Hi folks,
As I'm sure you've already gathered, there are two different versions of Doctor Faustus: the A text of 1604 and the B text of 1616.
As I said last lesson, I struggle to read the opening lines of the A text, as I still expect to hear the lines that I still remember from when I studied the B text eighteen (argh!) years ago.
Compare:
A) Not marching now in fields of Thrasimene,
Where Mars did mate the Carthaginians...
B) Not marching in the fields of Thrasymene,
Where Mars did mate the warlike Carthagens...
So, why are there two texts? And what's the difference?
The A text:
The frontispiece of the 1604 quarto attributes the play to "Ch. Marl.". A second edition (A2 - 1609) is merely a reprint of the 1604 text. The text is short for an English Renaissance play, only 1485 lines long. (For comparison, Macbeth is around 2700 lines; Hamlet is over 4000).
The B text:
The 1616 quarto. This second text was reprinted in 1619, 1620, 1624, 1631, and as late as 1663.
The 1616 version omits 36 lines but adds 676 new lines, making it roughly one third longer than the 1604 version. Among the lines shared by both versions, there are some small but significant changes in wording; for example, "Never too late, if Faustus can repent" in the 1604 text becomes "Never too late, if Faustus will repent" in the 1616 text, a change that offers a very different possibility for Faustus's hope and repentance.
Comparison and theories:
A major change between texts A and B is the name of the devil summoned by Faustus. Text A states the name is generally "Mephastophilis", while the version of text B commonly states "Mephostophilis".The name of the devil is in each case a reference to the character in Faustbuch, the source work, which appeared in English translation in about 1588.
The relationship between the texts is uncertain and many modern editions print both. As an Elizabethan playwright, Marlowe had nothing to do with the publication and had no control over the play in performance, so it was possible for scenes to be dropped or shortened, or for new scenes to be added, so that the resulting publications may be modified versions of the original script.
The 1604 version (A) is believed by most scholars to be closer to the play as originally performed in Marlowe's lifetime, and the 1616 version to be a posthumous adaptation by other hands. However, some disagree, seeing the 1604 version as an abbreviation and the 1616 version as Marlowe's original fuller version. Some scholars believe the longer version, with additional scenes added by Samuel Rowley, would have been performed at the Rose Theatre, with the edited version performed when the play was taken out of London on tour - away from the resources of the Rose.
We're unlikely to ever learn the truth.
See here and here for more on the performance history and textual issues.
See the A and B texts side-by-side here.
Mr M
 |
| Arthur Darvill as Mephostopheles (Globe Theatre, 2011) |
As I'm sure you've already gathered, there are two different versions of Doctor Faustus: the A text of 1604 and the B text of 1616.
As I said last lesson, I struggle to read the opening lines of the A text, as I still expect to hear the lines that I still remember from when I studied the B text eighteen (argh!) years ago.
Compare:
A) Not marching now in fields of Thrasimene,
Where Mars did mate the Carthaginians...
B) Not marching in the fields of Thrasymene,
Where Mars did mate the warlike Carthagens...
So, why are there two texts? And what's the difference?
The A text:
The frontispiece of the 1604 quarto attributes the play to "Ch. Marl.". A second edition (A2 - 1609) is merely a reprint of the 1604 text. The text is short for an English Renaissance play, only 1485 lines long. (For comparison, Macbeth is around 2700 lines; Hamlet is over 4000).
The B text:
The 1616 quarto. This second text was reprinted in 1619, 1620, 1624, 1631, and as late as 1663.
The 1616 version omits 36 lines but adds 676 new lines, making it roughly one third longer than the 1604 version. Among the lines shared by both versions, there are some small but significant changes in wording; for example, "Never too late, if Faustus can repent" in the 1604 text becomes "Never too late, if Faustus will repent" in the 1616 text, a change that offers a very different possibility for Faustus's hope and repentance.
Comparison and theories:
A major change between texts A and B is the name of the devil summoned by Faustus. Text A states the name is generally "Mephastophilis", while the version of text B commonly states "Mephostophilis".The name of the devil is in each case a reference to the character in Faustbuch, the source work, which appeared in English translation in about 1588.
The relationship between the texts is uncertain and many modern editions print both. As an Elizabethan playwright, Marlowe had nothing to do with the publication and had no control over the play in performance, so it was possible for scenes to be dropped or shortened, or for new scenes to be added, so that the resulting publications may be modified versions of the original script.
The 1604 version (A) is believed by most scholars to be closer to the play as originally performed in Marlowe's lifetime, and the 1616 version to be a posthumous adaptation by other hands. However, some disagree, seeing the 1604 version as an abbreviation and the 1616 version as Marlowe's original fuller version. Some scholars believe the longer version, with additional scenes added by Samuel Rowley, would have been performed at the Rose Theatre, with the edited version performed when the play was taken out of London on tour - away from the resources of the Rose.
We're unlikely to ever learn the truth.
See here and here for more on the performance history and textual issues.
See the A and B texts side-by-side here.
Mr M
