Task Five

I believe the most prominent example of a gothic feature in Dr Faustus is that of sin, which is central in Marlowe's play. The seven deadly sins are portrayed as characters; they can speak and interact with the audience. This is an important feature of the play as it brings to life psychological concepts and brings sin into reality. It is no coincidence that the play is set in Wittenberg the birth place of Lutheranism which also sought to bring sin to reality and criticised the Catholic belief in the purchase of indulgences to pardon you of sin. The physical embodiment of the sins was intended to repulse the audience.

Another common element to gothic texts is the transgression of boundaries and Faustus clearly slices through social convention by his allying with the devil and turning against religion, 'God forbade it indeed, but Faustus hath done it.' This is embodied with the continual binary opposition Marlowe places in Faustus' speech, 'necromantic books are heavenly'. Marlowe transgresses continually through the chiastic structure of Dr Faustus, alternating between serious heavy scenes with Faustus and comic mirroring with the servants. Transformation is also an aspect Marlowe uses, 'I will teach thee to turn thyself to anything, to a dog, to a cat, or a muse, or a rat, or anything.' This toys with the idea of witchcraft and familiars. This is also and element of the supernatural which is also demonstrated through the invisibility of Mephistopheles and Faustus in Act 3 Scene 1. The dramatic effect of this gothic element is, however, lost through performance. The characters are all visible to the audience which makes the action more comical rather than eyrie. It will have been uncomfortable for the audience in the context of Renaissance England as the Pope was the one being ridiculed.

Blood is highly symbolic in the gothic which is most probably derivative from the grand narrative of the bible as Jesus' blood was sacrificed to save man. This is highly significant as Faustus signs his soul away to the devil in blood. He loses Christ’s blessing and his 'blood congeals'.

Faustus is an atypical gothic anti-hero. He rises from 'base of stock' to higher intellect (Doctor Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll) and faces conflict over whether the things they can achieve, should be done; this moral dilemma is why there are frequent connotations of the medieval morality play. Power is central to the protagonist and Faustus conforms to this. He desires it. Mephistopheles has it, and Faustus has unwittingly given it to him. This thirst for power makes them over reaching which is what causes their fall; Marlowe represents this through the chorus' mention of the story of Icarus in the prologue. This prophesises the fate of the protagonist but Mephistopheles also fulfils this role as he is clear and honest about the consequences of Faustus' actions. Women are powerless and not even worthy of a part in this play debating divinity.

Terror and horror are created through the themes of the play, Marlowe's audience would have been terrified by Faustus' actions as their society was pious unlike our modern secular one and religion being challenged as an authority is a gothic concept. Actor playing Mephistopheles often wore a concealed cross so as not to be damned and a play was abandoned when an extra devil appeared on stage.

Faustus can be described as captive by Mephistopheles although he is physically free, his soul is trapped by the agreement he signed. Likewise, while Faustus does not implicitly suffer from madness his continual referral to himself in the third person shows his hubris and also is often a physical representation of a fragmented mind.