Influence Dr Faustus on the Tempest
―Hell is Empty, and All the Devils are Here‖: The Influence of Doctor Faustus on The Tempest
A Senior Honors Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for graduation with research distinction in English in the undergraduate colleges of The Ohio State University by Jonathan Holmes The Ohio State University March 2009 Project Advisor: Professor Derek Alwes, English Department
2 William Shakespeare‘s sources and influences have been the subject of much discussion, which includes vigorous scholarly debate over what effects, if any, Shakespeare‘s contemporaries had on his art. Of those contemporaries, Christopher Marlowe arguably had the greatest impact. However, it is difficult to craft an argument for a specific influence, because, as Stephen J. Lynch puts it, ―I would not deny the profound influence of Marlowe, Chaucer, and the Bible on Shakespeare, but such influences are submersed and dispersed throughout Shakespeare‘s work‖ (117). Thus, numerous influences for various plays have been proposed, but few have been embraced by the majority of Renaissance scholars, whose disputation over such matters continues still. Yet it remains an issue worth interrogating because such analyses can profoundly influence our understanding of the plays and of Shakespeare‘s art more generally. Most of the scholarship regarding Marlowe‘s influence on Shakespeare appears to focus almost exclusively on Shakespeare‘s early plays. One analysis that many other articles cite is Irving Ribner‘s. He compares and contrasts the works of both playwrights, but he focuses only on Shakespeare‘s early plays, such as Henry VI, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, and The Merchant of Venice (Macbeth is the only later play addressed). James Shapiro makes some claims of a very strong influence that all but died out by 1600. He finds that, at least early on in Shakespeare‘s career, the assimilation of Marlowe‘s art took on different forms, evolving from parodic to tributary. Marjorie
A Senior Honors Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for graduation with research distinction in English in the undergraduate colleges of The Ohio State University by Jonathan Holmes The Ohio State University March 2009 Project Advisor: Professor Derek Alwes, English Department
2 William Shakespeare‘s sources and influences have been the subject of much discussion, which includes vigorous scholarly debate over what effects, if any, Shakespeare‘s contemporaries had on his art. Of those contemporaries, Christopher Marlowe arguably had the greatest impact. However, it is difficult to craft an argument for a specific influence, because, as Stephen J. Lynch puts it, ―I would not deny the profound influence of Marlowe, Chaucer, and the Bible on Shakespeare, but such influences are submersed and dispersed throughout Shakespeare‘s work‖ (117). Thus, numerous influences for various plays have been proposed, but few have been embraced by the majority of Renaissance scholars, whose disputation over such matters continues still. Yet it remains an issue worth interrogating because such analyses can profoundly influence our understanding of the plays and of Shakespeare‘s art more generally. Most of the scholarship regarding Marlowe‘s influence on Shakespeare appears to focus almost exclusively on Shakespeare‘s early plays. One analysis that many other articles cite is Irving Ribner‘s. He compares and contrasts the works of both playwrights, but he focuses only on Shakespeare‘s early plays, such as Henry VI, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, and The Merchant of Venice (Macbeth is the only later play addressed). James Shapiro makes some claims of a very strong influence that all but died out by 1600. He finds that, at least early on in Shakespeare‘s career, the assimilation of Marlowe‘s art took on different forms, evolving from parodic to tributary. Marjorie
Cited: BradBrook, M.C. ―Shakespeare‘s Recollections of Marlowe.‖ Shakespeare‘s Styles: Essays in Honour of Kenneth Muir. Ed. Philip Edwards, Inga-Stina Ewbank, and G.K. Hunter. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 1980. 191-204. Brooks, Cleanth. ―The Unity of Marlowe‘s Doctor Faustus.‖ Doctor Faustus. Ed. David Scott Kastan. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. 281-290. Charney, Maurice. "Jessica 's Turquoise Ring and Abigail 's Poisoned Porridge: Shakespeare and Marlowe and Rivals and Imitators." Renaissance Drama 10 (1979): 33-44. Danson, Lawrence. ―Continuity and Character in Shakespeare and Marlowe.‖ Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. 26.2 (1986): 217-234. Foakes, R. A., ed. Henslowe 's Diary. 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2002. Garber, Marjorie. "Marlovian Vision/Shakespeare Revision." Research Opportunities in Renaissance Drama 22 (1979): 3-9. Gill, Roma. Introduction. Dr. Faustus. By Christopher Marlowe. Ed. Roma Gill. 2nd ed. London: A & C Black, 1989. 1-18. Harris, Anthony. Nights Black Agents: Witchcraft and Magic in Seventeenth-Century English Drama. Manchester, UK: Manchester UP, 1980. Hart, Jeffrey P. ―Prospero and Faustus.‖ Boston University Studies in English 2 (Winter 19561957): 197-206. Hopkins, Lisa. Christopher Marlowe: A Literary Life. New York: Palgrave, 2000. Hulme, Peter and William H. Sherman. Preface. The Tempest. By William Shakespeare. Ed. Peter Hulme and William H. Sherman. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004. vii-xi. 36 Logan, Robert A. ―‘Glutted with Conceit‘: Imprints of Doctor Faustus on The Tempest.‖ Placing the Plays of Christopher Marlowe. Ed. Sara Munson Deats and Robert A. Logan. London: Ashgate, 2008. ---. Shakespeare‘s Marlowe: The Influence of Christopher Marlowe on Shakespeare‘s Artistry. London: Ashgate, 2007 Lucking, David. ―Our Devils Now Are Ended: A Comparative Analysis of The Tempest and Doctor Faustus.‖ The Dallhousie Review 80 (Summer 2000): 151-167. Lynch, Stephen J. Shakespearean Intertextuality: Studies in Selected Sources and Plays. London: Greenwood Press, 1998. Marlowe, Christopher. Doctor Faustus: A- and B- texts. Ed. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen. Manchester, UK: Manchester UP, 1993. Mebane, John S. ―Metadrama and the Visionary Imagination in Dr. Faustus and The Tempest.‖ South Atlantic Review 53.2 (May 1988): 25-45. Muir, Kenneth. ―Marlowe and Shakespeare.‖ ―A Poet & a Filthy Play-maker‖: New Essays on Christopher Marlowe. Ed. Kenneth Friedenreich, Roma Gill, and Constance Kuriyama. New York: AMS Press, 1988. 1-12. Ribner, Irving. "Marlowe and Shakespeare." Shakespeare Quarterly 15.2 (1964): 41-53. Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Ed. Peter Hulme and William H. Sherman. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004. Shapiro, James. Rival Playwrights: Marlowe, Jonson, Shakespeare. New York: Columbia UP, 1991. Woodman, David. White Magic and English Renaissance Drama. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 1973. 37 Young, David. "Where the Bee Sucks: A Triangular Study of Doctor Faustus, the Alchemist, and the Tempest." Shakespeare 's Romances Reconsidered. Ed. Carol McGinnis Kay and Henry E. Jacobs. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1978. 149-166.