The Myth and the Meaning of Doctor Faustus

7/30/2019 The Myth and the Meaning of Doctor Faustus

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The Myth and the Meaning

ofDoctor Faustus

The authorThe Dream

The RenaissanceMarlowe the Man


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Christopher Marlowe:

an interrupted life1564-1593

Son of a shoemaker

Granted a scholarship at CambridgeBorn 2 months before Shakespeare


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A Spy for Queen Elizabeth?

because it is not her majestys pleasurethat anyone employed as he had been inmatters touching the benefit of his country

should be defamed by those that areignorant in the affairs he went about

First great success was when he was 23;he had six productive years

Faustuswritten in 1601 and published in1604


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Atheist? Political Threat?

Stabbed by Ingram Frisa at a tavern inDeptfordreported as the result of aquarrel over the bill.

His murderer was later pardonedgovernmental foul play?


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Marlowe as Shakespeare

Given the murky inconsistencies concerning the accountof Marlowe's death, an ongoing conspiracy theory hasarisen centered on the notion that Marlowe may havefaked his death and then continued to write under the

assumed name of William Shakespeare. Authors whohave propounded this theory include:

Wilbur Gleason Zeigler It Was Marlowe(1895)

Calvin Hoffman, The Murder of the Man Who WasShakespeare(1955)[9]

Louis Ule, Christopher Marlowe (1564-1607): ABiography

AD Wraight, The Story that the Sonnets Tell(1994)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theoryhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/muchado/readings/hoffman.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/muchado/readings/hoffman.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory


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Your fairy godmother has arrived

She gives you the chance to possess andexercise one superhuman power, but youmust define this instrument.

What do you choose?


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The Pursuit of Knowledge

A viable goal in itself? A means to an end?

Freewrite: What is knowledge? Where does it come from? What are the uses of knowledge?

Should the acquisition of knowledge ever belimited? (10 minutes) Keep this document andsubsequent notes).


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Stem Cell Research and the issue

of limiting knowledge aquisition

Factual overview: There are two types ofstem cell: embryonic and adult. Embryonicstem cells have the ability to transform

into any type of cell in the body. Adultstem cells give rise to only 4-5 differentcell types.*

*Information provided by author/teacher

David Brock.


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Can we use knowledge to decide whoshould be saved and who should not?Who decides others fates?

Should the longer life be prioritized?

Are we starting to act like God here andmake decisions we should not be making?


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The Price

What would you be willing to do in orderto get what you wanted?

Conversely, What wouldnt you be willingto do? Where would you draw the line?


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Write a definition of the

Renaissance

General Trends: the rise of the individual

The dissolution of the monasteries meant thatone fifth of Englands land was put up for sale

(1534)

Capitalismcolonialism

Printingbirth of writers as professionals

Social mobility


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Doubt and Insecurity

Humankinds horizons expanded, and with thischange traditional authorities were no longeradequate.

Revival of pagan classical learning, which extendedmans inner world.

Changing conception of wisdom

Still a hierarchical world viewthis is important for

understanding the Elizabethan stage which included: The space between heaven and hell

A hierarchical use of vertical space.


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Author ofDoctor Faustus

Marlowe was born the same year asShakespeare.

A famous personality

Possibly a spy in his youth

Murdered at 29 after a prolific period

1564-1593


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The Real Faustus

Dr. Johann Faust, a magician andastrologer born in Wurttemberg and whodied around 1538

Historia Von de Johan Fausten


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Syvan Barnet. Ed. Christopher Marlowe.Doctor Faustus. New York: Penguin Books,1969.

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The Myth and the Meaning of Doctor Faustus