Introduction
The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Dr. Faustus is written by Christopher Marlowe and is based on early legends and stories about Faust. The story’s main character is Dr. John Faustus, who has reached the limits of knowledge that people have, and searching for new, unusual secrets, knowledge, and magical power gives the soul to the devil (“The Spiritual Tragedy”). The play raises the problematic questions of power, good and evil, people choosing their destiny, and the limits they cross to obtain what they want. To present these themes, the author uses various characters, like angels or sins. The paper analyzes their presentation in staging from Bethany Lutheran College. Although the characters themselves are pretty symbolic when watching a play on stage, paying attention to their costume, props, performance, and impression is essential to understand ideas and symbols better.
Angels
There are two Angels in the story about Dr. Faustus – a Good one, inciting the protagonist to repent and turn to God, and a Bad one seducing to search for magic and leading to believe that it is too late for repentance. They represent Faust’s inner struggle between good and evil, and they are dressed in almost identical costumes on stage, differing only in a darker shade of pants, and corset lacing for the Bad Angel. They are dressed in white tunics, with a corset, wigs of a very light purple hue, and have wings attached to their backs. Each has a cane in their hands, which they use during a fight with each other. The appearance of Angels on the stage is exciting – in the scenery of bookshelves, on both sides of the set contain niches with statues of angels, slots turn, and actors appear.
The actors’ performance corresponds to the tragic play on the stage of the theater. They recite the text using various intonations and emphasizing its parts where necessary, and reproduce various scenes. For example, when the protagonist thinks and doubts whether he should turn to magic and sign an agreement with the devil, the actors play a fight scene (“The Spiritual Tragedy” 25:00 – 26:00). As a result, they convey the struggle of Faustus’ contrasting desires – his aspiration to continue to sin and live in his pleasure wins.
I was surprised by the appearance of the Angels, waiting to see two contrasting costumes. However, since they represent parts of the protagonist’s mind, this detail is not influential. Moreover, it was always easy to distinguish them since the actresses perfectly conveyed the support of good and the seduction of evil. These characters are critical for the play since many people can find similar internal struggles in themselves. At the end of the play, the Good Angel’s weakness and death demonstrate which of the desires Faustus fully succumbed to. At the same time, even after death, the Good Angel could return when hope flashed in the man. Thus, the Angels also demonstrated that people need to believe in themselves and their abilities.
Sins
Costumes and props for actors playing seven deadly sins are well thought out. All these characters appear together dressed in black cloaks and masks, and then the demon Mephistophilis presents each by removing their covers (“The Spiritual Tragedy” 45: 30-56: 45). At the same time, they are also dressed in black specific clothes corresponding to the characteristic of sin. For example, Pride is in a beautiful dress, Lechery has skimpy clothes, and Gluttony’s belt has croissant and other food attached. Ideas about sins also affected makeup – Sloth is pale, with bruises under the eyes, Wrath’s hairstyle strands stick out in various directions, and she has a dagger. Costumes, combined with acting, deepened the impression of the scene.
The distinctive features of sins are also transmitted through performance. For example, Sloth makes long pauses, says reluctantly, and even sits down, Wrath screams and even injures herself, and Pride behaves arrogantly and boastfully. Such characters as Envy and Covetousness are interestingly presented. The first is initially calm but gradually intensifies and shows aggression, and the second constantly moves to show impatience. Thus, actors masterfully demonstrate the development and extreme manifestations of sins in people.
When studying the staged play, I appreciated how the actors transmitted the characters of sins, and the scene was exciting to watch. The presentation of sins is necessary to warn Faustus of what awaits him when indulging in his temptations. Moreover, they had to force him to turn again to the possibility of repentance. However, already succumbing to his primary sin Faustus is on the way to others. It is worth noting that the characters’ order of presentation is probably not accidental since the original sin of the protagonist is Pride, which gradually leads to the rest. Therefore, the scene demonstrates the path that Faustus should not follow.
Conclusion
The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Dr. Faustus presents a story where the character crossed the boundaries of permissible and succumbed to sin to get what he wanted. The current paper explores the representation of Angels and Sins characters on the Bethany Lutheran College stage. The Good and Bad Angels showed the inner struggle of the protagonist. Faustus allowed the Bad to win because he did not believe in the possibility of his redemption. The Seven Sins, in turn, showed the doctor what he could expect, succumbing to them, but even they could not convince the protagonist. Costumes, props, and acting by actors well conveyed the characters and their characteristics.
Work Cited
“The Spiritual Tragedy of Dr. Faustus Presented by Bethany Lutheran College.”YouTube, uploaded by Bethany Lutheran College, 2020.