Concetti Chiave
- Christopher Marlowe, a contemporary of Shakespeare, studied at Cambridge and lived in London, balancing his playwriting with run-ins with the law.
- Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus" explores the legendary tale of Faustus, who trades his soul for universal knowledge, blending Renaissance aspirations with medieval morality.
- The play contains both blank verse and prose, with comic scenes interspersed to balance its darker themes.
- Goethe later reinterpreted Faustus as a symbol of unquenchable thirst for knowledge, influencing works like Boito's "Mefistofele" and Mann's "Doktor Faustus".
- Marlowe's success with "Tamburlaine" depicted the titular character's quest for power and its emotional toll, mirroring Faustus's ambitious challenge to divine order.
Vita e carriera di Marlowe
He lived in the same period of shakespare, studied in Cambridge and lived in London writing plays when he wasn't in trouble with law.
He worked as a diplomat and entered the court circle. He was imprisoned twice for murder and atheism but he was during a fight in a inn.
The myth of Faustus is one of the most famous in western culture originally a work inspired to the magician Johann Faustenand. The main character, Faustus, is a hero but at the same time a villain who desires the universal knowledge and obtain it by selling his soul to devil. The story became so popular that it started to be played also in puppet theaters. The play is often interrupted by comic scenes to lighten the mood of this dark play. Marlowe focuses on one man's determination to push the boundaries established by religion and tradition to satisfy his own ambition.
Elementi del rinascimento e del medioevo
In the play there are some elements typical of the renaissance and other of the middle age, like: the presence of angels, devils, magic and morality elements typical of the middle age, on the other hand there is an insatiable thirst for knowledge results from the aspirations of a new age.
Doctor Faustus is written in blank verse and prose; verse for the main story, prose for the comic scenes.
Interpretazioni successive di Faustus
Later Wolfgang von Goethe write the interpretation of the story of Faustus, who became symbol of thirst of knowledge, aspect that lead him to rebellion against god and the society but at the end he still go to the heaven because his ambition doesn't have to be punished. The version of Goethe was later elaborated by other authors, for example Arrigo Boito' Metistophele and Thomas Mann's doktor Faustus where the main character became a metaphor for nazi's germany.
Marlowe's Tamburlaine
Tamburlaine e il successo di Marlowe
The play which made Marlowe famous among Elizabethan audiences was Tamburlaine. He wrote the first part when he was only 23 and, due to its success, the second part soon followed. The figure of Tamburlaine was inspired by the Mongolian conqueror obsessed by his lust for power but who becomes prey to loneliness and frustration in the second part of the tragedy, Both Faustus and Tamburlaine are over-ambitious and symbolize man as master of his own destiny, who dares to challenge the gods.
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è il tema principale del mito di Faustus secondo Marlowe?
- Quali elementi del Rinascimento e del Medioevo sono presenti in "Doctor Faustus"?
- Come è stata reinterpretata la storia di Faustus da altri autori dopo Marlowe?
Il mito di Faustus, secondo Marlowe, si concentra sulla determinazione di un uomo di spingere i confini stabiliti dalla religione e dalla tradizione per soddisfare la propria ambizione, vendendo la sua anima al diavolo per ottenere la conoscenza universale.
In "Doctor Faustus" sono presenti elementi del Medioevo come angeli, diavoli, magia e moralità, mentre l'insaziabile sete di conoscenza rappresenta le aspirazioni di una nuova era rinascimentale.
La storia di Faustus è stata reinterpretata da Wolfgang von Goethe, che ha trasformato Faustus in un simbolo della sete di conoscenza, portandolo alla ribellione contro Dio e la società, ma alla fine viene accolto in paradiso. Questa versione è stata ulteriormente elaborata da autori come Arrigo Boito e Thomas Mann, dove il personaggio principale diventa una metafora per la Germania nazista.