- Title:
- Performing anti-Catholicism in Christopher Marlowes Doctor Faustus
- Creator:
- Bassi, Nirpjit
- Date Created:
- 2012
- Degree Awarded:
- Master of Arts
- Subjects:
- Catholicisim Literature
- Geographical Focus:
- Britain London
- Supporting Materials:
- n/a
- Description:
- This thesis offers an analysis of Catholics and Catholicism in Christopher Marlowe’s tragedy Doctor Faustus. It begins with an overview of the historiography of the English Catholic community and Marlowe's stage-play world. The thesis then examines the “A and B” textual versions of the play and offers an analysis of a performance of Doctor Faustus at the Globe Theatre in London in August, 2011. Through Doctor Faustus, Marlowe represents Catholicism as spiritually powerless yet politically dangerous: a theme which appears in other literature of the Elizabethan period. Analyzing the performative possibilities of the play shows that these negative representations of Catholics can be diminished or enhanced depending on dramaturgical choices. The Globe theatre’s production of Doctor Faustus reflected the religious tensions found in the text; although Doctor Faustus contains anti-Catholic language and images, this remains only one part of Marlowe’s larger representation of the religious ambiguities of the Elizabethan period.
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- Bassi, Nirpjit. 2012. "Performing anti-Catholicism in Christopher Marlowes Doctor Faustus", Department of History, Carleton University
- Link to this page:
- https://cuhistory.github.io/grads/items/hist_94.html
Rights
- Rights:
- Copyright the author, all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.