The story of Prometheus

Prometheus and Epimetheus were spared imprisonment in Tartarus because they had not fought with their fellow Titans during the war with the Olympians. They were given the task of creating man. Prometheus shaped man out of mud, and Athena breathed life into his clay figure. Prometheus had assigned Epimetheus the task of giving the creatures of the earth their various qualities, such as swiftness, cunning, strength, fur, and wings. Unfortunately, by the time he got to man Epimetheus had given all the good qualities out and there were none left for man. So Prometheus decided to make man stand upright as the gods did and to give him fire. Prometheus loved man more then the Olympians, who had banished most of his family to Tartarus. So when Zeus decreed that man must present a portion of each animal he scarified to the gods, Prometheus decided to trick Zeus. He created two piles, one with the bones wrapped in juicy fat, the other with the good meat hidden in the hide. He then bade Zeus to pick. Zeus picked the bones. Since he had given his word, Zeus had to accept this pile as his share for future sacrifices. In his anger over the trick, he took fire away from man. However, Prometheus lit a torch from the sun and brought it back again to man. Zeus was enraged that man again had fire. He decided to inflict a terrable punishment on both man and Prometheus. To punish man, Zeus had Hephaestus create a mortal of stunning beauty. The gods gave the mortal many gifts of wealth. He then had Hermes give the mortal a deceptive heart and a lying tongue. This creation was Pandora, the first woman. A final gift was a jar which Pandora was forbidden to open. Thus completed, Zeus sent Pandora down to Epimetheus, who was staying amongst the men. Prometheus had warned Epimetheus not to accept gifts from Zeus, but Pandora's beauty was too great and he allowed her to stay. Eventually, Pandora's curiosity about the jar she was forbidden to open became intolerable to her. She opened the jar and out flew all manner of evils, sorrows, plagues, and misfortunes. However, the bottom of the jar held one good thing - hope. Zeus was angry at Prometheus for three things: being tricked by the scarifices, stealing fire for man, and refusing to tell Zeus which of Zeus's children would dethrone him. Zeus had his servants, Force and Violence, seize Prometheus, take him to the Caucasus Mountains, and chain him to a rock with unbreakable adamanite chains. Here he was tormented day and night by a giant eagle tearing at his liver. Zeus gave Prometheus two ways out of this torment. He could tell Zeus who the mother of the child that would dethrone him was, or meet two conditions. The first was that an immortal must volunteer to die for Prometheus, and the second was that a mortal must kill the eagle and unchain him. Eventually, Chiron the Centaur agreed to die for him and Heracles killed the eagle and unbound him.

Who is Christopher Marlowe?

He pushed the limits of literary form, challenged religion, social and legal norms, he was a free thinker. He was only writing plays for six years in London and in that time he wrote 6 plays Doctor Faustus being the forth. He was the son of shoe maker and attended the king’s school. He won a scholarship to Cambridge University but they refused to let him in because they believed that he had converted to Catholicism but the crown and Privy Council stepped in and allowed him to get his degree, creating rumours that he was an agent for the crown. Marlowe died in a bar fight over a bill and was apparently stabbed in the eye, however many say that it has something to do with being charged of treason only days before his death. Conspiracy theories have abounded since, with Marlowe's atheism and alleged spy activities at the heart of the murder plots. 

Tension between Catholics and Protestants

The tension arised when Henry the eighth decided to split from the church and from Rome and convert England to Protestantism. Edward VI carried this on but then Mary turned England back to Catholicism and then when she died Elizabeth turned it back to how her father had made it, Protestant. The people of England had always been Catholic so the fact that the religion had changed three times in a decade confused and angered them. They were faithful to the church as that was all they knew. However most did not want to speak out against the religion in fear of the death penalty as, if you spoke against the Protestant church you were speaking against the Queen. The Elizabethan people were going through a very difficult time of famine, plague, inflation and war with France and Scotland, the religious upheaval and the violent persecutions as well increased the tensions and as both sides believed that what they were preaching was correct many religious disputes took place.

Who is Mephistopheles?

His first appearance was actually in Dr Faustus, he is now used as a stock character for the devil and is a demon featured a lot in German folklore. He is a shape shifter often used to tempt people into giving up their souls for supernatural power. He is a fallen angel and one of the 7 rulers of hell and according to Cornelius Agrippa (featured in the play, but he was a real person who after his death had been rumored to have been summoning demons) was called Zadkeil who was the archangel of freedom, benevolence and mercy.
Mephistopheles name can translate into two things, in Hebrew it mean Falsehood Plasterer (liar), were as in Greek it means not-light-loving possibly trying to show that he is a polar opposite to Lucifer "light-bearer".

What is a passion play?

A passion play is the dramatic portrayal of the passion of Jesus Christ from the last supper to his Crucifixion. They are plays in which his trail, suffering and death are depicted. It is a traditional part of Lent in various Christian groups, in particular the Roman Catholic Church and the first one was told in Latin in the early 1300's, the Benedictbeurn Passion Play.

In the 1500's certain countries such as Germany opposed them due to the religious conflicts in Europe at that time.  

The Legend of the Extra Devil

In 1594 in a performance of Dr Faustus an audience member said he had counted an extra devil on stage, which terrified the audience and the actors as there was no extra devil cast. This apparently happened more than once and people of that time came to believe that it was the real devil and made Dr Faustus a more famous play as people thought the play was haunted and cursed. 

Staging notes for Dr Faustus

The way in which you present a play considerably changes it's meaning, these are my ideas about how some things should be performed. 

"Enter the Good Angel and the Evil Angel" 

I would have both angels on stage but above Faustus on separate balconies on opposite sides of the stage. Faustus wouldn't be able to see them but the audience would. Whenever Faustus says something positive or good "fill the public schools with silk" I think he should walk over to the good angel side of the stage but as the things he says get more and more selfish and dark he should walk over to the Evil Angels side of the stage. 

I think its important to keep the stage directions and layout simple as it is a play and the audience will want something to clearly show them the choice Faustus is making. By keeping the angels separate and on opposite sides of the stage you are showing a clear divide and polarity of the two characters and it will be an easy thing for the audience to visually interpret. If Faustus was able to see them then I think you would have a problem with why he did just appear to ignore the Good Angel and the audience may not be able to understand why and I think it would be visually awkward to watch and to try and create a scene like that would be difficult to produce and make it look good, I think it would just come across comical with the Good Angel struggling to get the attention of Faustus. I think if Faustus is walking back and forwards between each Angel will make it appear as if he is struggling to resist the temptation of evil so the audience will have been more sympathetic and looked at him like tragic hero rather than an evil character. And as the play starts out in the style of a greek tragedy I think its important to continue that on throughout the play.