The Faustus story can aid one in an existential search for meaning.
Tag Archives: Christopher Marlowe
Death, Faustus, and a Search for Meaning
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged death, Doctor Faustus, Existential crisis, teaching Comments closed
Is Mitt Romney a Doctor Faustus?
If Mitt Romney sells his soul for the nomination, can he get it back? Christopher Marlowe would say that it doesn’t look good.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Doctor Faustus, Jane Austen, Mitt Romney, politics, Presidential Primaries, Sense and Sensibility Comments closed
Classic Lit and Transformative Epiphanies
A student wrote, “By forcing myself to examine my ideas and Dr. Faustus more carefully and within the lens of my experience, I had several epiphanies that I feel were transformative both to my essay as well as to my understanding of my experience with depression.”
Faustus, Case Study of a Depressive
Today I share the story of a student making the case that Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus is a case study of a depressive.
Hell, an Inner Emptiness that Can’t Be Filled
“I think Hell is a fable,” Doctor Faustus tells Mephastophilis at one point in Marlowe’s 1593 tragedy. While many Elizabethans would have disagreed—the play terrified them precisely because they believed in a literal hell—we’re more sympathetic with the notion now. To most of us, fire and brimstone and devils with pitchforks are the stuff of […]
Soul-Selling for Dummies
How do I sell my soul? Let me count the ways. I wrote in Sunday’s entry how the ego and the soul are pitted against each other in an unending battle. Just think how much better off we’d all be if humans listened to their higher selves and ego took a back seat. […]
Films that Mishandle the Faustus Story
Film Friday The baseball playoffs, which concluded with a San Francisco win over the Texas Rangers this past week, have had me thinking about the Faustus story and how many modern renditions of the story get it wrong. If this seems like a leap, let me explain. The Texas Rangers used to be the Washington […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Cold Souls, Damn Yankees, Devil's Advocate, Doctor Faustus, Film Comments closed
Mix and Match: Mysticism American Style
There was an interesting Lenten column in the New York Times Monday. Ross Douthat, a conservative in the best sense, draws on a Commonweal article by theologian Luke Timothy Johnson criticizing contemporary spiritual practice in this country. From the way Douthat quotes him, it sounds as though Johnson might take exception with my criticism of harsh […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Boom!", Doctor Faustus, Howard Nemerov, Lent, Religion Comments closed
