Doctor Faustus (Blog 3)

I have finished reading the Text-A play of Doctor Faustus! I don't really get everything that happened but in the end I did find the language easier to understand than "bloody Shakespeare" as I so-named him in my first blog on this play. Also I liked the length of it! Can easily be read in one sitting, an hour and a half or something.

Faustus visits the H.R.E in act four, who has heard of Faustus' powers and wants to make Alexander the Great appear before him in return for money I think, or a "bounteous reward". Faustus tricks some Horse-courser to buy this horse from him but it turns out it wasn't really a horse at all, just a bottle of hay transformed into a horse. Confusing yet again. Then some Duke and Duchess want some grapes so Faustus gets Mephistopheles to go and get some from like India or somewhere, then Faustus wants to see Helen of Greece brought back and so Mephistopheles does this and Faustus kisses her. Completely confused.

Finally Faustus gets cold feet yet again and goes to his three scholar friends and admits what he did. He has given his soul to the Devil and now it's time for him to be taken to hell. So in the end Faustus can't repent as it's too late, so Mephistopheles, Lucifer and other Devils drag him to hell. Joyful.

So yeah that's it. Overall I didn't dislike it and it wasn't that hard to read. I obviously got the main idea of what was going on but may have missed some rather crucial points in some of the longer paragraphs of dialogue which were harder to understand. 

As far as morals of the story are concerned it seems to me to be a play all about morality itself and what is right and wrong. Also how the Human Race is accountable for it's actions and has to pay the price. In this play it's done through this idea of religious morality and denying you creator just for your own greed and knowledge. So obviously it relates to the Gothic here with the idea of corruption of religion. It also has similarities with Frankenstein (which we're also studying) as the protagonist is going against God due to their greed for knowledge and power. However what Faustus does is arguably worse as he actually goes to the other side and makes deals with the Devil, whereas Frankenstein is only guilty of playing God, not outright going against him. 

Anyhoo I will read the B-Text as well, which I gather is pretty much the same, just with added material and a few changes. It is also, sadly, longer in length. =). I won't write three blogs on that as well, maybe just one to sum up what's different and what I thought about it, maybe a cheeky little comparison as well. =D