The tragic story of Doctor Faustus

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Doctor Faustus (Engl. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus ) is a drama of the English Renaissance -Schriftstellers Christopher Marlowe .

survived early text printing in the Huntington Library

action

Classification

The English text edition used is divided into five acts, each with a new scene count. The German translation by Adolf Seebaß has a continuous scene count.

Act I.

The first act takes place in Faust's apartment in Wittenberg and an adjacent forest. Faust is fascinated by the power that magic promises; he conjures up Mephistopheles, the envoy of Lucifer and mediator between the Lord of Hell and men, and offers his soul in exchange for a pact with the devil.

[Prologue] A prologue introduces Faust as a scholar from Wittenberg.

[Scene 1] In the first scene you can see Faust in his study. He summarizes his previous scientific career as a theologian, philosopher, doctor and lawyer. All this seems to him in vain and he decides to deal with magic in the future, it promises him limitless power. He calls his servant Wagner and orders him to invite his friends German Valdes and Cornelius. An evil and a good angel appear and try to pull Faust to their side: "Read the Bible." - "What God is in heaven, be you on earth." He dreams of summoning spirits to serve him. When his friends come to visit, they encourage Faust in his decision and promise to initiate him into the practice of necromancy: "As the Spanish conquerors serve the Indians, so the spirits of the elements should always be at our command."

[Scene 2] The second scene shows Wagner and two students in a subtle conversation in which the students learn that Faust is meeting with followers of magic: "Oh dear, then, I'm afraid, my suspicion that Faustus is the cursed is right Art fell into disrepair. "

[Scene 3] The third scene shows Faust at night in the forest while summoning Mephistopheles. He orders this to tell his master that he is ready to sell his soul: "Go, tell the mighty Lucifer ... that (Faust) will give him his soul if he lets him live in boundless lust for twenty-four years."

[Scene 4] The fourth and last scene of the first act again shows Wagner together with the servant Robin (Hanswurst). Robin makes fun of Wagner's orders and the idea of ​​selling his soul to the devil. Wagner therefore frightens him by conjuring up two devils, demands obedience and threatens him to transform into an animal. Robin obeys.

Act II

[Scene 5] The fifth scene again shows Faust in his study. He awaits the arrival of Mephistopheles and considers his offer of a pact with the devil. The two angels good and bad try again to convince him. Mephistopheles appears and makes an offer from his master, Lucifer. However, he demands a contract that Faust must write with his blood. Faust does not succeed in writing with his blood, it freezes, and Mephistopheles brings a burning brazier that makes the blood "clear and fluid" again. After the signing of the contract, the devil is subservient to Faust and fulfills his wishes.

[Scene 6] In the sixth scene, Faust regrets his choice for the first time and believes he sees “poison-soaked daggers” with which he wants to kill himself. He defies the evil angel's threat that the devils would tear him to pieces if he repented. Lucifer, Beelzebub and Mephistopheles appear and accuse Faust of having done wrong against the devil. Faust gives in and is rewarded with an appearance of the Seven Deadly Sins. Faust drives away gluttony with the request that "wolverine should devour himself". The devils say goodbye and as a reward for his loyalty, Lucifer gives Faust a book whose magic allows him to transform into any shape.

[Scene 7] The seventh and final scene of the second act shows the two servants Robert and Richard in the courtyard of an inn. Robert stole a book of incantation from Faust and now wants to do a witch himself. With a crude pun, they set out to enchant the maid Hanne so that she agrees with Richard.

Act III

[Choir] The short third act begins with a choir describing Faust's journey into heaven in a chariot drawn by dragons. This trip takes him around the world within a week. Then he goes to Rome for a dragon ride.

[Scene 8] The eighth scene shows Faust and Mephistopheles in the Pope's private room. Faust reports how they got to Rome and names the stations: Trier, Paris, Naples, Padua and Venice. Mephisto then describes the beauty of the city on the Tiber River, the Angel's Bridge with its mighty castle and the magnificent obelisk that Julius Caesar once brought from Africa. Faust fevered with longing to see "the gloriously proud Roma monuments and the image of the city." Mephistopheles makes Faust invisible with a spell, then the Pope and the Cardinal of Lorraine enter. The invisible fist is having some unworthy jokes with them. Startled, the Pope summons monks to pray an exorcism.

[Scene 9] In the ninth scene, the servants Robert and Richard meet in front of an inn. You have stolen a silver cup from the landlord and are using magic to prevent him from reclaiming the cup. While Robert tries in vain to do magic with false Latin, Mephistopheles appears and teases the two servants with fireworks. The devil punishes them for stealing books and cups by transforming them into dogs and monkeys.

Act IV

While the translation by Seebass used for this plot is predominantly the critical edition by Frederick S. Boas, which follows the (longer) B-text from 1616, the translator gives way in the fourth act to the so-called emperor's scene (and also in the fifth act) from its original and uses the much shorter A-Text of the early edition of 1604.

[Choir] The extensive fourth act begins again with a choir . He reports how Faust, back from his trip around the world and with the Pope, bragging about his experiences to his friends, then his fame spreads and he is invited by the emperor.

[Scene 10] Right at the beginning of the tenth scene, the emperor praises the "highly learned Doctor Faustus" for his experience in the "black art" and wishes that Faust awaken Alexander the great and his "beautiful wife" from the darkness of the crypt. Faust asks for understanding that he cannot awaken the dust, but promises to let ghosts appear who look exactly like the Greek. The nobles present doubt and a knight mocks: "Diana could turn me into a deer in just the same way". Faust replies, "Actaeon left (the knight) his horns". When the ghosts appear, the emperor is convinced of their "authenticity" by inspecting a mole on the neck of Alexander's wife. After the successful end of the spell, Faust wants to take revenge on the doubters. The summoned knight meanwhile wears the horns mentioned and is also mocked by Faust. At the request of the emperor, Mephistopheles removed the knight's horns. Faust is released richly rewarded and immediately wants to go back to Wittenberg: "... time rushes restlessly ... reminds me of my guilt and the day of expiration."

[Scene 11] The eleventh scene takes place in Faust's house in Wittenberg. A Rosstäuscher (horse dealer) appears and wants to buy a wonderful horse from Faust for forty thalers. Faust agrees to the deal, but warns the Rosstäuscher against "riding the horse into the water". He's happy about the supposedly good deal. Faust is left alone with worried thoughts: "Despair drives fear into my mind." and falls asleep in his chair. After a while, the rosestock comes back screaming; despite the warning, he rode the horse into a deep pond at the end of the town, where the horse has turned into a bundle of hay. Now he wants his money back. He meets Mephistopheles, who shows him the sleeping Faustus. Because he doesn't want to wake up, he grabs Faustus by the leg, who suddenly pulls away. Terrified to death, he promised to pay another forty thalers and fled. Wagner appears and brings an invitation from the Duke of Anhalt.

[Scene 11a] An insert that follows the eleventh scene takes place in a pub. Robert and Richard, who are in the chalk with the landlady, come with a carter and the Rosstäuscher and want to drink the "best beer in Europe". Then they tell of their bad experiences with Faustus. He ate a whole wagonload of hay from the carter, sold the horse driver an enchanted horse - for which he pulled his leg off - and recently conjured up a monkey face for Robert. The four get drunk and then set out to get back at Faust.

[Scene 12] The "rowdy society" is looking for the doctor and makes a noise at the gate of the Duke of Anhalt. The duke wants to arrest the drunk guys, but Faustus would rather play antics with them. Fuhrmann and Rosstäuscher do not fail to make suggestive remarks about Fausten's "torn wooden leg". But they only reap a spell that silences them. Then Faust and Mephisto pay their respects to the Duke's pregnant wife and Mephisto, at Faust's behest, procures fresh, sweet grapes in the middle of winter.

Act V

The fifth act consists of three very short, two longer scenes and an epilogue.

[Scene 13] In the first (short) scene, under the guidance of Mephistopheles, devils bring in set tables for a feast. Wagner comments on this with a reference to Faust's will: "It seems to me that my master thinks he must die soon because he has bequeathed all of his property to me."

[Scene 14] Three scholars come to Faust and ask him to let Helena, the most beautiful of all women, appear. Faust fulfills the request of the friends to see the "most beautiful Greek woman" whom Mephistopheles brings in. The students thank Faust profusely. But then an old man appears and admonishes Faust to take his "steps on the sweet path to heaven". He insists that Faust renounce magic, this "wicked art that lures your soul to hell". Faust is overwhelmed by desperation, he wants to kill himself and Mephisto hands him a dagger. But the old man falls into his arms: "Faust, stop despair!" Faust asks the old man to leave him alone. He reluctantly follows the request: "So I go, Faust, but full of fear." Without the old man's help, Faust is an easy target for Mephistus' intimidation. When the latter threatens him, he gives in, signs the pact with the devil again with his blood, begs Helena as woo and gets intoxicated by her beauty: "Sweet Helena, make me immortal with a kiss from you."

[Scene 15] The last appearance of the old man, who heralds Faust's downfall, because his fall has now been decided, forms the second, short scene of the last act: "Satan unfolds his power ... I flee from inside under my God's protection. "

[Scene 16] The complex sixth scene has six takes. The three devils Lucifer, Beelzebub and Mephistopheles rise from hell to bring their sacrifice Faustus. Faust gives Wagner his will. Three scholars visit Faust, he warns them about the devil's pact. Mephisto reveals to Faust that he always "blocked the passage to heaven" for him. Good and bad angels appear one last time. The good angel has lost the fight for Faust's soul and the evil angel shows him his future, the abyss of hell. In the last shot of the scene, Faust laments his end and trembles at the approach of his final hour.

[Scene 17] The scholars from the first scene of the fifth act reappear. They visit Faust a second time, because the night was "full of shrines and misery never heard before." They find the doctor's body horribly battered.

[Epilog] The choir closes the work and laments the case of the once so hopeful man. His "Satan's own fate" should be a warning against "exceeding the divine standard".

Literary templates and cultural references

The piece was based on the Historia by D. Johan Fausten , which was translated into English and later also inspired Goethe , among others . Probably already one year after the first edition (1587) of the German Faust book by Johann Spies in Frankfurt, the first English translation followed in 1588. From the first surviving print of the English translation of the Faust book Historie of the Damnable Life, and Deserved Death of Doctor Iohn Faustus , only one edition from 1592 is known today.

The popular legend of Faust originated a generation earlier in the unclear border area between medieval warnings and admonitions on the one hand and the rising expectations of the Renaissance on the other. Paradoxically, Faustus meant “of good premeaning” in Latin, but was initially linked in tradition with the ill-reputed name of a real Georg Faust who should have taught at various universities and whose vagabond career was linked to allegations of bungling and suspicion of pederasty which was mainly spread at German universities. Rumor has it that he enlivened his classical philology lectures through necromantic practice to bring to life the shadows of Homeric heroes. This Doctor Faust lost his actual first name and was given a new one through confusion with Johann Fust, one of the earliest printers and thus a representative of an art that was still considered ominous for many contemporaries at the time.

It can no longer be clarified how Faust came to be called God's challenger; apparently he disappeared under mysterious circumstances that sparked a wave of rumors about his damnable life and well-deserved death due to his indulgent lifestyle and atheistic blasphemies. A generation later, these legends were collected and distributed by the pious printer Johann Spies in a version that was both solemn, edifying and hilarious in his widely known Spiesschen Faust book . In 1592 a free English translation appeared, which was probably used by Marlowe as a close model for his drama.

The translator, who tended less towards didactic instruction or teaching than the author of the German folk book, decorated Faust's journeys with the topography of Italy and a guided tour through the ruins of Rome, which Marlowe follows in his work.

Marlowe's Tragical History of Doctor Faustus , which follows on from this translation, is one of the greatest tragedies of the pre-Shakespearean drama. In hardly any other Elizabethan tragedy is the clash of two ages, the religiously determined Middle Ages and the modern age, which is faithful to science, so clearly expressed. At the intersection of these two ages, Doctor Faustus experiences the tragedy of man for whom class barriers make it impossible to acquire knowledge, beauty and power without resorting to the devil's covenant as a way out. The heroes of Marlowe's other works are also all unwilling to accept the moral norms and order-and-degree thinking of the order of being in the Elizabethan worldview with its class-based society.

Faustus' tragedy represents the tragedy of an Elizabethan-medieval Everyman and a Renaissance individualist. If Faustus, like Tamburlaine, succeeded in imposing his own will on the world and actually renouncing Christian faith, the tragedy could not even arise. Since he fails here, however, he needs the devil, who is himself part of the religious system. However, since Faustus' conscience remains trapped in the traditional moral concepts, he must finally break.

In contrast, the religious drama before Faustus is only latent or potentially tragic; Christianity only becomes viable after Faustus, insofar as from then on the world can confront religion as an equally strong counterweight. The victory of the medieval conceptions of order and being in Faustus is, however, a Pyrrhic victory ; Despite the greatest agony of conscience, remorse only comes a fraction of a second after it is too late.

The piercing death scream of Faustus "Ile burne my books, ah Mephistophilis" justifies the scientist's conflict with God and the world, with his moral and ethical sense of responsibility towards society on the one hand and personal and purely "scientific" gain or, which has persisted into modern times Advantage on the other hand.

The interpretations and criticisms of Faustus , however, sometimes find it difficult to assess or evaluate the burlesque middle section, Faustus' journey around the world, which is often only trivial stage gossip, although it is still unclear to what extent these scenes can be ascribed to Marlowe himself.

With regard to the drama type, Marlowe turns back to more traditional forms in his work. While he created a tragedy of excessive ambition with Tamburlaine , further developed the traditional form of revenge tragedy with The Jew of Malta and tried to create a historical drama with Edward II , with Doctor Faustus he turns back to the morality game .

Within this traditional medieval drama form, however, unlike in the formal models of his predecessors, he worked out a highly personal theme - the tragedy of an atheist and Epicurean and thus a mirror for the University of Wits , that group of English playwrights of the late 16th century who like him had even received their education and training at the renowned universities of Oxford and Cambridge .

In contrast to the classic morality, the title hero in Marlowe's drama is not an everyone of general validity, but an individual who only stands for himself. In particular, by emphasizing the lower origin of his protagonist, Marlowe first of all emphasizes his individual achievements; On the vertical axis of the drama, however, there are heaven and hell as the endpoints, while on the horizontal axis on the opposite sides of the stage the conflict of conscience is shifted outwards and clearly presented in the dispute between the good and the bad angel.

Just as the heroes of morality traverse a circle of symbolic places, Faustus follows the personifications of the world, of the flesh, and of diabolical evil. The progress of his academic career is also presented metaphorically . Already in the opening monologue - characteristically in the study of the title hero - not only a balance is drawn, but above all what encompasses the spirit of the Renaissance man. Marlowe particularly takes up the ideas that Cornelius Agrippa had briefly described in his treatise De incertitudine et vanitate scientiarum (" On the uncertainty and vanity of the sciences ").

With the dramatic form of the monologue in Doctor Faustus , Marlowe takes up a central means of directing sympathy from the early Elizabethan tragedy and at the same time develops it further. While the monologue in the early Elizabethan works was primarily used to inform the audience about the plans or intentions of a character, Marlowe used it as a medium for the self-portrayal of his tragic hero to express the inwardness of his reflections and feelings. With this kind of introspection, Marlowe tries, like Shakespeare later , not only to arouse the audience's interest in his play figure, but at the same time to create understanding for his transgressive motivations that transcend all boundaries.

With the dramatic monologue in Marlowe's work, a structural change in his rhetoric begins, which makes the monologue even more immediate and thus more persuasive as a medium of self-expression, as in the following in Shakespeare's great tragedies. The monologue in Marlowe's work no longer offers a delivered speech with a predetermined or well-thought-out structure, but is presented in spontaneous language as an inner dialogue between the dramatic hero. In this way, the viewer can now directly experience how the hero's moving speech in the respective situation, under the pressure of his emotions and thoughts, creates and unfolds the further sensations, considerations and motivations of the hero, with the most contradicting feelings and thoughts now emerging can thwart. With this further development of the form of the dramatic monologue, Marlowe already mirrors the inner drama of its protagonist, who, like Shakespeare's Hamlet , Lear or Macbeth, struggles for words and images as an indication of his unconscious or repressed desires, hopes and fears.

Text and dating

Title page of Quarto B3 from 1620

The exact time of the composition of the piece is not known, however, due to various text references and allusions in other Vorshakespearian works to the period between 1588 at the earliest ( terminus a quo ) and at the latest 1592 ( terminus ante quem ), the last year of Marlowe's life , enclose.

According to the English translation of the German Faustbuch from 1588, which Marlowe used as a template for his work, the registration of the printing rights is documented for a ballad entitled A ballad of the life and deathe of doctur Faustus the great cunngerer , which was released on February 28 1589 was submitted to the Stationers' Register . This ballad is probably essentially identical to a fist ballad entered in the printer's directory on December 14, 1674, the text of which has survived in an edition from the late 17th century and which has a familiarity not only with the English translation of the Faust book, but also with Marlove's tragedy shows.

For an early work of creation, starting from today mostly speaks as further evidence the description of a theater performance by William Prynne, in this, however, much later (1633) a performance of Doctor Faustus ( playing the history of Faustus ) in Belsavage Theater describes which until 1588 or 1589 at the latest was used not only by the Queen's Men , but also by other theater troupes such as the Lord Strange's Men and the Pembroke company , which can be reliably associated with Marlowe.

Historically documented is a first early performance of the play by the drama troupe of the Lord Admiral's Men on September 30, 1594 with Edward Alleyn in the lead role, which probably took place at the Rose Theater , where this group after their separation from the Lord Chamberlain's Men in June started playing that same year.

The printing rights for the work ( a booke called the plaie of Doctor ffaustus ) were registered in January 1601 by the stationer Thomas Bushell in the stationers' register ; a first printed edition appeared in 1604 as a quarto .

The versions of Dr. Faustus are preserved today in two early versions, the A edition from 1604 and the B edition from 1616; Both editions, however, are based on significantly changed and presumably "corrupted" text versions as print templates. Some of today's editors consider it possible that Marlowe could have co-authored parts of the work, as was quite common at the time. In most recent research, however, it is considered more likely that authors such as Thomas Nashe , Thomas Dekker and William Rowley or William Birde made non-authoritative changes to the piece at a later point in time.

The first surviving print version of Doctor Faustus had 1518 lines, while the edition had grown from 1616 to 2122 lines. Henslowe's records (1602) of payments to William Bird and Samuel Rowley for additions ( "for ther adicyones in doctor fostes" ) point in this direction.

The title page of the first print from 1604 contains the title and author as well as a reference to previous performances by the drama company under the patronage of the Earl of Nottingham and to the printing rights of the stationer Thomas Bushell:

The | Tragicall History of D. Faustus. | As it hath bene Acted by the Right | Honorable the Earle of Nottingham his seruants. Written by Ch. Marl. | London. | Printed by VS for Thomas Bushell. 1604.

The only surviving copy of this first edition is in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University .

An almost unchanged reprint of the first edition, the printing rights of which had meanwhile been transferred to stationer John Wright, appeared in 1609; the only remaining edition of this reprint is in the possession of the Hamburg Public Library in the USA.

It is very likely that another reprint of the four-high edition from 1609 appeared in 1611, but it has been lost.

While the first three prints are essentially the same, the fourth print edition from 1616, the so-called B-Text, contains completely new scenes and episodes and shows clear changes in numerous passages. The title page of this fourth print reads:

The Tragi-call History | of the Life and Death | of Doctor Faustus. | Written by Ch. Marl. | (Vignette.) | London, | Printed for John 1 Cp. Breymann .

Since the exact connection and the relationships between the A text from 1604 and the B text from 1616 cannot be clarified beyond doubt, today's editors prefer a parallel edition with the two separate text versions of the A and B print instead of a single collated edition.

History of the work criticism

Goethe's judgment on Marlowe's Doctor Faustus has been passed down by Henry Crabb Robinson , who, according to Robinson, expressed his praise in the words: “ How big is everything! “Goethe's judgment related primarily to the conception of the work, since the execution of the piece adheres relatively closely to the undramatic structure of the“ Faustbook ”.

Marlowe's Doctor Faustus indisputably has neither the dramatic cohesion nor the format of Goethe's heroes . In view of the spatial and temporal differences as well as the further development of the poetic language and the dramatic conventions, these contradictions should not be overestimated. Even if one admits the undeniable greatness of Goethe's achievement, it is nevertheless noteworthy that Marlowe's design of the legend was indeed preferred by some renowned readers, in particular by Scott and Coleridge , but also by Lamb and Hazlitt . It is possible, however, that they were all influenced by their preference for certain cultural currents and their ignorance of the second part of Goethe's tragedy .

Regardless of this, Marlowe grasped the core of his subject more clearly in relevant areas and perceived its implications more clearly, although his own intellectual horizon was inevitably more chronologically limited than Goethe and his attitude less philosophical. Marlowe was probably better able to assess the risks or fears of freethinking, since his own thoughts and feelings were much closer to obscurantism than to the Enlightenment .

Against this background it can be understood why some famous representatives of a later epoch than that of Goethe, with less faith in progress or less hope for individualism, felt themselves more closely linked to Marlowe's earlier work.

Film adaptations

Radio plays

  • 1949: The tragic story of the life and death of Doctor Johannes Faustus - Production: RIAS ; Director: Fritz Wendhausen
    • Speaker: Not known

swell

  • Stephan Füssel and Hans Joachim Kreutzer (ed.): Historia by D. Johann Fausten - text of the print from 1587. Critical edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-15-001516-2
  • William Rose (Ed.): The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus 1592. G. Routledge & sons Limited, 1925. Reprint by Kessinger Publishing, 2010.

Text output

English
  • David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014, ISBN 978-0-7190-8199-6
  • Frederick S. Boas (Ed.): The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. Methuen, London 1932, 1949.
  • David Scott Kastan (Ed.): Doctor Faustus. Norton Critical Editions. Norton & Company 2005, ISBN 978-0393977547
  • Michael Keefer (Ed.): The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. A Critical Edition of the 1604 Version . Broadview Press, Peterborough, Ontario 2008, ISBN 978-1-55111-514-6
  • Frank Romany and Robert Lindsey (Ed.): Christopher Marlowe The Complete Plays. Penguin Books, London 2003. pp. 341-395. ISBN 978-0-140-43633-4
German
  • Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus . Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, ISBN 978-3-15-001128-7
  • Alfred van der Velde (translator): Christopher Marlowe: Doctor Faustus. The tragic story of the life and death of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Leipzig 1966.

literature

  • Thomas Healy: Doctor Faustus , in: Patrick Cheney (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to Christopher Marlowe. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2004, pp. 174-192, ISBN 978-0521527347
  • Harry Levin: Science Without a Conscience: Christopher Marlowe's> The Tragicall History of Doctor Faustus < . In: Willi Erzgräber (Ed.): English literature from Thomas More to Lawrence Sterne . Fischer, Frankfurt a. M. 1970, pp. 36-66.
  • Richard Wilson: The words of Mercury: Shakespeare and Marlowe , in: Tom Hoenselaars (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Contemporary Dramatists. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2012, ISBN 978-0-521-12874-2

Online text editions

Web links

Commons : Doctor Faustus (play)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

  1. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 6. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-Text - Prologue, 1-28. B-Text - Prologue, 1-27.
  2. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, pp. 7-9. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-Text - Act I, 1.64: "A sound magician is a mighty god." B-Text - Act I, 1.61: "A sound magician is a demigod."
  3. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 9; 1st act; 1st scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-Text: Act I, 1,72-79; B-Text: Act I, 1.69-76.
  4. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 11; 1st act; 1st scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-Text: Act I, 1,123-125; B-Text: Act I, 1,115-117.
  5. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 14; 1st act; 2nd scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-Text: Act I, 2,33f; B-Text: Act I, 2,30f.
  6. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 16; 1st act; 3rd scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-Text: Act I, 3.89-94; B-Text: Act I, 3.86-91.
  7. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 21; 1st act; 4th scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-Text: Act I, 4,72f; B-Text: Act I, 4,46-48: "... let thy left eye be diametarily fixed upon my right heel."
  8. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, epilogue p. 90: "For the emperor's scene of the fourth act and for the entire fifth act, he (the author) considers the text from 1604 (A1) to be the authentic one."
  9. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 50f; 4th act, 10th scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-Text: - Act IV, Sc. 1, 101-103.
  10. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, pp. 52-55; 1st act 1. 11th scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-text - Act IV, Scene 1, 109-195. B-Text: - Act IV, Scene 4, 1-49.
  11. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 53.
  12. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, pp. 55-57; 4th act, scene 11a. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. B-Text: Act 4,5,1-58.
  13. ↑ See: Prince Harry and Poins have their jokes with poor Francis. Wilfrid Braun (Ed.): King Henry IV, Part I. King Heinrich IV., Part I. English-German study edition. Stauffenberg, Tübingen 2010. Act II, 4, 29-71.
  14. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, pp. 60f; 4th act 12th scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. B-Text: Act 4,6,110-120. This scene is vaguely reminiscent of "Auerbachs Keller": Friedmar Apel et al. (Ed.): Goethe - Works. Vol. 3, Faust I and II. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt 1998. pp. 73–83.
  15. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 62; 4th act 12th scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-Text: Act IV, 2.21-28. Faust gives a (wrong) scientific explanation for the miracle of ripe grapes in winter: "The year is divided into two circles around the world, so that when it is winter here, it is summer in the other hemisphere than in India , Saba and countries further east ... "" ... the year is divided in two circles over the whole world, that when it is here winter with us, in the contrary circle it is summer with them, as in India , Saba and farther countries in the East. " The following reason, that Faust had brought the grapes through his "thoughtful spirit" (Mephisto), is reminiscent of Puck's remark in a Midsummer Night's Dream : "I do wander everywhere, swifter than the moon's sphere ...". William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther, 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 6f.
  16. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 63; 5th act 13th scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. B-Text: Act V, 1,1-9. This scene of a funeral meal in the presence of the devil and the hero's servant is of course reminiscent of the Comtur's appearance in " Don Giovanni ": Don Giovanni, a cenar teco m'invitasti, e son venuto. Georg Schünemann (Ed.): "Don Giovanni. Dramma giocoso in two acts. Text by Lorenzo da Pont, music by WA Mozert." CF Peters, Frankfurt 1968. p. 292.
  17. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 63; 5th act 14th scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A&B Text: Act V, 1,10-17. Here echoes of the third act from Faust II can be found: Friedmar Apel et al. (Ed.): Goethe - Works. Vol. 3, Faust I and II. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt 1998. "Before the Palaste des Menelas zu Sparta", pp. 289–337.
  18. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 64; 5th act 14th scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-Text: Act V, 1.36-39.
  19. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 65; V. act 14th scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-Text: Act V, 1,53-57. B-Text: Act V, 1.56-60. This scene is reminiscent of the beginning of Faust I: "Now come down crystalline pure shell ... the earth has me again." Friedmar Apel et al. (Ed.): Goethe - Works. Vol. 3, Faust I and II. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt 1998. pp. 33–35.
  20. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 68; 5th act 15th scene. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A-Text: Act 5,1,111-119.
  21. ^ Adolf Seebaß (translator): Christopher Marlowe: The tragic history of Doctor Faustus. Reclam, Stuttgart 1964, p. 76; 5th act, epilogue. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014. A&B Text: Epilogue.
  22. ^ The entry in the Stationers' Register for the printing of the English translation of the Faustbuch from 1592 is dated December 18 of that year; however, the title page of the surviving copy contains a clear reference to previous prints ( “newly imprinted, and in convenient places imperfect matter amended” ). Other sources and references suggest that the first translation most likely appeared as early as 1588. See David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014, ISBN 978-0-7190-8199-6 , Introduction , pp. 2f. See also David Wootten (Ed.): Christopher Marlowe: Doctor Faustus with the English Faust Book . Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis 2005, ISBN 0-87220-730-7 , Appendix One: The Date of the English Faustbook and of Doctor Faustus , Introduction p. XXIVff., Esp. P. XXV. See also Michael Keefer (ed.): The Tragical History of Doctor Fausutus. A Critical Edition of the 1604 Version . Broadview Press, Peterborough, Ontario 2008, ISBN 978-1-55111-514-6 , Introduction , pp. 24ff.
  23. ↑ See in detail Harry Levin: Science without a conscience: Christopher Marlowe's> The Tragicall History of Doctor Faustus < . In: Willi Erzgräber (Ed.): English literature from Thomas More to Lawrence Sterne . Fischer, Frankfurt a. M. 1970, pp. 36-38.
  24. ^ Christian W. Thomsen: From the interludes to Marlowe's death . In: Josefa Nünning (Ed.): The English Drama . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1973, ISBN 3-534-04775-3 , pp. 36-66, here pp. 36f.
  25. ↑ See in detail Christian W. Thomsen: Von den Interludien bis zu Marlowe's death . In: Josefa Nünning (Ed.): The English Drama . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1973, ISBN 3-534-04775-3 , pp. 67–140, here pp. 136f.
  26. ↑ See in more detail Manfred Pfister : The early modern times from More to Milton . In: Hans Ulrich Seeber (Ed.): English literary history . 4th, extended edition, Metzler, Stuttgart and Weimar 2004, ISBN 3-476-02035-5 , pp. 46–154, here pp. 133f. For the historical-literary development of the dramatic form of Doctor Faustus , see also the remarks by Robert Weimann : Shakespeare and the tradition of the popular theater . Henschel Verlag, 2nd edition Berlin 1975, pp. 283–289, pp. 340–342 and p. 382
  27. ↑ See David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014, ISBN 978-0-7190-8199-6 , Introduction , pp. 1ff. See also David Wootten (Ed.): Christopher Marlowe: Doctor Faustus with the English Faust Book . Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis 2005, ISBN 0-87220-730-7 , Introduction p. XXII and Appendix One , p. XXIV.
  28. ↑ See David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Christopher Marlowe Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014, ISBN 978-0-7190-8199-6 , Introduction , p. 2. Cf. also Michael Keefer (Ed.): The Tragical History of Doctor Fausutus on an early date . A Critical Edition of the 1604 Version . Broadview Press, Peterborough, Ontario 2008, ISBN 978-1-55111-514-6 , Introduction , pp. 88ff.
  29. ↑ This performance may also have taken place at the Belsavage Theater . See David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (eds.): Christopher Marlowe Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014, ISBN 978-0-7190-8199-6 , Introduction , pp. 48f. See also David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Doctor Faustus and Other Plays . Oxford University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-19-283445-2 , Introduction , p. XVIf.
  30. ↑ See David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (eds.): Doctor Faustus and Other Plays . Oxford University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-19-283445-2 , Introduction , p. XXVII.
  31. ↑ See David Wootten (Ed.): Christopher Marlowe: Doctor Faustus with the English Faust Book . Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis 2005, ISBN 0-87220-730-7 , Appendix Two: A-Text and B-Text , pp. XXVIIff. See also David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): Christopher Marlowe Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014, ISBN 978-0-7190-8199-6 , Introduction , pp. 64-74. Since Thomas Bushell registered the printing rights for the work for the first time in January 1601, an earlier print edition before 1604 cannot be completely ruled out; However, no copies of such a print have survived. See Michael Keefer (ed.): The Tragical History of Doctor Fausutus. A Critical Edition of the 1604 Version . Broadview Press, Peterborough, Ontario 2008, ISBN 978-1-55111-514-6 , Introduction , pp. 88ff.
  32. ↑ Quoted from Michael Keefer (ed.): The Tragical History of Doctor Fausutus. A Critical Edition of the 1604 Version . Broadview Press, Peterborough, Ontario 2008, ISBN 978-1-55111-514-6 , Introduction , p. 21. Also in Mathew R. Martin (Ed.): Christopher Marlowe: Doctor Faustus - The B-Text . Broadview Editions, Peterborough, Ontario 2013, Introduction , pp. 24f. See also David Wootten (Ed.): Christopher Marlowe: Doctor Faustus with the English Faust Book . Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis 2005, ISBN 0-87220-730-7 , A Note On the Texts , pp. XXXVIII. See also in detail David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (eds.): Christopher Marlowe Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014, ISBN 978-0-7190-8199-6 , Introduction , p. 20.
  33. ↑ See the comments on the text-historical contexts presented in the Internet edition of Marlowe's The tragical history of Doctor Faustus in the Internet Archive at [1] , accessed on May 4, 2017. See also the information on Wikisource at [2] , accessed on May 4, 2017.
  34. ↑ With the current state of research, the question of which print template the A edition and the B edition are based on is also controversial. With the current state of research, neither of these two prints can be traced back clearly or with high probability to the copy of an autograph manuscript or that of a theater manuscript (so-called prompt book ); The assumption that both prints or parts of them are based on the non-authoritative reconstruction of a listed stage version from memory cannot be completely ruled out. Even the extent of a possible joint authorship of Marlowe with other authors or of subsequent text changes and corruptions by authors such as Nashe, Dekker or Rowley is viewed controversially with today's knowledge and cannot be determined with certainty. See the detailed presentation and critical discussion of the various hypotheses on the origin and transmission of texts in David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (eds.): Dr Faustus. The A- and B-Texts (1604, 1616): A parallel-text Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester 2014, ISBN 978-0-7190-8199-6 , Introduction , pp. 62-77.
  35. ↑ See Christian W. Thomsen: From the Interludes to Marlowe's death . In: Josefa Nünning (Ed.): The English Drama . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1973, ISBN 3-534-04775-3 , p. 52f. Thomson quotes the statement by Crabb Robinson handed down by Goethe after George Santayana : Three Philosophical Poets . Cambridge, Mass. 1910, pp. 146-150.
  36. ↑ See the remarks by Christian W. Thomsen: Von den Interludien bis zu Marlowe's death . In: Josefa Nünning (Ed.): The English Drama . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1973, ISBN 3-534-04775-3 , pp. 64f.