Becoming a rather sarcastic-toned, sarcastic-loving human
being over the years (probably from growing up in big cities in the Northeast
and having the crassness of several angry New Jersians coursing through my
veins) I am inclined to the departures of mainstream literature during the
Reformation and what better way to deviate from the mainstream than to talk
about “The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus” written by Christopher Marlowe in
the late 16th century.
As we discussed in class, the Reformation was an
extraordinary period for personal religious devotion and the ability to express
such devotion with greater access to religious texts such as the Bible which
were translated and circulated more frequently because of the printing press. “Dr.
Faustus” is no exception. I have (mostly) read and (for the most part) enjoyed Marlowe’s
personal devotion to God and the abhorrence of sin. Here is a brief synopsis of
Marlowe’s play: the German Doctor Faustus decides that he is bored of traditional
areas of knowledge, such as mainstream religion, and starts to meddle in the
dark arts, which ultimately leads him to summoning a devil friend who convinces
him to sell his soul to Lucifer and the Doctor goes through (mis)adventures for
several years after making this deal and then (spoiler alert) dies.
What is interesting about this play is that it is difficult
to pinpoint Marlowe’s sincere feelings towards his actual relationship with God
despite this rather extensive play of religious topics; it is often comic, sarcastic, and in some
parts political, very much unlike the sermons of John Colet and Hugh Latimer.
So did the invention of the printing press and mass publication
of religious content improve all religious devotion during the Reformation era, or did
this free-reign of personal devotion cause some scholars, such as Marlowe, to
draw farther away from his faith?
Image Credit: Faustus Tragedy Title Page (public domain image via Wiki Commons)
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