pzl-pcs.gif (2364 bytes)W E L C O M E   T O

Christopher Marlowe

and the creation of Dr. Faustus

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Using Christopher Marlowe’s play Dr. Faustus in a high school curriculum can fulfill a number of objectives. It provides an excellent vehicle for introducing the basics of Renaissance scholarship. It is an appropriate text to use to introduce the rudiments of literary criticism to novice scholars. It is a springboard for initiating a discussion of current and topical issues which can lead students to examine and explore significant issues in their own lives. In doing so it fulfills a particular usefulness of art-- of literature-- a usefulness that is well expressed by Sara Munson Deats and Lagretta Tallent Lenker in the declaration that "literature must leave its academic cloister and sally forth into the marketplace to speak out and be heard." (208) Youth Suicide Prevention: Lessons From Literature (Plenum Press, 1989). Marlowe’s work is indeed heard by young people.

Marlowe’s early version of the pervasive and poignant Faust myth speaks clearly to teenagers. The story of Dr. Faustus, learned and praised, yet unsatisfied with his lot in life strikes a clear note for teenagers. Teenagers, be they restless, idealistic, bored, overreaching or overwrought, all seem to hear Marlowe’s words. Students recognize that often they, metaphorically, are faced with the temptation to "sell their souls." Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus gives students an object lesson in choice and consequences.

General Goals for this Unit:
  • To acquaint students with the fascinating life of the playwright Christopher Marlowe
  • To introduce the background of Elizabethan drama
  • To introduce the classical roots of Elizabethan tragedy
  • To explore the universal themes presented in Dr. Faustus

pdficon.gif (272 bytes) Download the Adobe Acrobat version of this lesson unit - a complete, ready-to-print-and-use classroom unit.

 

Instructional Goal & Handouts  •  Synopsis of the Play  •   TeachersFirst Shakespeare

Author: Brenda Walton, Ed.D.
Orlando, Florida

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