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Full text release has been delayed at the author's request until January 08, 2026

ETD Abstract Container

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Facts and Dr. Faustus Be Damned: The Evolution of a Cultural Icon

Woolbert, Elizabeth Tyrrell
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1607067437895461

Abstract Details

2020, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Theatre.
Since the sixteenth century, Dr. Faustus has been the central character of prominent cautionary plays staged in the theatres of America, England, and Germany. This dissertation argues that the predominant, contemptuous attitude toward Dr. Faustus is deeply problematic, especially in secular democracies that honor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Modern Anglophone adaptations examined herein include theatrical productions by the Atlanta Shakespeare Company, Punchdrunk, and the Jamie Lloyd Company, as well as the dramatic texts of Robert Brustein’s Demons, John Jesurun’s Faust/How I Rose, Mark Ravenhill’s Faust is Dead, Mickle Maher’s An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This his Final Evening, and David Mamet’s Faustus. This dissertation identifies fourteen constituent memes in the Dr. Faustus memeplex since 1990. The ways that modern playwrights have selectively reproduced and recombined Faustian memes to compose new plays are both revealing and engaging. Blending the traditions Christopher Marlowe and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the majority of these theatre artists’ works amplify the protagonist’s moral depravity in order to justify a horrible punishment. This dissertation strives to make historical, philosophical, and practical interventions in the conventional treatment of the cultural icon Dr. Faustus.
Stratos Constantinidis (Advisor)
John Davidson (Committee Member)
Mandy Fox (Committee Member)
266 p.
Theater; Theater History; Theater Studies

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Woolbert, E. T. (2020). Facts and Dr. Faustus Be Damned: The Evolution of a Cultural Icon [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1607067437895461

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Woolbert, Elizabeth. Facts and Dr. Faustus Be Damned: The Evolution of a Cultural Icon. 2020. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1607067437895461.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Woolbert, Elizabeth. "Facts and Dr. Faustus Be Damned: The Evolution of a Cultural Icon." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1607067437895461

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2020, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.