The Life and Death of Doctor Faustus Made into a Farce

Good and bad Angel descend.

Good An. O Faustus, if thou hadst given Ear to me,Innumerable Joys had followed thee:But thou didst love the World.

Bad An. Gave Ear to me, and now must taste Hell's Pains perpetual.

Throne of Heaven appears.

Good An. Had'st thou affected sweet Divinity,Hell, nor the Devil, had no Power on thee.Had'st thou kept on that way, Faustus, behold in what resplendidGlory thou had'st sat; that hast thou Lost.And now, poor Soul, must thy good Angel leave:The Jaws of Hell are ready to receive thee. [Ascends.

Hell is discovered.

Bad An. Now, Faustus, let thy Eyes with Horror stareInto that Vast perpetual torturing House.Faust. O I have seen enough to torture me.Bad An. Nay thou must feel 'em, 'taste the Smart of all.He that loves Pleasure must for Pleasure fall:And so I leave thee, Faustus, till anon.Thou'lt tumble into Confusion. [Descends.

The Clock strikes Eleven.

Faust. Now, Faustus, hast thou but one bear Hour to Live,And then thou must be Damn'd perpetually:Stand still you ever-moving Spheres of Heav'n,That Time may cease, and Mid-night never come.

Or let this Hour be but a Year, a Month, a Week, a natural Day; that Faustus may repent, and save his Soul. Mountains and Hills come, come, and fall on me, and hide me from the heavy Wrath of Heav'n. Gape Earth; Oh no, it will not harbour me. [The Clock strikes. Oh! half the Hour is past; 'twill all be past anon. Oh! if my Soul must suffer for my Sin, impose some end to my incessant Pain. Let Faustus live in Hell a Thousand Years, an Hundred thousand, and at last be sav'd. [Strikes Twelve. No End is limitted to damn'd Souls: It strikes, it strikes. Now, Body, turn to Air, to Earth, or Water. Oh! avoid the Fire: They come. Oh! mercy, Heaven; ugly Hell gape not. Come not Lucifer; O Mephostopholis.

[Sink with Devils. Thunder.

Enter old Man and Scholar.

Old M. Come, Friend, let's visit Faustus: For such a dreadful Night was never seen.

Scene discovers Faustus's Limbs.

Schol. O help us, Heav'n; see here are Faustus's Limbs,All torn asunder by the Hand of Hell.Old M. May this a fair Example be to all,To avoid such Ways which brought poor Faustus's Fall.And whatsoever Pleasure does invite,Sell not your Souls to purchase vain Delight.

[Exeunt.

Scene changes to Hell.

Faustus Limbs come together. A Dance, and Song.

FINIS

1

Six Plays, written by Mr. Mountfort (London, 1720), 2 volumes. All references to plays other than "Dr. Faustus" are taken from this collection.

2

The substance of my account of Mountfort's life and work is based on Albert S. Borgman, The Life and Death of William Mountfort (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1935).

3

An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber, ed. B. R. S. Fone (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1968), p. 117.

4

Charles Gildon, The Lives and Characters of the English Dramatick Poets (London, [1698?]), p. 102.

5

(London, 1702), p. 17.

6

Essays of John Dryden, ed. W. P. Ker (New York: Russell & Russell, 1900; rpt. 1961), I, 135-136.

7

English Literature of the Late Seventeenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969), p. 132.

8

The first edition, page 5, omits the period at the end of 1. 23 and the speech prefix "Meph." for 1. 24. These are correctly added in the second edition (1720).

9

The London Stage 1660-1800, Part I: 1660-1700, ed. W. Van Lennep (Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1965), 342.

10

(London, 1675), p. 25.

11

Borgman outlines the changes Mountfort made in his source; see pp. 35ff and Appendix A.

12

A Century of English Farce (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1956), pp. 165-166.