Doctor Faustus Act-by-Act, Scene-by-Scene Breakdown for A-Level English Literature

Doctor Faustus Act-by-Act, Scene-by-Scene A-Level English Literature Detailed Analysis (35-pages)!

Looking to achieve a high grade in your A-Level English Literature Doctor Faustus question? Looking to have a really good grasp of the play? Need help understanding Marlowe’s language? Then, this document is most certainly the one for you!

Listed in both a sharable PDF form and a editable word document to aid your study.

The document is laid out in a very easy way to improve your understanding of the text. Skeletal overview followed by a more detailed overview combined with a breakdown of the important quotes and language techniques.

Example:
Scene Analyse in Doctor Faustus
Act V Scene II (Scene 13)
Overview:
o The last hour of Faustus’ life: cements the play as a tragedy.
o A long monologue ends the play: it is an accelerated representation of the last hour of his life, marked by the chimes of the clock, which show Faustus in a sequence of emotional turmoil.
o Faustus goes to hell.
The Terrors of Hell:
o Faustus communicates to the Scholars the nature of his contract with Lucifer. This shows him finally accepting and acknowledging the nature of eternal damnation: “but now I die eternally”. Repetition of “hell for ever” emphasises the realisation of his destiny.
o “A surfeit of deadly sin that hath damned both body and soul” - Faustus is now losing control of his body as well, not just his soul. Hell/damnation is an all-consuming force. This is further emphasised by the way in which “the devil draws in my tears”, and “O, he stays my tongue!”, as the Devils prevent Faustus from weeping or praying for repentance. This, in combination with Marlowe’s use of emphatic punctuation thereby induces a fearful and anguished tone into Faustus’ words. Henceforth, we can see that this reflects how Marlowe portrays Hell as a merciless and unforgiving environment of endless, dreaded torture.
o Faustus continues to blame the devil for his sins: “the devil threatened to tear me in pieces if I named God” – Not acknowledging responsibility for his own actions.
Faustus’ final soliloquy:
o This soliloquy is one of the most impressive and moving passages in theatrical tradition. Faustus, isolated from human companionship and alone on stage moves through the final hours of his life in a condition of intense feeling and anguished thought.
o The question of belief is now taken for granted

Thank you very much for your interest in this resource. Should you require any further information regarding this resource, or the course in general, please do not hesitate to email alevelrevisionmadeeasy@gmail.com