the 16th century english playwright christopher marlowe wrote the first literary version of the faust legend.
the 16th century english playwright christopher marlowe wrote the first literary version of the faust legend.
what 16th century english playwright wrote the first literary version of the faust legend?
christopher marlowe
many aspects of the life of simon magus are echoed in the faust legend of christopher marlowe and johann wolfgang von goethe. hans jonas writes, "surely few admirers of marlowe's and goethe's plays have an inkling that their hero is the descendant of a gnostic sectary and that the beautiful helen called up by his art was once the fallen thought of god through whose raising mankind was to be saved." the tale of faust bears many similarities to the theophilus legend recorded in the 13th century, writer gautier de coincy's "les miracles de la sainte vierge". here, a saintly figure makes a bargain with the keeper of the infernal world but is rescued from paying his debt to society through the mercy of the blessed virgin. a depiction of the scene in which he subordinates himself to the devil appears on the north tympanum of the cathedrale de notre dame de paris.
faust
georges méliès also liked adapting the faust legend into his films. in fact, the french filmmaker produced at least six variations of the german legend of the man who made a pact with the devil. among his notable faust films include "faust aux enfers" (1903), known primarily for its english title "the damnation of faust", or "faust in hell". it is the filmmaker's third film adaptation of the faust legend. in it, méliès took inspiration from hector berlioz's faust opera, but it pays less attention to the story and more to the special effects that represent a tour of hell. the film takes advantage of stage machinery techniques and features special effects such as pyrotechnics, substitution splices, superimpositions on black backgrounds, and dissolves. méliès then made a sequel to that film called "damnation du docteur faust" (1904), released in the u.s. as "faust and marguerite". this time, the film was based on the opera by charles gounod. méliès' other devil-inspired films in this period include "les quat'cents farces du diable" (1906), known in english as "the merry frolics of satan" or "the 400 tricks of the devil", a tale about an engineer who barters with the devil for superhuman powers and is forced to face the consequences. méliès would also make other horror-based short films that aren't inspired by faust, most notably the fantastical and unsettling "le papillon fantastique" (1909), where a magician turns a butterfly woman into a spider beast.
horror film