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Download Comparison of A and B text of Doctor Faustus
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Appendix Continuation from The Plays of Christopher Marlowe, chapter: The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. Doctor Faustus A 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 2250 2500 2750 3000 1 0 0 0 N M M G K K K K N J D 2 0 0 0 N N K K N N N N K 3 0 0 0 3 N N K K K K K 4 0 0 0 c Doctor Faustus B 5 0 0 0 K K K K K K K K words/ words scenes total I,0 I,1 Act I 197 197 I,2 1182 327 1379 1706 I,3 828 2534 I,4 630 3164 Table 6 Act I attributions in Doctor Faustus A and B 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 2250 2500 2750 1 0 0 0 M M G N K S K K D J 2 0 0 0 N N K N K S K K 3 0 0 0 3 K K K K K K 4 0 0 0 c 5 0 0 0 Act K I K K K K K words/ words scenes total I,1 1122 I,2 I,3 314 812 I,4 407 1122 1122 1122 1436 2248 2248 2248 2248 2655 2655 The above table and subsequent tables are arranged in such a way that the measuring points are given vertically with a distance of 250 words. As the lengths of acts and scenes do not follow the same pattern, their length is given in the column called „words/scenes“ followed by the intermediate totals which are then positioned in an approximation with the sequential measuring points. In this way the difference between the A and B texts in terms of length and attributions becomes visible. Table 6 attributes Act I to Thomas Kyd, but there is not a single scene that is identical in length, even though the content is the same. Some editing must have taken place, at least in the B text, which is about 500 words shorter. This must have been done by somebody other than Kyd. 3250 3500 3750 4000 4250 4500 4750 5000 5250 5500 5750 6000 D K K K K N N N N K K K K K K K K K K K N N K K K K K K K K K K K K D D K K K K K K K K K K K N K II,1 K K K K K Act K II II,2 D D K K II,3 K 1349 1394 78 4513 5907 5907 5907 5907 5985 5985 3000 3250 3500 3750 4000 4250 4500 4750 5000 5250 5500 5750 6000 6250 K K K K N N N N D K G N G M K K K K K K N D N N N N G M K K K K K K K N N N N N N M K K K K K K K K N N N N N N K II,1 K K K K II,2 K N Act N II N N II,3 N N N N 1316 1355 504 3971 3971 3971 3971 5326 5830 5830 5830 5830 6334 6334 6334 6334 6334 Table 7 Act II attributions in Doctor Faustus A and B II,1 continues with Kyd, but then it looks very much as if Thomas Nashe rewrote II,2 and II,3. The latter scene is new and contains the conjuring attempts of Dick and Robin who are then off for a drink. In the A text the scene ends with Wagner’s soliloquy, in the B text it is the Chorus, announcing further dealings. The B text is also conspicuous for the Marlowe values in the smaller windows, which then continues in Act III. 6250 6500 6750 7000 7250 7500 G G C D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D K N D Act D III D D III,1 III,2 III,3 398 347 830 6383 6383 6730 7560 7560 7560 6500 6750 7000 7250 7500 7750 8000 8250 8500 8750 9000 M M M M M R C R R R G M M M M R R R R R R R M M M M G R R R R R R C G G G G R R R R R R N N G G C Act R III R R R R R III,1 1471 III,2 742 III,3 442 7805 7805 7805 7805 7805 8547 8547 8547 8989 8989 8989 Table 8 Act III attributions in Doctor Faustus A and B Major changes occur in Act III. Whereas the A text of 1604 is largely determined by Dekker attributions throughout the various windows sizes, the 1616 edition recalls Marlowe in the smaller windows for III,1 with some Greene signals in the larger windows, before Rowley’s influence makes itself felt in III,2 and III,3. After identical lines describing the way to Rome, the B text holds in III,1 the encounter with the Pope and the Cardinals. This part is missing in the A text, and Rolling Delta too, referred here to Marlowe as the closest stylistic equivalent (see Figure 40 of the Faustus chapter). It is certainly noteworthy that the Pope is shown in all his arrogance, advocating the predominance of the Church over worldly affairs. Rowley would have shaped the banquet with the Pope and Lords in III,2, a scene that is very brief in the A text which looks indeed as if it was an abridged version of the B text. III,3 however reverses the situation in that Rafe and Robin converse before the Vintner carries on in a comedy like way in both texts. Act III ends with the Chorus that is absent in the B text. 7750 8000 8250 8500 8750 9000 9250 9500 J K J J J J J J J J J J J J S K J J J J J K K S D C S D D S S K D D D S S Act S IV IV,1 860 IV,3 IV,4 693 320 8420 8420 8420 8420 8420 9113 9433 9433 9250 9500 9750 10000 10250 10500 10750 11000 11250 11500 11750 12000 12250 12500 R R C C R G G C J J J J J J R R R C C C C D D J J J J J R R R R C C C C R J J J J J R R R C C R R D D D S S S S R R R R R R R R R S C Act S IV S S IV,1 IV,2 IV,3 IV,4 IV,5 IV,6 IV,7 365 9354 907 10261 10261 10261 812 11073 11073 11073 200 11273 11273 452 11725 11725 537 12262 1011 13273 13273 12750 J J J S S 13000 J S S S S 13250 K S S S 13273 13273 13273 Table 9 Act IV attributions in Doctor Faustus A and B In terms of quantity Act IV has the largest differences. Whereas the A text is 1873 words long, the B text has 4284 words (without speaker names and secondary text information) and four more scenes, not present in the A text where IV,2 does not even exist at all. The smaller windows of the 1604 edition refer to Jonson, in the B text it is scenes 5, 6 and 7. Here the larger windows return Rowley and Shakespeare. Scene 1 starts off with Martino, Frederick, and Benvolio whereas in the A text their entrance was left out and begins with the Emperor, the Knight and Faustus. In this scene there are alternating omissions. In IV,2 Faustus is ambushed by Martino, Frederick and Benvolio, who cut off Faustus’s fake head. Faustus then demonstrates his power commanding his devils. IV,3 is another awe inspiring scene in which Faustus deals with the horse-coarser who had pulled off his leg. This scene exists in both texts, and so does the entertaining of the Duke of Vanholt in IV,4, but in the B text episodes with the clowns follow (IV, 5-7), which the A text does not have. Smaller windows see Chettle at work and then Jonson, whereas larger windows refer to Rowley, Dekker and Shakespeare. Figure 40 had given a similar undecipherable attribution. 9750 10000 10250 10500 S K K K K K K K K K V,1 Act 900 10333 10333 10333 10333 13500 13750 14000 14250 K K K K S K K K K K K K V,1 890 14163 14163 15634 V,2 1471 15634 10750 K 11000 K V V,2 V,3 949 11282 63 11345 14500 K K 14750 K 15000 K Act V V,3 15634 151 15785 15785 Table 10 Act V attributions in Doctor Faustus A and B Act V has minor differences, its length varies from 1912 (A text) to 2512 words (B text), which can be mainly ascribed to V,2. There is a concurrence in the attribution to Thomas Kyd, which coincides with the contential aspect of bringing the play to a close. Wagner, the Scholars and the Old Man turn up, the latter representing a kind of alter ego of Faustus whose fate is foreshadowed. In the B text V,2 begins with a sequence of considerations by Lucifer, Beelzebub, and Mephostophilis, which the A text does not have, followed by another meeting of Faustus with the scholars in both texts to which the B text adds the entrance of the good and evil angels. The famous scene when the clock strikes eleven and Faustus’s last hour has arrived is in both texts, but V,3 only reports the Chorus’s final comment in the A text whereas the B text gives the scholars’ view beforehand. Hartmut Ilsemann (09.11.2016)
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