Marlowe's close, not-so-close, rendition to the FaustBook: a comparative literature study of the Early Modern English period

Abstract

[EN]In the present “Trabajo de Fin de Grado” (TFG) a comparative literature study has been carried out aiming to further investigate the figure and myth of Doctor Faustus and his role in English Medieval and Renaissance literature. With this aim, this work expects to analyze the relationship between P.F.'s translation of the German Faustbuch, The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus, and the later theatre play written by Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. This paper begins by dealing with the possible existence of Doctor Faustus as well as with the religious setting surrounding both versions of the myth. After that, both works' structures and main themes are compared, examining Marlowe's ambiguity in contrast with the English and German FaustBook's straightforward didacticism. Faustus and Mephistopheles' actions and words in both works, as well as their divergent endings, are also considered in this study with the purpose of reaffirming, not only the relationship between both texts, but also the evolution that the German myth has suffered in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.[ES]the English and German FaustBook's straightforward didacticism. Faustus and Mephistopheles' actions and words in both works, as well as their divergent endings, are also considered in this study with the purpose of reaffirming, not only the relationship between both texts, but also the evolution that the German myth has suffered in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.