Doctor Faustus Resources

Detailed biography of author Christopher Marlowe? Check. Scoop on his plays? Check. Links to scholarly criticism? Check. Places to buy his books? Check. This one's got it all, folks.

Here's an interesting take on Doctor Faustus written for a "Math and Culture" course at Dartmouth. It explores the aspects of a medieval vs. modern approach to science and knowledge as they appear in the play. No bells and whistles here, but well worth the read.

Professor Arnie Sanders provides a brief summary and overview of characters and historical context before launching into an engaging set of study questions and suggestions for further student exploration. Again, the site's not too pretty, but it's chock full of awesome.

Norton Anthology's collection of online resources for Marlowe's Doctor Faustus includes biographical information on Marlowe, including the scoop about the legal proceedings brought against him for heresy and atheism. Juicy stuff.

An easy-to-navigate online edition of the play, for those of you who prefer pixels to paper.

Charles Gounod's opera Faust, first performed in Paris in 1859, is based on Volume I of Goethe's version of the legend. So it's an adaptation of an adaptation of a… well you get the idea.

Hungarian Romantic composer Franz Liszt wrote a symphony based on the Faust legend, just to add a little drama to the story.

This film version starred the one-time husband of the late Liz Taylor, Richard Burton. She costars as the beautiful Helen (surprise, surprise).

This more recent film combines several interpretations of the legend, including Marlowe's and Goethe's, in case you're in the mood for a looser version.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe completed his play Faust: A Tragedy in two parts between 1806 and 1832. It's much longer than Marlowe's and includes a ton of songs, so many in fact that you might say it's a piece of musical theater. You hearing this, Glee?

Every great writer needs a bit of inspiration. This English translation of a German chapbook called The Historie of the Damnable Life, and Deserved Death of Doctor Iohn Faustus, was printed in England in 1592, and it's probably where Marlowe got his ideas for the play.

Check out the face that launched a thousand ships in this scene with Liz Taylor as Helen of Troy.

Here's a quick video about a production of Doctor Faustus at the Globe Theater. That's right, folks—the home of Big Willy.

Hear some lines in the proper British accent.

What a glorious head of hair.

Title page of the A-text, printed in 1604. It's a little worse for wear.

Title page of the B-text, printed in 1616. This one's in better shape.