Mephastophilis

Mephastophilis appears as a devil in the play, he is a worker for Satan. Critics say that he searches the souls of men that are corrupt, Farnham explains, "Nor does Mephistophiles first appear to Faustus as a devil who walks up and down in earth to tempt and corrupt any man encountered. He appears because he senses in Faustus’ magical summons that Faustus is already corrupt, that indeed he is already 'in danger to be damned'.
Critics have viewed the play from a Christian perspective and thought that Marlowe has 'invented' a saints life, complete with the “sinful” early life (a student of divinity), “conversion” (to the Devil), reception into the Church (of Lucifer), “temptation” (by the Good Angel) which is overcome by help (of the Bad Angel).
However, Mephistophilis does warn Faustus of his regret for losing God and the joys of heaven. He wants Faustus’ soul but also may want to save him from the mistake he made. "Christianity speaks of hell for those who cast it aside. But, says he to Mephistopheles as he delivers to him the agreement to surrender his soul at the end of twenty-four years, 'I think hell’s a fable.' 'Ay,' says Mephistopheles, 'think so still, till experience change thy mind
I really enjoy Mephastophilis character because of his humor, even though he is a 'devil', I am puzzled at to see that he is not as evil as he sounds, in fact he is more guiding and cautious, but does he act like this to trick Faustus or is he really built to characterize an evil soul eating devil?

English Gothic Architecture!

Looking back at todays lesson, one thing I was inspired to look further into was english gothic architecture. As I am a huge fan of architecture and want to study it, it made sense for me to blog about it.
The earliest buildings are known to be built around 1144, these buildings are still here today, Westminster Abbey, Durham cathedral and Canterbury cathedral. The gothic idea came from France, it was inspired by a building named Basilisque Saint-Denis.
Romanesque buildings usually used round arches, high ceilings, lancet windows and naive isles. These were all made from stone similarly to the Norman style architecture. Windows would be subdivided by closely parallel mullions, these would express as much light and gave a sense of openness along with the dark stone, Interiors of this period often feature tall columns of more slender and elegant form than in previous periods.vaulting became more elaborate, with the use of increasing number of ribs, initially for structural and then aesthetic reasons. Universities and churches started to be built in this style, to this day places like The Divinity School Oxford are still very popular for their unique shapes and sizes.

 The Divinity School Oxford

Divinity School ceiling with lierne vaulting in the perpendicular style.

Doctor Faustus

Reading the chorus today really gave an introduction to the play. Reading each line then listening to sir's explanation was informative, as was the reading of the opening scene. So far I'm enjoying Doctor Faustus' character and his qualities which can be debated to an extent, and how he talks in the opening through third person. The language he uses may not be simple to understand, similarly with Shakespeare, but he does however have meaning which links into his character.
Another interesting exercise in todays lesson was when we 'drew' Faustus (to a certain degree) and quoted him along with his qualities and his basic character, again interlinking this with characteristics of a gothic character. Doing this made it clearer to understand his true nature and and why he had made certain decisions. Overall a fun and enjoyable lesson!

Christopher Marlowe!

I really enjoyed the group discussion we had today about the whole Christopher Marlowe and Christianity aspect towards "Dr Faustus". I liked filling in the table then talking, and listening to what other people thought about him and the religious side to it. I then also researched him in Wikipedia, and read about his early life and his background, funnily enough he is very similar to Shakespeare! I liked the part on his death and how people believed he faked his death and then discreetly wrote under the name of Shakespeare.
Overall I feel that the first lesson was a success, my favorite part was the group discussion! Now I am looking forward to reading the three texts!