The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
Dr. Faustus’s tragic play has several comic scenes. The comic episodes in this drama play some concrete roles in providing comic relief, throwing more additional meaning to the tragic action portrayed and offer a contrasting point of view. The most crucial section to the audience in that age was the introduction of crude buffoonery by Marlowe in the play. Therefore, this article aims to find the importance of the play’s comic scenes to find out if they have the impact expected by the film’s producers or have no relationship to the themes displayed in the play.
The first comic scene occurs between Dr. Faustus’s servant and Wagner, and the two scholars. Wagner imitates the reasoning of medieval scholars whom he often hears, making discussions at his master’s residence. The scholars ask him where Faustus was, and Wagner, in turn, amuses them by his unexpected answers. He then says that God in heaven only knows the whereabouts of Faustus. This scene shows the deterioration of Faustus, aside from producing laughter from the audience. Certainly, after Faustus turns to necromancy, only God knows where he will go.
The dining hall is referred to by Wagner as a place of execution. It is also a place where Faustus is morally executed. This scene displays a misuse of knowledge because Wagner is using logic for the sole purpose of amusing the two scholars. In contrast, Faustus, in the earlier scene, uses judgment to justify the reason for necromancy.
The next comic scene unfolds when Wagner opts to engage the clown and use him as his servant. Wagner uses the clown’s poverty to attack him by saying that he would give his soul to the devil for a mutton’s shoulder because he is so hungry. The clown, on the other hand, refuses by saying that he will insist on the mutton becoming “well-roasted” and becoming a good sauce if he is to give his soul to get the food. This scene show’s Faustus’s degeneration and also produces laughter. It also portrays two ridiculous transactions about Faustus and the clown. The clown will sell his soul for food to the devil while Faustus sells his soul for little power to Mephistophilis.
The seven deadly scenes are another important comic scene in the play. The scenes were; Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Anger, Sloth, Pride, and Covetousness. They were very important in medieval times and Christian theology. The different sins puzzle us by how they describe their features. For instance, Covetousness would like the people in the house plus the house itself to be turned into gold; Wrath covers itself with dangerous circumstances when there is no one to attack, Gluttony has beef and bacon as his ancestors and Pride discourages having any parents. These sins are important since they describe the peril it puts anyone trying to subscribe to them. It is also a moral edification for the audience because they teach them to hate these sins.
Act III scene I is performed in the Pope’s chamber in Rome. Faustus tricks the Pope and shows his funny tricks to guests. Faustus asks Mephistophilis to make him invisible so that he can be able to trick the Pope who is accompanied by Cardinal of Lorraine. The friars, under the Pope’s orders, call a ritual to curse the sinner who has the guts to offend the Pope. When the ceremony comes to an end, Faustus and Mephistophilis throw the fireworks among the friars and beat them. Marlowe, through this description of Faustus’s pranks to the Pope, shows his hatred for the Pope and the church.
In scene eight, where Rafe and Robin summoned up Mephastophilis, they could not be comfortable seeing him near them. He changed Robin into an ape and Rafe into a dog because they were just playing games. In all the other scenes, people tried summoning up the devil, but they could not simply handle the devil and often failed in their attempts. His comic scene seems to increase the knowledge of the reader and show the audience how powerful Faustus was. It also reflects the actions of Faustus and helps the audience grasp his role in the play.
The next scene is a display of dubious humor to the audience. It is seen in Act IV Scene I, where Robin, an Ostler, can exercise the magic powers. Ralph draws a magic circle, calls Robin, and warns him to keep away from the drawn circle. Robin claims that he can deliver any quantity of wine for Ralph from any tavern in Europe, and he also promises to give Ralph a kitchen maid for his pleasure. Ralph accepts this offer and feels very happy. The significance of this scene is to bring humor and produce laughter for the audience.
Another function of comic scenes in the play is to display a Christian’s understanding of the world. For instance, every time Faustus remains loyal to hell rather than heaven, this implies turning away from God and, thus, condemns him to an eternal hell. It is only at the final scene at the end of his life that Faustus desires to repent and cries out to Jesus to redeem him. However, it is too late for him to repent. Marlowe steps out of the worldview of Christianity to just show the dramatic power of the final scene to the audience. Faustus spends his final time in a different universe having previously inhabited the Christian world for the most part of the play, and at long last redemption was impossible whereby certain sins are unforgivable.
The comic scenes in the play were used to show the difference between magic and science, a blurred distinction in the sixteenth century. Faustus vehemently rejects the medieval model despite being a magician instead of a scientist. In scene one, he opens his speech by going through a wide array of fields, starting with logic, the law, medicine, and theology, where he quotes ancient authority. He quotes Galen on medicine, Aristotle on logic, and the Bible on religion. However, Faustus rejects medieval ways of thinking. He resolves to accept no traditions, limits, or authorities as he looks for knowledge, power, and wealth.
There is a clash between Renaissance and medieval values in the play. Marlowe seems unfriendly towards Faustus’s ambitions of displaying his thoughts and values in line with the renaissance values. He keeps him squarely in the medieval world, where human pride is punished by eternal damnation. Marlowe tries to show the audience how medieval Faustus is, but the audience can clearly see the notion that Faustus is a hero in the modern world- free of religion, God, and other limits imposed on humanity.
However, as the reading suggests, Faustus may well pay the medieval price of eternal damnation because of the human pride in him, but his successors will strive to go further than him, as we have in modern times, and will surprisingly pay a lesser price that Faustus did. On the other hand, the disappointment that Faustus will face on the agreement he made with the devil in the scenes might suggest a contrasting perspective since he descended from impressive goals to irrelevant conjuring tricks. Marlowe may be trying to show that the modern new spirit will only lead to a dead-end, similar to what it did to Faustus. Therefore, the comic scene displays a conflict between medieval and Renaissance values.
Conclusion
Dr. Faustus’s tragic play displays a number of comic scenes. They throw more comic relief and throw additional meanings to the actions displayed while giving different points of view to the play. Other scenes show how powerful Faustus is while displaying a clash between Renaissance and medieval values. The comic scenes bring humor to the play and make it interesting to the audience since they can interpret it on different viewpoints.