Doctor Faustus: Viewpoint and narration
14 lenses on viewpoint and narration for Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 E11 E12 E13 E14
E1. Person and tense: first or third, past or present. Count
A play: characters speak in the present; stage directions are in the present tense.
E2. Whose viewpoint is each chapter? Both
play script. See the full lens on the book page.
E3. Share of the book told by each viewpoint character. Both
No single viewpoint character narrates. The play is third person dramatic with multiple characters speaking. Faustus dominates through his scenes and monologues, but no character has exclusive narrative share.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 2
E4. Narrative distance: close inside a head, or far off? AI
Narrative distance is far. The play shows action and speech without entering any character's inner thoughts. We see Faustus's despair through his monologues, not through narration of his mind.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 2
E5. Strict viewpoint or head hopping? AI
Strict viewpoint is not applicable; this is a play script with no narrator. Each scene shows what the audience sees on stage. No head hopping occurs because there is no narrative voice.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 2
E6. Is the narrator reliable? Where are the cracks? AI
Not a feature of this book. Plays have no narrator to be reliable or unreliable. Characters speak their own lines; the audience judges their truth.
E7. Frames and tales within tales. AI
No frames or tales within tales. The play presents action directly on stage without nested narratives or stories told by one character to another.
E8. Narrator asides and addresses to the reader. Both
6 paragraphs where the narrator seems to speak to the reader or about the telling. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 58: EMPEROR. Master Doctor Faustus, I have heard strange report of thy knowledge in the black art, how that none in my empire nor in the whole world can …
Ch 1, para 67: EMPEROR. Go to, Master Doctor; let me see them presently.
Ch 1, para 117: HORSE-COURSER. O Lord, sir, let me go, and I'll give you forty dollars more!
Ch 2, para 32: FAUSTUS. One thing, good servant, let me crave of thee, To glut the longing of my heart's desire,-- That I might have unto my paramour That heavenly Helen …
Ch 2, para 68: My God, my god, look not so fierce on me! Adders and serpents, let me breathe a while! Ugly hell, gape not! come not, Lucifer! I'll burn my …
Ch 3, para 75: [Footnote 95: let me have a wife, &c.-- The ninth chapter of THE HISTORY OF DR. FAUSTUS narrates "How Doctor Faustus would have married, and how the Devill …
Not a feature of this book. The play has no narrator to make asides. Faustus addresses the audience in his monologues but as a character, not as a narrator commenting on events.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 2
E9. Documents used: letters, diaries, reports, by type and sender. Both
How often each kind of document is named in the narration. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Document | Mentions |
|---|---|
| will | 24 |
| note | 20 |
| report | 2 |
No documents are used. The play relies entirely on dialogue and stage action. No letters, diaries, or reports appear.
E10. What the narrator hides, and where the reader knows more than the lead. AI
Not a feature of this book. With no narrator, the audience knows only what is shown on stage. Faustus and the audience learn of his doom together.
E11. Free indirect style: where the narrator slips into a character's voice. AI
Not a feature of this book. Free indirect style requires a narrator. The play uses only direct speech and stage directions.
E12. How thought is shown: tagged, italic or blended. Count
Thought is mostly shown with tags like thought, wondered, reflected.
| Tag | Times |
|---|---|
| thought | 3 |
| wondered | 0 |
| reflected | 0 |
| said to himself | 0 |
| said to herself | 0 |
| asked himself | 0 |
| asked herself | 0 |
| told himself | 0 |
E13. What triggers each change of viewpoint? AI
Not a feature of this book. Viewpoint does not change because there is no narrator. Scenes shift between locations and character groups, but no viewpoint shifts occur.
E14. Hindsight: where an older narrator comments on events. AI
Not a feature of this book. No narrator exists to comment with hindsight. The play unfolds in present time on stage.
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