The Inevitable Fall:an Archetypal Study Of Christopher Marlowe’s Tragedies

Christopher Marlowe is a pioneering playwright in the history of the English drama and has been entitled "the Father of English Tragedy." The Roman poet Ovid strongly influenced Marlowe and the mythic stories in Ovid’s Metamorphoses undoubtedly highly inspired Marlowe in his plays. This thesis applies Northrop Frye’s theory of myth-archetypal criticism to the study of Marlowe’s three tragedies Tamburlaine the Great, The Jew of Malta and The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus and examines the archetypes and their significance in these plays. This study concentrates on the plot, character, and image in these plays and it explores the life and temperament of the three protagonists Tamburlaine, Barabas, and Faustus in the light of Greek mythological figures Phaethon, Midas, and Icarus. The mythological plots or scenes appear resoundingly in the three dramas. By analyzing these plots or scenes, this study tries to reveal the basic pattern of the plays and their thematic significance.Besides introduction and conclusion, the thesis has four chapters. The introduction presents the significance of the topic, Marlowe the writer and his main works, a literature review, and the general structure and basic ideas of the research.Chapter One presents archetypal criticism, especially Frye’s theory of myth, and discusses that Marlowe’s three tragedies, all thematically centering on man’s fall, can well be studied with archetypal criticism. Chapter Two studies Tamburlaine’s collapse in the light of the Phaethon myth. Tamburlaine lives a military life, longing to have infinite power. This archetypal exploration of his life and character reveals that his Phaethonesque pride, ambition, and obstinacy eventually lead to his tragic ending.Chapter Three analyzes Barabas’downfall by using the Midas myth as a comparison. Barabas, a Machiavellian figure, is only interested in money. Because of his excessive pursuit of wealth and his Midasian disposition-greediness, selfishness, and cunningness, Barabas inevitably meets his destruction.Chapter Four discusses Faustus’damnation with the archetypal significance of the Icarus myth. Faustus dreams of obtaining boundless and ultimate knowledge by selling his soul to devil and thus becoming the master of the world. Like Icarus, he is prideful and blind, which brings about his downfall. He is destined for everlasting torment.Finally, through analyzing the inevitable falls of these three characters in the light of the three Greek myths as archetypes, the thesis concludes that Marlowe’s artistic exploration into human nature reveals that it is man’s own weaknesses that bring about his own fall.