Doctor Faustus

by Christopher Marlowe, Paul Menzer (Editor)

Overview

About the series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474295178
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/15/2018
Series:	New Mermaids
Edition description:	4th ed.
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	267,182
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) was born in Canterbury the year of Shakespeare’s birth. Like Shakespeare, he was of a prosperous middle-class family, but unlike Shakespeare he went to a university, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he received the bachelor’s degree in 1584 and the master’s degree in 1587. The terms of his scholarship implied that he was preparing for the clergy but he did not become a clergyman. Shortly before he received his M.A. the University seems to have wished to withhold it, apparently suspecting him of conversion to Roman Catholicism, but the Queen’s Privy Council intervened on his behalf, stating that he “had done her majesty good service” and had been employed “in matters touching the benefit of the country.” His precise service is unknown. After Cambridge, Marlowe went to London, where he apparently lived a turbulent life (he had two brushes with the law and was said to be disreputable) while pursuing a career as a dramatist. He wrote seven plays—the dates of which are uncertain—before he was yet again in legal difficulties: he was arrested in 1593, accused of atheism. He was not imprisoned, and before his case could be decided he was dead, having been stabbed in a tavern while quarreling over the bill.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Preface
Plot summary
Analysis
1. Historical and literary contexts
2. Performance aspects of the text
3. Critical interpretations
Resources and annotated bibliography
A note on the text
The Play

Editorial Reviews

This combines annotated and modernized versions of Marlowe's 1604 text, plus the 1592 English translation of an earlier German text on which Marlowe based his play. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

"There is a wonderful sense that evil lurks in every corner." - Guardian

"A thing of beauty to watch." - Independent

"Faithful and clever." - Herald Scotland

"Catches well the hellish claustrophobia of our restless urges." - Telegraph

From the Publisher