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Marlowe’s writing also
captures the anti-Machiavellian
feeling that was common in Elizabethan England. Niccolò Machiavelli was the
author of works such as The Prince, which argues that a ruler protects his
political power through might and that religion is used as a tool to keep
unruly subjects in order. As a greedy merchant, Barabas displays the kind of
strategic cunning that is at odds with Christian notions of altruism but
shares much with Machiavellian self-advancement. The play triggers an
ambivalent response from its audience: on the one hand, we admire Barabas’s
clever duplicity but on the other, we resent him for his merciless
manipulation of human beings. In many respects, Marlowe is similar to his
protagonist in that the playwright was also decried as a Machiavellian
schemer with little loyalty towards his country. It is for readers to
determine whether The Jew of Malta is Marlowe’s attempt to discredit
Machiavelli, or whether the playwright is satirizing Elizabethan England’s
stereotyped view of this author.
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
 The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus is
Marlowe’s masterpiece. It is based upon a German legend prevailing in the
Medieval Ages. The hero, Doctor Faustus, is a young and smart scholar. The
chief feature of his character is a desire for knowledge. He is tired of
studying philosophy, medicine, law and divinity, and he turns to the study
of magic in order to understand and possess the kingdoms of the earth. Thus,
by spells at night he has raised Mephistophilis, the Devil’s servant. He is
told that if he sells his soul to the Devil, he can live twenty-four years
“in all voluptuousness”, with Mephistophilis at his command. Faustus agrees
to sign the contract with his own blood. Meanwhile, Wagner, Faustus’s
servant, has learned some magical ability and uses it to have a servant
named Robin.
Dr. Faustus is given a book of spells. Later, Mephistophilis
answers all of his questions about the nature of the world, refusing to
answer only when Faustus asks him who made the universe.
Armed with his new powers and attended by Mephistophilis,
Faustus begins to travel. He goes to the Pope’s court in Rome, makes himself
invisible, and plays a series of tricks. He disrupts the Pope’s banquet by
stealing food and boxing the pope’s ears. Following this incident, he
travels through the courts of Europe. Eventually, he is invited to the court
of the German emperor, Charles V (the enemy of the pope), who asks Faustus
to allow him to see Alexander the Great, the famed fourth-century B.C.
Macedonian king and conqueror. Faustus makes up an image of
Alexander,
and Charles is impressed.
Eventually, Faustus is invited to the court of the Duke of
Vanholt, where he performs various tricks and casts spells on some people to
amuse of the duke and duchess.
The twenty-four years of his deal with
Lucifer come to a
close. He has Mephistophilis call up
Helen of Troy, the famous beauty
from the ancient world, and uses her presence to impress a group of
scholars. Faustus summons Helen again and exclaims about her beauty. But
time is growing short. On the final night before the end of the twenty-four
years, Faustus is overcome by fear. He begs for mercy, but it is too late.
At midnight, a host of devils appears and carries his soul off to hell. In
the morning, the scholars find Faustus’s bodies and decide to hold a funeral
for him.
As Doctor Faustus is a Christian play, it deals with the
themes at the heart of Christianity’s understanding of the world. In the
Christian framework of the play, one can argue that true greatness can be
achieved only with God’s blessing. By cutting himself off from the creator
of the universe, Faustus is condemned to mediocrity. There is the idea of
sin, which Christianity defines as acts contrary to the will of God. In
making a pact with Lucifer, Faustus commits what is in a sense the ultimate
sin.
Marlowe's Literary Achievement
Marlowe was the first greatest writer of English drama. He
made a new form of the English drama and perfected the language and verse of
dramatic works. Marlowe was the first person who made blank verse (unrhymed
iambic pentameter) the major instrument of English drama. His blank
verse is a living thing; it is strong, fluid and precise. It puts thoughts
and feelings into rhythmical speech, thus showing the spirit of the
Renaissance. His blank verse has been described as “titanic”.
Marlowe's dramatic achievement lies chiefly in his epical verse. He
rarely supplies a model in dramatic technicalities. In his plays he is not
good at characterization and construction. But he was famous for his “mighty
line”. It is mighty and plastic.
His works paved the way for the plays of the greatest English
dramatist – Shakespeare -- whose achievements were the milestone of the
English Renaissance.
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