Comparison of Plays: Everyman vs. Doctor Faustus

Christopher Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus and Everyman by an anonymous playwright are morality plays, written and published at different periods. Marlowe’s play was written and first published in the Renaissance-era, approximately 1604, and then revised in 1616 (Jump). As a genre study, Doctor Faustus embodies a recurrent sense of morality and a historical allegory scripted in a hero’s tale, Dr. Faustus, who bears the brunt of different life’s dilemmas. On the other hand, Everyman is traced to the fall of the 1400s within the medieval period by an unidentified playwright (Cummings). In the same vein as Marlowe’s work, Everyman in a strict sense sets out to conjure Christian moral lessons through allegorical representations in a time-specific context. Jump (25) defines morality plays as Christian doctrine dramatizations or sermons delivered in theatrical performance. Characterization in such is typically replete with the personification of virtues, vices, objects, activities as well as other qualities. Superhuman characters like angels and God sometimes take part as characters. This paper compares the two plays by outlining their differences and similarities. Literary elements including setting, plot, characterization, and themes of each play inform the basis of their similarities and differences.

Comparison of Doctor Faustus and Everyman

The difference in periods and the context of each play in literature informs a raft of disparities that exist between the two plays, the medieval Everyman and Renaissance’s Doctor Faustus. Each play attempts to address the subject of sin and redemption but in a completely peculiar or dissimilar manner. Being a century apart in terms of their publication, each addresses eschatological predicaments of Christians relative to their choices between damnation and redemption or salvation. This section attempts to tell apart the difference in attributes of the two plays as well as their similarities.

Differences

Playwrights’ identities. The most apparent disparity between Doctor Faustus and Everyman is the fact that the former has a traceable author while the latter’s playwright remains anonymous. According to Mayer, Christopher Marlowe not only takes credit as one of the most celebrated predecessors of Shakespeare but also the “true founder of English drama” (37). Mayer (5) organizes Marlowe’s play into five parts with various accompanying scenes. Part one acts out Faustus’s temptation in two scenes while the second part lays out Faustus's bargain, which also bears two scenes. Faustus’s doubt follows in the third part in three scenes as part four comes next in seven scenes demonstrating Faustus’s reign. The final part of the play focuses on Faustus’s fate and has three scenes and accompanying four acts. Considering the chronology of Marlowe’s works, the play’s publication time is approximately 1604 for the first shortened version while the fuller or complete version emerged at around 1616 (Jump). Unlike Marlowe’s play, the author of Everyman remains unknown. However, Cummings estimates the likely date of the play as within the 1400s but does not establish its actual playwright. Cummings attributes this date to Peter Van Diest’s Flemish literature work known as Elckerlijc. Elckerlijc is identical with Everyman both in terms of themes and its plot. Cummings also contends that the original title of the play is The Summoning of Everyman.

The difference in time-periods: Medieval vs. Renaissance elements. The original language of Everyman is middle-age or mediaeval English as opposed to modern English in which most scholars adapt it in contemporary literature. For example, the play opens by indicating that, “Here begynneth a treatys …” (Cummings). The foregoing language structure demonstrates that the play is a medieval drama.

On the other hand, Gawande (37) points out that Christopher Marlowe attempted to create a morality play with a temper of Renaissance in Doctor Faustus. According to Jump (24), Renaissance was a period of knowledge reawakening in various fields of study, reformation and scientific discoveries marked by the end of the mediaeval-era, during which the society shifted focus from religion to secularism. Besides, Marlowe's work takes a five-act structure or format, the Elizabethan Romantic Tragedy, which, unlike Everyman, incorporates an older mediaeval style of English plays or dramas (Aziz et al.). In the play, Dr. Faustus, the title character, exhibits typical characteristics of a Renaissance man who wished to learn more about the universe. Jump also argues that a constant quest for knowledge or intellectualism and individualism was the norm during the Renaissance period (25). Jump explains that this period was dominated with theories of science scholars including Copernicus, Columbus, Galileo and many others (24).

The disparity in central themes: Power vs. wealth. One prominent theme that plays out in Everyman is the constant pursuit of wealth as opposed to love for power in Doctor Faustus. Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus is an account of a religious man, an exegete in theology, who experiences a strong urge to understand the universe from a non-religious perspective. He is keen to command elements such as air, fire, earth, and water as well as control over emperors. For example, Dr. Faustus says that:Had I as many souls as there be stars,

I’d give them all for Mephistophilis.

By him, I'll be great Emperor of the world,

And make a bridge through the moving air,

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To pass the ocean with a band of men:

I’ll join the hills that bind the African shore,

And make that [country] continent to Spain,

The Emperor shall not live but by my leave

(Marlowe 16)

Besides, he blasphemes by abjuring religious scripture to acquire power. Faustus’s penchant for power is evident when he negotiates for the sale of his soul in exchange for the power to perform occultism and magic for 24 years (Marlowe 16). Later he plunges into a blood-deal, wields the power of magical nature, and wanders in the thought of being famous in the entirety of Europe. As the play draws to the end, the playwright sets the tone of an unfortunate consequence in hunger for power. At the elapse of the 24 years, the Devils claim his soul during which he regrets and seeks for forgiveness, albeit late.

On the other hand, thirst for wealth plays out as one of the central motifs in Everyman. In the same vein as other mediaeval plays, Everyman has allegorical characters with attributes of evil as well as good between which the protagonist has to choose. The choice made influences his fate in the afterlife. In this way, Everyman chooses to focus on wealth while ignoring God as well as the dread of death. He orientates his attention towards amassing of wealth to the displeasure of God. Disappointed, God bids His messenger, Death, to summon him to a pilgrimage to account for his life and time. Anonymous writes, “Go thou to Everyman, and show him in my name a pilgrimage he must on him take” (2). Everyman responds by requesting allegorical characters such as Fellowship, Friends as well as Goods to accord him company to this pilgrimage; a request which the three later turned down. Owing to this, the audience, from Everyman’s point of view, notices the deceit and unreliability in worldly friends, wealth and fellowship. However, the feeble Good Deeds, an allegorical character that represents Everyman’s good deeds, grants him the company that he much needs to the pilgrimage. He regrets his initial choice for temporal riches over good deeds.

Similarities

Both open and end with direct speeches to the audience. At the opening sequence of Everyman, the Messenger delivers a direct message to the audience to seek their attention. The message reflects a sneak preview of God’s summon to Everyman through which He implores him to take heed of the teachings therein as worldly life is transitory while eschatology is certain (Anonymous 2). The messenger then exits the stage up above as God swings into the view of the audience, pacing back and forth (Price 5).

Similarly, the address by Chorus precedes the subsequent acts and scenes of the play. In a prologue, Chorus enters and begins to explain Marlowe’s intent for the presentation by clarifying that it is not a discourse of war, love or history but rather a performance of the fortunes of Faustus, “good or bad” (Mayer 4). In lines 12 and 13 of the play, he outlines the fact that Faustus was born in Germany’s Wittenberg, of “base of stock” parents, grew up under the custody of his relatives, and received various degrees in divinity. In the same way as Greek Icarus, Dr. Faustus strove to go beyond his reaches by studying black magic (Mayer 4).

Both plays end with a direct warning to the audience based on the scenes. In Everyman, Doctor urges the audience, both young and old, to listen. He implores them to forsake pride that would deceive them in the end in the same way Wits, Beauty, Discretion, and Discretion abandoned Everyman. In addition, he outlines that during Everyman’s times of reckoning; only Good-Deeds accompanied him to God’s pilgrimage. Doctor adds that mercy becomes overdue after death and that God is likely to turn away every man with unclear records of their life’s accounts to eternal fire and in the same breath, embrace those with sound ones in heaven (Anonymous 30). In a similar tone, Chorus ends Doctor Faustus by admonishing the audience to take a cue from the hellish fall of Faustus.

Both are educational. The primary purpose of the two plays, written at different periods and in different ways, is to educate. The ulterior motive of Everyman is to act as a moral bearing and a lesson to the audience. The mediaeval play, Everyman, attempts to proselytize the essence of good deeds while emphasizing the attainment of redemption through penance. Similarly, Doctor Faustus tends to challenge the audiences not to limit themselves within the confinement of oppressive morality by challenging the old idea of sin. The latter instructs the audience that the only way to redemption is through faith, the famous Renaissance’s lens of salvation.

In Everyman, the playwright treats the audience to different didactic religious themes such as the deceptive sin, material vis-à-vis spiritual gains, the final judgment, God's mercy, among others. The audience learns of the idea of sin as a deceptive encounter in the opening lines acted out by Death. Death warns the audience that sin is endearing at the beginning, but at death, it leads to the weeping of the soul. Anonymous states, “Ye think sin in the beginning full sweet, which in the end causeth thy soul to weep when the body lieth in clay” (1). Besides, the playwright puts into perspective the interplay between material or temporal rewards and spiritual gains. This idea is manifest in God’s enunciation that a man gains nothing by amassing riches to the detriment of losing his soul. Anonymous writes that God in his majesty perceives man as unkind to Him, blind and sunken in worldly prosperity, sin as well as riches (1). Finally, the playwright brings out God’s mercy which humans snub in the play. According to

Anonymous, humans concentrate on the pursuit of worldly pleasures and possessions without petitioning God for the forgiveness of sins. Anonymous portrays the character of God as always willing to bestow mercy upon man (2). The audience learns that upon confession, the Angel welcomes Everyman’s soul in heaven when he dies. For instance, Price indicates that Knowledge recognizes the melodious songs of Angel, who later says that,

“Come, to heaven you will go. Your soul is taken from your body. Your account is crystal- clear. Into heaven you shall come and live well before the day of doom” (Price 22).

On the other hand, thirst for knowledge in the context of the Renaissance-era is the central theme of Marlowe's play. The playwright brings this idea on the fore through the struggle between evil and good for man’s soul. The title character renegades on religion and seeks to end its dominance. In this way, man pursues new knowledge of explaining the universe rather than religion-based ancient philosophies.

Both incorporate allegorical characters. Each of the two plays center around title characters. Anonymous uses the characterization of Everyman to convey scripted messages to the audience in the same way as Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus. Characteristic of mediaeval theatrical dramas were allegorical figures (Jump 26). The protagonist, Everyman, has to choose between the personified figures that bear the attributes of good and evil; this is a way of determining his fate in the afterlife. The main character, Everyman, is typically a human being who concentrates on his earthly life at the expense of spiritual growth. According to Cummings, the playwright represented humankind, both man and woman, through the protagonist character. The protagonist, Everyman, confesses his sins and receives salvation or redemption. Death is the God's messenger who summons human on behalf of God. Characters such as Fellowship, Cousin, Kindred, and Goods allegorically represent worldly acquaintances that later forsake Everyman when he most needs them. Others include Beauty, Discretion, Everyman's Five Wits, and Strength. Good Deeds connotes humans’ good deeds that render him or her company to death or the hereafter. Knowledge is also allegorical as it instructs Everyman on how to obtain salvation for a happy ending. Confession is an abstraction that represents penance to who human confesses his or her sins as did Everyman. Death is also a personified figure as God’s agent who pays a visit to summon Everyman while the Five-wits comprise human’s five senses (Cummings).

In Doctor Faustus, Marlowe employs allegory in representing nature of title character. According to Gawande, the character of Dr. Faustus personifies “pride of will” as well as “eagerness of curiosity” (38). The thirst to widen the scope of knowledge beyond the existing bounds subdues him. As an embodiment of the foregoing qualities, Dr. Faustus makes profound progress in studying and earning a degree in divinity at the outset and later acquires mastery in a host of fields before resorting to study and practice magic. In lines 120 to 145 of scene one, Faustus’s progress in magic confounds both Cornelius and Valdes; the former opines that he will soon attract recognition than even the renowned ancient Delphian Oracle while the latter thinks of him as a great magician in future (Marlowe 8). Besides, this play exhibits allegory in characters such as Good Angel and also the Evil Angel. The former, for instance, stands for the concept of goodness while the latter, on the other hand, is an abstraction of evil temptations whose invitations Faustus hardly resists. Therefore, both playwrights incorporate in their respective plays allegorical representations by including figures that symbolize various abstractions of moral issues that the title characters confront.

Both are morality plays. The glaring struggle between good and evil for human’s soul underlies morality plays that were set out to inform the audience how to live in Christian ways. Aziz et al. (131) indicate that morality plays were primarily, in both form and content, theological and involved the struggle between two powers, evil and good, both vying for human’s soul. Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus involves such a battle in which the devil, through temptations, competes for Dr. Faustus’s soul against God.

This is most evident in part one, scenes one and two in which Dr. Faustus convinces Valdes and Cornelius to teach him their respective versions of magic. In this way, the two forces, good and evil, struggle in his conscience on what to choose. According to Jump (26), Everyman ranks the finest of the late 15th century's morality plays.

Similarly, Everyman is entirely based on morality issues. God’s summons to man and the existence of the seven deadly sins points to the struggle between the good and the bad. The sins that Everyman indulges in become part of the deadly sins which include “sloth, pride, gluttony, lechery, avarice, envy as well as wrath” (Anonymous 1). The audience appreciates that by confession and good deeds, evil gets subdued and redemption ensues.

Conclusion

As noted, the two plays have a number of features in common including the recurrent motif of morality dominant in the mediaeval dramas. However, it is worth underscoring the differences between them depending on their respective periods and context of publication. As a dominant theme, the pursuit of knowledge and the need to break away from the dominance of religion-based understanding of the universe remains glaring in the Renaissance play, Doctor Faustus, authored by Christopher Marlowe. Other noticeable similarities that the paper put into perspective include the incorporation of allegorical elements in characterization. Both of them are didactic thematically, and their opening and closing sequences address the audience directly. As explained, the playwright of the mediaeval Everyman remains unknown while Christopher Marlowe is on record as the writer of Doctor Faustus.

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