Doctor Faustus: A critical guide

by Sara Munson Deats (Editor)

Overview

Doctor Faustus, is Christopher Marlowe's most popular play and is often seen as one of the overwhelming triumphs of the English Renaissance. It has had a rich and varied critical history often arousing violent critical controversy.
This guide offers students an introduction to its critical and performance history, surveying notable stage productions from its initial performance in 1594 to the present and including TV, audio and cinematic versions. It includes a keynote chapter outlining major areas of current research on the play and four new critical essays. Finally, a guide to critical, web-based and production-related resources and an annotated biography provide a basis for further individual research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781847061386
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/19/2010
Series:	Continuum Renaissance Drama Guides
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	811,056
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.46(d)

About the Author

Sara Munson Deats is Distinguished University Professor of English and Co-Director of the Center of Applied Humanities at The University of South Florida, USA.
She has published widely on Marlowe and Shakespeare, has served as President of the Marlowe Society of America, and in 1998 received the international Roma Gill Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Marlowe Scholarship.

Table of Contents

Series Introduction

Timeline

Introduction Sara Munson Deats

1 The Critical Backstory Bruce T. Brandt

2 The Performance History David Bevington

3 The State of the Art - Current Critical Research Robert A. Logan

4 New Directions: Doctor Faustus and Renaissance Hermeticism Andrew Duxfield

5 New Directions: Imperialism as Devilry: A Postcolonial Analysis of Doctor Faustus Toni Francis

6 New Directions: "What means this show?" Directing a Student Faustus Andrew James Hartley

7 New Directions: The Other Black Arts: Doctor Faustus and the Inky Words of Printing and Writing Georgia Brown

8 A Survey of Resources Sarah K. Scott

Notes on Contributors

Index

Editorial Reviews

"This wide-ranging book provides food for thought for readers of all levels: it helps orient the beginner with useful surveys of the critical territory and it caters to more advanced readers with stimulating scholarly essays on topics such as postcolonialism, print culture and the occult. Andrew Duxfield approaches Renaissance hermeticism in an admirably clear and user-friendly way; Georgia Brown imaginatively examines writing/printing as both a context for and a theme of the play; and Andrew Hartley's experience of directing Dr Faustus provides brilliant and pithy insights about the play's theatricality and applicability to audiences and readers today. There are extensive (and helpfully annotated) reading lists to guide all readers through the critical maze. Every chapter is full of useful information and observations. This is a valuable addition to the library of every school or university - and to the bookcase of every student."
- Laurie Maguire, Professor of English, University of Oxford, UK

"Scholars of English literature introduce students to some features of the play written by British playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564-93) in 1588, the year of the Spanish Armada. They cover the critical backstory, the performance history, current critical research, Renaissance hermeticism, imperialism as devilry in a postcolonial reading, staging Faustus on campus, and the other black arts of printing and writing. A final chapter surveys resources." -Eithne O'Leyne, BOOK NEWS, Inc.

"Doctor Faustus: A Critical Guide offers meticulously detailed and lucid overviews of the vexed textual, critical, and performance history of Marlowe's most widely read and performed play, devoting an entire chapter to recent trends in scholarship and interpretation. For these reasons, and because of its deliberate emphasis on the relatively neglected area of performance studies of Doctor Faustus, it is an exceptionally ambitious and valuable work."
- Constance Brown Kuriyama, Professor of English, Texas Tech University, USA

"This volume represents much of the star power in Marlowe Studies over recent decades, including three past presidents of the Marlowe Society of America along with two current officers. Readers may be assured that the scholarly assessments in this volume are well informed, judicious, insightful, and forward-looking."
- Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA; President, Marlowe Society of America

From the Publisher