An Evaluation of ‘doctor Faustus’ Scene 12, Lines 25-100 by Christopher Marlowe with John Donne’s Poem ‘a Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’

Christopher Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus” is an Elizabethan play about a German Scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for twenty-four years of magical power. What drives Faustus to such lengths are his thirst for knowledge and his obsession for having a legacy, what the cost is doesn’t register to Faustus until the very end of the play. “Doctor Faustus” is both a tragedy and a morality play, although Faustus has no redeeming features and is a dislikeable character, Marlowe intended to inspire the audience to feel sympathy for him towards the end, especially during scene 12 where he is very close to repenting. Faustus’ death makes the play a tragedy because the audience empathizes with him, and it also gives Marlowe’s play moral intonations. Christopher Marlowe had to have Faustus die because of the religious society he lived in, it would be frowned upon if he were to let Faustus live after selling his soul to the devil. With a strict Protestant audience, Christopher Marlowe has to contain features within his play which would appeal to them. In scene 7, Faustus and Mephastophilis visit the Vatican and make a mockery of the pope. By illustrating the pope as a ridiculous character living the life of luxury, Marlowe is playing into the anti-Catholic stereotypes and thus ensuring entertainment for the audience.

‘A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’ by John Donne is a Jacobean poem about a man who is forced to spend time apart from his lover. It is in first person and the speaker explains that the bond they share with one another is so strong that they should not feel sorrow for their impending separation. Donne’s poem consists of nine stanzas which have a regular rhyming pattern of ABAB. It is as though the poem was manufactured to be systematically regular, with every line, excluding the first line, having eight beats and so the metre is iambic tetrameter. “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” was written in 1620, which is over a decade after Shakespeare’s sonnet were written, yet the influence is evident. Both Donne and Shakespeare’s poetic works portray love as idealistically romantic. Donne’s speaker suggests that his and his lover’s souls are one and so there is a spiritual as well as physical connection between them:

Inter-assurèd of the mind

(line 19)

Our two soul therefore, which are one,

(line 21)

Within his sonnets, Shakespeare also described love in such passionate, romantic terms. At the time of Donne’s writing career, there was still a big influence of Shakespeare within the literature culture and so Donne had to appeal to the Jacobean audience. This is why he wrote about the theme of love in such fantastical, tangible expressions. There are similarities between “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” and “Sonnet 116″ by William Shakespeare, in reference to the theme of love:

O no, it is an ever fixed marke

That lookes on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering barke,

Whose worths unknowne, although his higth be taken.

(from “Sonnet 116″, lines 5-8)

This notion of love is a very religiously influenced one. Considering Donne was ordained a Priest in his later life, which would account for why he considers love in such ways. Donne’s poetry emits the reasoning that there is only one person for everyone, and people should be content with their partner for life. Two lovers become one, their souls are intertwined.

The speaker within Donne’s poem describes the strength of his love with absolute conviction. Whereas Faustus is constantly uncertain of whether he should repent and accept God as his superior or leave his fate in Lucifer’s hands, ironically that turns out to be quite literally. In scene 12, Faustus toys with the idea of repenting, yet believes that he is beyond redemption and God would never forgive him his sins:

Damned art thou, Faustus, damned; despair and die!

Hell calls for right…

(Scene 12, lines 39-40)

The old man, who is an abstract representation of conscience and the good angel, tries to convince Faustus that if he were to ask for God’s forgiveness it would be granted. He explains to Faustus on plain terms that he must repent or he is ruined and faces Hell for eternity:

Then call for mercy and avoid despair.

(Scene 12, line 47)

In this scene, Faustus is the closest he has ever been to repenting. Yet his pride stands in his way of saying the words that would for definite change his fate. When Faustus is strongly considering repenting, Mephastophilis intervenes and hands him a dagger:

I do repent, and yet I do despair:

Hell strives with grace for conquest in my breast!

(Scene 12, lines 54-5)

If Faustus were to commit suicide with the dagger he would go to Hell anyway, and it would all be in vain. Mephastophilis is the proverbial spanner in the work for Faustus, his purpose is to manipulate Faustus into believing that he need no repent and Lucifer is not an enemy. Faustus trusts Mephastophilis because he believes he conjured him in scene 3. Ironically, before Faustus makes a pact with Lucifer, Mephastophilis does explain what it is like to be in his state:

Why this is Hell nor am I out of it

(Scene 3, line 76)

Mephastophilis then continues to give details, not of how fulfilling and enjoyable it is to constantly be in Hell, but rather the opposite and he warns Faustus to ignore his desire for higher power:

Am not tormented with a thousand Hells

In being deprived of everlasting bliss?

O Faustus, leave these frivolous demands,

Which strike a terror to my fainting soul.

(scene 3, lines 79-82)

Faustus does lack conviction to his cause, and his indecision about whether or not to repent is a result of being easily manipulated and distraction, especially by Mephastophilis and Lucifer. In scene 5, Faustus is persuaded by the good angel that he should repent:

Ah Christ my Saviour! Seek to save

Distressèd Faustus’ soul!

(Scene 5, lines 256-7)

Lucifer, Beelzebub and Mephastophilis appear and in order to create a diversion from Faustus’ thoughts of repenting they summon the seven deadly sins, and as a result Faustus forgets his decision to atone for his sins to God.

The speaker within “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”, is completely certain of his feelings about his lover and the love and trust they share. He speaks in absolute terms about the strength of their relationship. The speaker claims that their farewell should be similar to that of an honourable dying man: without complaint and respectably. An honourable man dies without complaint because he has no fear, the speaker and his lover should not feel sorrow because they have nothing to fear. The speaker believes that their love is superior to theatrical displays of emotion,if they were to do so, it would profane their love:

So let us melt, and make no noise,

No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move;

‘Twere profanation of our joys

To tell the laity our love.

(Lines 5-8)

The speaker possesses a certainty that their love will survive the great distance that will be set between them. They would not experience a breach of their souls, but rather an “expansion”. Their connecting souls will stretch to absorb all the space between them. The speaker describes him and his lover as one soul, which is why they are above feelings of sorrow and remorse:

Our two souls therefore, which are one,

(Line 21)

Donne embraces the use of metaphors to justify how strongly the speaker feels about his true, untainted love. The speaker claims that he and his lover make as much sense as geometry. They both need each other to work and makes sense in life, just as both feet of the compass has to work:

As stiff twin compasses are two;

Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show

To move, but doth, if th’ other do.

(Lines 26-8)

Donne and Marlowe’s techniques are very different from each other. Donne is a metaphor enthusiast, Marlowe on the other hand, is famous for his unique verse. This is because of the way in which Marlowe’s protagonist speaks, in third person:

Where art thou, Faustus? Wretch, what hast thou done!

(Scene 12, line 38)

Within “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”, Donne is very fond of using metaphors to illustrate passion and the certainty of the speaker. The speaker claims that when they are apart, their souls will expand, like gold can be stretched by beating it into an “airy thinness”. This metaphor creates the image of expansion as a beautiful thing, precious like gold. “Tear-floods” and “sigh-tempests”, constructs another significant image to the theme of love, and that is passion. “Tear-floods” and “sigh-tempests” suggests the shear force of the passion the two lovers feels for one another, yet should not display in public because their love has more depth than passion.

The tone of both texts are very different,’A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’ is about a negative occurrence yet it is described in positive terms. Whereas, “Doctor Faustus” is a tragedy illustrated in purely negative expressions because there is no positive outlook on the situation at hand. The use of diction enables such a conclusion about the negativity within scene 12 of “Doctor Faustus”. There is a great repetition of words such as “despair” and “damned”, this dramatic language inspires the audience to perceive Faustus in a sympathetic light, rather than a damning one.

Donne’s frequent use of metaphors has another purpose, this is to show a negative circumstance in a positive manner. The geometrical metaphor aims so highlight subjective love objectively, thus giving their devotion to one another more credibility and essence of truth. Just as a compass needs both points to create the perfect circle, the speaker and his lover need each other to, at the risk of sounding sentimental, survive. They are not like “dull sublunary lovers”, they possess a spiritual connection rather than just a romantic bond.

Christopher Marlowe subtly breaks the fundamental rules for playwriting within the Elizabethan age. It is as though Marlowe is mocking the classical Greek play style. In ancient Greek theatre, a play would span over twenty-four hours, yet Marlowe had “Doctor Faustus” span over twenty-four years. Another fundamental rule Marlowe broke in the process of writing “Doctor Faustus” is combining the genres of comedy and tragedy within the same theme. The ancient Greeks did not believe in uniting both genres within a play. Marlowe did however conform to the morality pattern of the early 17th century. He felt compelled to in order to appeal to the Protestant audience. Despite conforming with the morality pattern, he delicately breaks the rules for a morality play. Even though “Doctor Faustus” does not break out of the morality framework, it does not sit within it either. Although Faustus dies as a result of his blasphemy and disbelief in God which leads him to sell his sole to the devil, Marlowe compels audience to pity Faustus.

Marlowe breaks several rules in the process of writing “Doctor Faustus”, yet John Donne carefully manufactured his poem to sit within the guidelines of a regular and systematic style. This causes the poem to not flow freely as a more spontaneous poem does. “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” sits comfortably within the Shakespearian guidelines of poetry. The theme itself is appealing to the religious, Jacobean society, that of refined love.

Another comparison is the portrayal of women within the texts. There is not the appearance of females within “Doctor Faustus” until scene 12, which indicates that the role of women is not essential to the play. Conversely, the portrayal of women with Donne’s poem is crucial to the theme and meaning. The speaker within “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” speaks of his lover in a respectful manner, and never once refers to her as an object or his possession. He also does not describe her in physical terms, but rather emotionally and spiritually which reflects how much he must value her:

Inter-assurèd of the mind,

Care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss

(Lines 19-20)

Faustus, on the other hand, does not hold women in quite the same perspective. His last desire is for Mephastophilis to conjure Helen of Troy, he is shallow enough to believe that her infamous beauty alone, would restore his soul:

Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss:

Her lips such forth my soul, see where it flies!

(Scene 12, lines 83-4)

Yet ironically, he wastes his last moments alive with a fantasy figure, this is symbolic of what he has achieved over the past twenty-four years, he was too consumed with conjuring historical figures, yet these are just simply illusions and not physical beings. Faustus’ final soliloquy illustrates not only his blinkered opinion of women, but of life. He still fails to comprehend the true purpose and meaning of his existence.

By analysing both texts; “Doctor Faustus” and “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”, the differences and similarities are now verified. The obvious differences are the themes, genres, influences and style of writing. There are even less similarities. Both Marlowe and Donne’s work reflect religious undertones, yet “Doctor Faustus” is more morally ambiguous. Both texts have tragic elements about them, yet Donne’s poem shows a negative circumstance in a positive light, with an optimistic attitude. “Doctor Faustus” however, is a tragedy through and through, despite there being the odd comedy scene, it is palpable that Faustus’ ending would be tragic and wretched. Both Marlowe and Donne’s influences are evident within their work, yet the influences are quite different. Where Christopher Marlowe’s play reflects the influence of society, John Donne’s poem reveals the influence of other writers and previous works of poetry. The characters featured within the texts are also very different, although both eloquent and passionate, Faustus has a restricted outlook on the world and does not quite comprehend selflessness. Whereas the speaker within “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”, is passionate about his feelings for another human being and is set on making her feel comforted about the bad news of his departure.