goethe's Faust in German class. We read a very old one page version of the story (in German of course) at that time. The evolution of that story fascinates me.
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