The first comic scene in Dr Faustus is Scene Three. During this scene Faustus conjures up a devil and exercises his power over Mephastophilis by sending him away to bring Faustus a more pleasing shape. Satirically, he suggests that Mephastophilis bring him a Franciscan monk. The Elizabethan audience would have found this reference to the Catholic Church particularly humorous because at that time in England Catholicism was banned and the Catholic Church was referred to as 'Whore of Babylon'. Because of this any comment degrading of Monks would have been found funny. However, Marlowe was actually taking quite a big risk in mocking Catholicism because monarchs were being replaced so fast at that time that if the next King or Queen happened to be Catholic, Marlowe's work could have been seen to be blasphemous, which could have even put his life at risk! Scene Three is only a point of low comedy because it does not mirror any other events in the play. It does however echo what was happening in society at the time in quite a humorous and entertaining way. During the Elizabethan period in England Catholic monks were being persecuted and killed and in Dr Faustus they are also made fun of and persecuted. The scene also has serious elements such as the fact that Faustus arranges to meet Mephastophilis later on to conclude their bargain to exchange Faustus' soul for twenty- four years of Mephastophilis' service. The audience would have found the idea of selling one's soul to Lucifer shocking and therefore would have welcomed the brief comedic respite.
Scene Four is a scene of farcical comedy which involves Wagner persuading a character described as 'Clown' to become his servant. This scene mirrors the previous scene and parodies Faustus' own pride and stupidity for making the bargain. Faustus has given up his soul and but has not gained the luxurious life and illicit knowledge he was promised but has accrued nothing more than the power of a satirist's trivial trickery. The satire in Scene four is foolish and shows Faustus as being almost as idiotic as the Clown, despite his great knowledge. Many comparisons can be drawn between Scene Three and Scene four because, like Mephastophilis, Wagner also summons up two devils when The Clown wavers. The devils terrify the Clown into agreeing with Wagner's proposal, which is also what Mephastophilis does to Faustus throughout the play when he begins to repent. Wagner then offers to teach the clown shape-shifting tricks "I will teach thee to turn thy self to a dog.." which draws great parallels with the next scene in which Mephastophilis responds to Faustus' question of " But may I raise up spirits when I please" with " Ay Faustus, and do greater things than these". This shows that although the Clown desires power on a much lower level than Faustus, both characters essentially crave the power of magic. The Clown only longs for meagre, yet realistic things such as stealing ale but these desires can be realised because they are practical goals. However, it is ironic that Faustus talks about great things such as "The signory of Emden shall be mine" and in the end all he really ends up with is the power to perform lowly tricks. In this way it is possible to compare Faustus with the clown because by the end of the play Faustus' power is only really as great as the Clown's is. This scene would have provided a welcome interlude to the heavy drama of the rest of the play and the audience would have found it entertaining and whimsical. However most of the comic subplots have a graver undertone because they help to demonstrate the severity of Faustus' situation. There would be a lot of licence for the clown to use movement and to ad-lib the scene, which would have also provided the audience with light, silly entertainment.
The next scene in Dr Faustus that contains comic references is Scene five. The majority of this scene is deadly serious because Faustus signs the contract with Lucifer and is presented with many warnings against this pact, which he stupidly ignores. However, towards the end of Scene five Faustus requests a woman and Mephastophilis presents him with a devil dressed as a woman. This would have been amusing for the audience, particularly because at that time women were not allowed on the stage and men played the part of women, therefore the 'woman' on stage during this scene would have actually been a man, dressed as a devil, dressed as a woman! Because of the severity of this scene and the shocking effect it would have had on the audience, the small amount of comedy at the end of the scene may have been welcomed.
During Scene six the two Ostlers, Robin and Rafe plan to use a magic book that they stole from Faustus to gratify their desires for women and alcohol. This scene is particularly important because it shows that time has passed and that Faustus' lax morals and lack of faith in God have effected even the lowest characters in the play. The message of this scene is perhaps that Faustus' magical achievements are really noting more than glorified versions of the sordid tricks that even the most lowly characters play. Robin and Rafe try to contact the devil, which of cause is a comparison to Faustus because he too in previous scenes contacted the devil.
Scene seven takes place In Rome where an invisible Faustus disrupts a papal feast. Faustus snatches cups and plates from the diners, torments the pope and 'boxes' him on the ear. Because the pope was widely hated and feared in Elizabethan England and even called the 'Antichrist' this scene would have been a source of great humour for audiences. Because of this view Marlowe may have also been attempting to make an ironic joke that one set of devils (Faustus and Mephastophilis) are tormenting another set of devils (the Pope and his guests). Marlowe may have also been poking fun at the materialism of the Catholic Church because even though Faustus and Mephastophilis have violated such a holy place, all the Pope and his friends are worried about is the food and material objects at the table. Monks were also supposed to be holy and to not need any of the fine things in life so by putting the Pope in such a materialistic setting Marlowe may have been pointing out how hypocritical the Catholic Church were.
Scene Eight is another comic scene that mirrors the scene previous to it. Robin and Rafe attempt to steal a goblet from a vintner but are stopped and punished by Mephastophilis. This scene is heavily reminiscent of the previous scene with the Pope because, like Faustus, Robin and Rafe steal a goblet and they also use invisibility spells. This scene demonstrates how ridiculous Faustus' tricks are becoming because they are now only as advanced as the magic that the Ostlers can perform. After this, there are no other comic scenes that parallel Faustus' actions. This could be due to the fact that Faustus' tricks have become so pitiful that he has reached almost the same level as the lower characters. This scene represents to the audience how bad Faustus' position has become because the Ostlers have almost the same magical ability as him and for this pathetic amount of power he will be damned to suffer eternal agony in hell!
Scene nine shows Faustus conjuring tricks to impress the Emperor Charles V. During this scene Faustus causes horns to appear on the head of a knight who doubts hid magical prowess. Even though the emperor is impressed by Faustus' magic tricks, they are again very little more than glorified illusions. The Emperor promises Faustus that he will be pardoned which gives the audience a sense of dramatic irony because they (unlike the emperor) know that even with the promise of immunity from punishment, Faustus will still die for his ability to perform magic.
Scene ten shows the most pathetic of Faustus' actions when he plays a series of tricks on a horse-courser. These tricks end in Faustus letting the horse-courser believe that he has pulled Faustus' leg off " O my, leg, my leg". This scene is so ridiculous because Faustus tries to make the horse- courser give him large amounts of money for his horse despite the fact that Faustus could have any amount of money that he desires in the world through Mephastophilis. This just shows how absurd and confused Faustus has become that he needs to play vindictive tricks on a horse- courser to demonstrate his power. This is the final comic scene in the whole play, mainly due to the fact that Faustus meets his impending doom in the final two scenes and there is no need or space for comedy. The fact that this is the final comic scene also emphasises the severity of Faustus' last hours.
In Conclusion it seems quite clear that Marlowe used a mixture of comedy and tragedy because of the period in which he was writing. The Elizabethans loved innovative works and variety in their entertainment. Because of this Marlowe delivered the greatest form of contrast he could by mixing a comedy and tragedy. The critic's view that the comic scenes were written by a collaborator and not Marlowe seems absurd because they are so wonderfully inter-linked with the main plot to have been written separately. The comic scenes that mirror Faustus' actions also seem to appear in every other scene from Scenes three to ten which cannot have been an accident. Marlowe created a beautiful and innovative piece of literature through Dr Faustus, which should be recognised in terms of its flawless use of prose and its brilliantly crafted medley of comedy and tragedy
