"Marlowe is not only a great poet but also a great dramatist. His speeches are not only impressive pieces of writing but are carefully designed to sound effective on a stage"

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“Marlowe is not only a great poet but also a great dramatist. His speeches are not only impressive pieces of writing but are carefully designed to sound effective on a stage”

 

It is undeniable that Marlowe was one of the greatest writers of the Elizabethan age; many of his speeches are deservedly famous and recited often. However, there is an argument that Marlowe’s speeches are so well favored not only because they have been written as spectacular poetry, but also because they are written to fit perfectly on the stage, the writing is designed perfectly for dramatic pauses, heavy stresses and simply all the ingredients needed to provide an audience with a spectacular production.

 

One such extract from ‘Doctor Faustus’ is the emotional passage towards the end of the play, when Faustus realizes he has “but one bare hour to live” before he is damned to perpetual hell. Marlowe’s writing effortlessly portrays Faustus’ helplessness and the turmoil of his emotions, however when read aloud the piece is aided by the heavy stresses at crucial moments, the and flow of the speech combined with  the drama and the tension of the language make the speech simply breathtaking.

The speech begins with a sighed, “Ah, Faustus” which is Faustus evidently attempting to detach himself from the reality of what is about to befall him this is followed by an entirely monosyllabic line,                                                                                        

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“Now hast thou one bare hour to live”

Written in what could almost be iambic pentameter the line falls short of the typical rhythm, giving it a long, drawn out feel, with the stresses falling on “one bare hour” enabling any actor to truly emphasize the emotion behind this line that is simply overflowing with feeling.  The next line mirrors this idea of ‘drawn out stresses’ until the very last “perpetually”. This word, the first one so far in his soliloquy to have more then one syllable (excluding “Faustus”) is filled with venom and helps to emphasize the eternal nature of Faustus’ ...

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Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

The essay's strength is its attempt to focus closely on language, using a range of appropriate technical terms. However, the writer often struggles to give clear expression to the effects of language use, both poetical and dramatic. In addition, it is very important to think carefully about what an essay question is asking you to do. Here the essay title requires exploration of more than one speech. This essay focuses on the final speech only, and strangely stops half way through the speech, omitting comment on some of the most dramatic and moving lines of the play. **