Act Four:
Chorus
- The chorus reports to the audience of how Faustus is now a famous man, and is invited to court by Charles the 5th and the Emporor- 'Now is his fame spread forth in every land. Amongst the rest the Emperor is one, Carolus the Fifth, at who palace now Faustus is feasted'.
- Faustus is asked many questions on his return home, concerning his travels 'through the world and air'. And he is able to use his knowledge to answer their questions on astrology. It appears that Faustus is admired greatly by his friends- maybe this pact has, in fact, benefitted him?
Scene One:
- Even the emporor requests to see the 'black art' that Faustus is rumoured to be able to do. He seems amazed by what Faustus can do, and asked him to show 'proof of thy skill'. Shows just how famous Faustus has become, as even important figures such as the Emporor are keen to witness what he can acheive.
- Faustus agrees to conjure historical figures (Alexander the great and his mistress). But the Emporor is immediately sceptical- checks to see whether there is a mole on her neck. Takes away the dramatic element?
- The annoying knight is punished by Faustus- a pair of horns grow from his head.
- Emporor promises to reward Faustus for showing his skills. Is there much point- even Faustus admits his is nearing the end of his life. 'Short'ning my days and thread of vital life'.
- Horse dealer enters ('Horse-Courser'). The reputation of dishonesty in Horse Dealers would have made the audience take an instant dislike to this character- this would make it amusing for them when Mephistopheles makes the joke against him (about his apparent 'responsibilties' where in fact, he does not have a family).
- Faustus begins to 'despair'. Regretting his actions?
- The horse-courser attempts to wake Faustus, but in doing so, pulls of his leg. It is both comical and grotesque, and would have amused the audience greatly! Especially when seeing the horse-courser tricked into paying more money!
Scene Two:
- Faustus produces grapes for the duke and duchess- is it all worth selling your soul to the devil? Maybe this links to Faustus having wasted his 24 years?
- Although he is promised a reward again, doesn't seem worth it.
Act Five:
Scene One:
- Faustus representing the idea of him being an inverted christ? How he is at his last supper? The disciples being portrayed by the scholars (who call him 'Master').
- Faustus appears to be regretting his actions? 'I do repent, and yet I do despair'. Faustus is struggling with what to do- although he still does not want to repent. Does not take the chance to save his soul.
- Suicide? God will not save him- ultimate sin to reject the gift of life. Does this explain the absence of God through the play? Or is it the idea of Calvinism- that some people are predestined to go to hell?
Scene Two:
- Has God rejected Faustus? Or has Faustus rejected God? (For he is given the chance to repent, but doesn't.)
- Stark contrast to Faustus' previous attitude towards hell- 'damned both body and soul'. He now seems to believe in hell, is understanding the seriousness of his decision 24 years ago. 'Faustus' offence can ne'er be pardoned'.
- The scholars show similar devotion to faustus as the disciples show towards Jesus. 'we will pray that God may have mercy upon thee'.
- Faustus' soliloquy. Reflects the image of christ upon the cross? 'My God, my God'.
- Would have been shocking for the audience. Very dramatic scene, where Faustus is in torment. 'Impose some end to my incessant pain'.
- Morality play? He ends up going to hell, so the story has an end to it that fits with the structure of a morality play (i.e. evil/good angels represent sides to a human's personality?)
Epilogue:
- 'burned is Apollo's laurel bough'. Reference to greek tragedy?
- 'Regard his hellish fall'. Moral to the story, something to be learnt.
- Ends like the beginning, nothing has been accomplished over his 24 years.
Act One:
- Opens with Chorus (more similar to Greek Tragedies than Gothic).
- Sets up the themes i.e. Icarus- the ambition related to this is also an element of the Gothic.
- References to necromancy and religion- Anti Catholicism? Atheist Views?
- Juxtaposition between dark scenes and comic scenes.
- Mephistopheles as a Friar- Jibe at Catholicism.
Act Two:
- Heaven/Hell. Shows how people view hell. Mephistopheles thinks earth is hell.
- Angels leave- conscience gone too?
- 7 deadly sins.
- Comic Scene interrupts the tense scene.
Act Three:
- Chorus- summarises/covers alot of information.
- Scenes fo quite quickly- reflects how fast the 24 years are passing? How Faustus wastes his years?
- Pope (holiness). Mephistopheles (Evil). Mockery of religion?
Act Four:
- Morality plays (Faustus doesn't gain anything from selling his soul to the devil).
- Comedy scenes show Marlowe's atheism.
- Faustus beginning to show realisaton that his has made a mistake?
Act Five:
- Last Supper (Faustus with his disciples (scholars)). Acts like a 'Jesus'. Marlowe's atheism- happy to mock religion.
- Faustus' magic- christ's miracles.
- Calvinism (Some people are predestined to go to hell). Explains absence of God?
- Suicide- ultimate sin? Rejecting God's gift of life, so God won't save him from his pact?
- Suicide because he rejects each chance to repent - doesn't try to help himself.
- 'Despair'
- Seven Deadly Sins:
- Lust- Helen of Troy
- Greed- Knowledge etc.
- Gluttony- 'glutted more with learning's golden gifts'
- Pride- 'self-conceit'
- Sloth- Doesn't actually acheive anything in the twenty four years
- Envy- Envious of God's power?
- Wrath- Towards the old man.
Prologue:
- We learn that Faustus is from a humble background- 'base of stock'.
- Faustus went to University in Wittenberg (Germany). Studied theology (divinity) and makes very good progress in the subject. Awarded a doctorate- 'graced with doctor's name'.
- Although his is veyr intelligent, he seems arrogant. 'cunning of a self-conceit'.
- A reference to the myth of Icarus could be a sign of Faustus' downfall later in the play? 'waxen wings... melting heavens conspired his overthrow'.
- Faustus is also shown to be indulging in black magic (necromancy) 'sufeits upon curséd necromancy...nothing so sweet as magic is to him'. There are also signs to show that Faustus regards magic as more important that his hopes of joy in heaven- 'he prefers before his chiefest bliss'.
Act One, Scene One:
- In Faustus' soliloquy, we see an arrogant side to his character. 'thou hast attained the end'. He believes he has learnt and studied all that he needs. He feels it is now time to pursue a 'greater subject'.
- A similarity between Faustus and Victor Frankenstein- 'Woulds thous make a man to live eternally? Or, being dead, raise them to life again?' Both characters appear to have the same aspirations. Meddling with nature?
- Such as in Morality Plays, the good and evil angels could be personifications of human traits. Representing two sides to Faustus?
- Magic introduced. Faustus wants to dabble in the dark arts... 'necromancy'. He seems to think that magic is the only way he can better himself? 'A sounds magician is seen as a mighty god'.
- Theme of seven deadly sins- 'glutted with conceit of this'.
Scene Two:
- Scholars represent Faustus' education?
- They become worried for Faustus' soul when they learn of him dining with Valdes and Cornelius. Shows how silly Faustus is- even he can't tell that what he is doing is wrong.
- Comic scene.
Scene Three:
- Faustus conjures the Devil. Black magic.
- Why does Faustus not want Mephistopheles to be there as he is? 'Thou art too ugly to attend on me'. Is he finding excuses already to dismiss him? Regret? Or simply being picky?
- Is Faustus arrogant- it appears Mephistopheles is trying to dissuade him from this path, yet Faustus does not seem to be hearing the warnings. 'Why, this is hell... O Faustus leave these frivolous demands'.
Scene Four:
- Comic scene with Robin, Wagner.
- Could be there simply to provide light relief to a dramatic act?
- Is this scene here to reflect the foolishness of Faustus?
Act Two, Scene One:
- Faustus talks in third person alot. Is he attempting to distance himself from body and soul? Does this mean Faustus is resigned to his fate?
- However, the use of 'Beezlebub' is not as powerful as the use of 'Lucifer', which could suggest that Faustus is not entirely committed.
- 'lukewarm blood of newborn babes'. Joking/ mocking the idea. Atheism.
- 'fruits of lunacy'- reference to Adam and Eve?
- Biblical references i.e. 'glad tidings'.
- Faustus' blood congeals. His own body is resisting? Or is Faustus seeking excuses too easily- does he actually want to go ahead with it?
- 'Consummatum est'. Resigned to his fate.
- Promises to Mephistopheles like the 10 commandments- mokcing religion?
- Faustus is naive? Doesn't believe there will be consequences- 'I think hell's a fable'. Despite Mephistopheles being proof, Faustus still believes they are 'trifles ad old wives' tales'.
Scene Two:
- Cuts into the dramatic scene. Gives the impression the meeting between Faustus and Mephistopheles goes on alot longer.
- Crude language- Shocks and amuses audience.
Scene Three:
- Faustus is unable to repent- thinks about the pleasures resulting from his new powers to console him. But seems as thoguht he does want to repent- doubting his decision?
- Lucifer arrives, Faustus vows never to look to heaven of pray to God. Shocking to Audience.
- Introduction of the seven deadly sins. Faustus seems to not take it seriously- 'mistress minx'.
- 'Farewell great Lucifer'. 'mighty Lucifer'. Faustus in awe?
Act Three
Chorus:
- Wagner speaks chorus lines. Tells us of Faustus's plans to take part in the pope's feast for St Peter's day. Ironic? Because Faustus can't get into heaven, and Peter is the one at the gates.
Scene One:
- Use the pope's 'privy chamber'.
- Mephistopheles confirms the plans to mischeivously disrupt the celebration in the Vatican.
- Faustus is invisible. Snatches food and wine. Comical scene. Is Faustus trying to distract himself from his own fate?
- Anti-Catholic propaganda? Pope seen as being gluttinous (feasting).
- Friars attempt to perform exorcism.
Scene Two:
- Robin has stolen a goblet from a tavern. Tries to outwit Vintnet by using sleight of hand nad conjuring.
- When conjuring, tries to make it sound convincing in Latin (in fact, the 'latin' is gibberish).
- However, he suceeds in raising Mephistopheles, but he is annoyed at being summoned by them. He turns them into a dog and an ape. This therefore goes to show that he was not annoyed at Faustus- his soul is worth the trouble?
Chapter Sixteen:
- Narration is now back with Victor.
- Creature craves company- reader sympathises? 'I am miserable; am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?'
- Creature a monster? 'fiendish rage animated him... his face was wrinkled into contortions too horrible for human eyes to behold.
- Victor agrees to create a companion for his creation.
- The idea of tranquility is mentioned again.
- Links with Paradise Lost- Biblic Language, Adam and Eve (creature wants an 'Eve' figure), Romantic.
- Temperamental nature of Victor towards the creature could be seen as cruel?
Chapter Seventeen:
- Victor does not want to create another.
- On his return, his health improves- 'tranquility' mentioned again. Romantic idea of nature acting as a healing power is present in this chapter, as on his return to Geneva, Victor's health is restored.
- Engagement to Elizabeth. What should be a happy moment in the tale, yet Victor's mind is still distracted upon his promise made to the creature.
- Jouney to England.
- 'tranquil'.
Chapter Eighteen:
- Links with Romanticism: The idea of the sublime, and the use of Wordsworthian Language.
- Idea of slavery can be seen within the chapter. 'slave'.
- Paradise Lost connections.
- 'I saw an insurmountable barrier placed between me and my fellow-men; this barrier was sealed with the blood of William and Justine'. Although there is no physical barrier between Victor and other men, his guilt is a metaphorical one that prevents him.
- Possible envy of Clerval- sees himself in his friend. 'But in Clerval I saw the image of my former self'. However Clerval is free of the guilt that Victor feels, from following his thirst for knowledge.
- Descriptive language- Victor is able to appreciate his new surroundings- yet again nature's healing power. 'majestic'...'sublime'...'picturesque'.
Chapter Nineteen:
- Gothic- Creatures face by the light of the moon is a scary image. 'on looking up, I saw, by the light of the moon; the daemon...A ghastly grin wrinkled his lips'. Sinister Language.
- Morality is shown- Victor ponders about right and wrong yet again. His moral dilemma links with Macbeth.
- Victor realises the new creature may not want to be with the original, and may not agree to be peaceful. 'might refuse to comply with a compact made before her creation... They might even hate each other'. This would surely backfire on Victor, and he does not want to be responsible for creating another danger to society.
- 'You are my creator, but I am your master;- obey!'
- 'I will be with you on your wedding-night'. The creature threatens Victor after breaking the promise, putting yet another life of his loved ones in danger.
Chapter Twenty:
- With the discovery that Henry Clerval is dead, Victor becomes apparently inconsolable. It appears that the latest murder has finally cracked him, after the deaths of William and Justine. 'I was carried out of the room in strong convulsions'.
- Victor's health, yet again declines.
- 'I was doomed to live'. Victor seems to think that the death suffered by his friends was better than the fate he was to be dealt- he has to live with the guilt.
- Gothic element of nightmares/dreams. 'I was possessed by a kind of night-mare; I felt the fiend's grasp in my neck'.
Chapter Twenty-One:
- 'tranquility'. Victor longs to see the places of tranquility he had witnessed with Clerval.
- 'A thousand times would I have shed my own blood, drop by drop, to have saved their lives'. Victor has clearly wanted to repent for his 'crimes', and would rather have suffered himself than to see them die- shows his morality.
- '[if we get married] nothing on earth will have the power to interrupt my tranquillity'. Elizabeth says this, with the reader and Victor knowing the monster has promised to be with them on their wedding night- no doubt going to shatter any hope of the 'tranquility'.
- 'Memory brought madness with it'. Victor has not stayed healthy in his mind for very long- it shows his further spiral into madness?
- 'pistols and dagger'. Victor is arming himself- paranoia. Another sign of his descent into madness.
Chapter Twenty-Two:
- 'wind... rose with great violence in the west'. Even the weather is showing signs of unease and foreboding. Pathetic Fallacy.
- 'a thousand fears arose in my mind'. Victor is beginning to feel uneasy, knowing the threat the creature is showing him and his new wife. Paranoid.
- On the discovery of Elizabeth's death, Victor focusses on how he is physically reacting. ''the motion of every muscle and fibre was suspended... i could feel the blood trickling in my veins, and tingling in the extremities of my limbs'. He is looking upon himself with scientific terminology- almost how he looks at the creature.
- Creature is seen, but runs before Victor can shoot him. 'swiftness of lightning.' Shows how inhuman the creature really is?
Chapter Ten:
- Narration has switched to the point of the creature.
- Describes how he learns to distinguish his senses. 'I distinguished the insect from the herb, and, by degrees, one herb from another'. Romantic idea of the importance of nature- a refuge. 'My sensations had, by this time, become distinct'.
- Romantic interest in the state of childhood. The creature has nobody to learn from, and has to learn for himself. Touches the fire, and realises it burns him. 'I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain.'
- Humanity in the creature- not so much the monster that society saw him as. Feels hunger, thirst, emotions. Also has the natural instinct to withdraw his hand from the flames- feels pain.
- Begins to observe the De Lacy family.
Chapter Eleven:
- Creature wants to be good- like the family. It is society that doesn't appear to let him. 'What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people; and I longed to join them... I remembered too well the treatment I had siffered the night before from the barbarous villagers'.
- Notices the emotions the family feel- possesses the human ability to empathise with people? 'The young man... appeared to weep... I was deeply affected by it'.
- Begins to learn language. Short, basic words that highlight just how child-like the creature is. 'fire, milk, bread'.
- Admires the cottagers- wants to be like them. Envies? 'I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers'.
- Likes spring as a season. Changes 'the aspect of earth'. The creature likes the emotions it conjures 'bright rays of hope, and anticipations of joy'.
Chapter Twelve:
- Romantic idea of how nature is seen as being a form of 'therapy'. 'My senses were gratified and refreshed by a thousand sights of beauty. '
- Introduced to Safie.
- The creature is seen to become almost bitter about his lack of childhood or love. 'But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses'. Clearly upset by how he has apparently missed out on what the De Lacy family have.
Chapter Thriteen:
- Learn the history of the De Lacy family and Safie. How Felix had tried to free her and her mother from slavery, but resulted in his family being exiled for their 'crimes'.
- Shows how devoted the family are to each other- Felix returned to save his father and sister from the dungeons. 'His blind and aged father, and his gentle sister, lay in a npisome dungeon... this idea was torture to him'.
Chapter Fourteen:
- The creature is shown to admire the qualities present in the personalities of the De Lacy family members. 'so many admirable qualities were called forth and displayed'.
- Finds Paradise Lost, Plutarch's Lives and Sorrows of Werter. Finds similarities between himself and beings within the texts- can sympathise with them. 'Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition'.
- Religious contexts. Sees himself as almost an 'Adam' figure, having been created by Victor- but knowing that he had been abandoned.
- Plans to talk to the blind man, as his appearance will not shock him. He wants to 'make friends' with the family. After talking with the blind man, he is discovered by the younger family members and chased out- is yet again shown aggression by humanity, despite seeing the family had many admirable qualities. 'he dashed me to the ground, and struck me violently with a stick'.
Chapter Fifteen:
- The creature is angry with his creator (Victor). 'Cured, cursed creator! Why did I live?'. Victor had abandoned the creature, and left him to face a society that clearly loathes him.
- 'sick impotence of despair'.
- Wants to improve his situation with the family, wants to make up for his mistakes previously.
- Still sees the De Lacy family as his 'friends'. Shows that he had grown to love them, despite having only one moment of contact with them, and that had been a bad experience. But he is angry at their departure- he has been abandoned again.
- Sets fire to the cottage, as an act of revenge. Probably the outcome of the treatment he had recieved by all the people he had met, not just the family?
- Saves a woman, but is shot by a man. He suffers for his act of kindness- yet another show of hate towards him by complete strangers. 'I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound'.
- The murder of William after discovering he is related to Victor. Originally wanted to take William to be his friend, as he believes a child would not bare the same hatred towards him as the adults. But this is not to be, as he is terrified. 'I could seize him, and educate him as my companion and friend'.
- Plants the locket on Justine, and in doing so, frames her. Shows intelligence- just as manipulative as humans beings can be. He shows his human side again- but not a nice side to the human.
- Tells Victor to make him a companion. 'one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me'.
Chapter Eight:
- We learn that Victor's father is close to his sons, and is deeply traumatised by the death of William. 'No one could love child more than I loved your brother... (tears came to his eyes as he spoke)'. Importance of family or companionship?
- Victor yearns to use his kindness to help others, maybe to help with his own guilt about creating the 'monster'? 'thirsted for the moment when I should put them into practice, and make myself useful to my fellow beings'.
- Nature as a refuge is an idea associated with Romanticism. When Victor goes out on the lake to escape the life in the house. 'passed many hours upon the water...gave way to my own miserable reflections'. Idea of peace and tranquility again. Maybe this reflects how Mary Shelley dealt with grief- as her own life was touched by deaths.
- Victor's state of mind isn't healthy- even thinks briefly of suicide. 'I was tempted to plunge nito the silent lake, that the waters might close over me and my calamities for ever... I wept bitterly'.
Chapter Nine:
- Romantic, emblematic language used when describing nature- 'imperial', 'glorious', 'sublime'.
- 'elevated me from all littleness of feeling'. The romantic idea that nature acts as a remedy for unhealthy emotions is brought up here.
- The conflict between science and nature is a theme throughout the novel, but it is particularly prominent in the language used here. 'perpendicularity of the mountain... uniform clouds'.
- Sympathy felt for the creature?- shunned by everyone. Only experience of human beings have been negative- he was like a child.
- Use of hellish language when Victor refers to the creature 'Devil!' 'daemon'.
- Creature more intelligent then Victor? Taught himself the language, and points out the wrong doings in Victor.
