Dr. Faustus

n the history of the play's criticism, the problem of its genre produced the most controversy. I submit here that this critical conflict is based on confusion: the discourse meaning (textual) and the interpretative meaning (contextual) have been mistakenly separated. I regard the monologic understanding of genre, as a readymade form containing the content, to be restrictive and prefer to use Bakhtinian definition of genre as 'a form shaping ideology.' The problem of identifying …

…genre, it is not so much a form, as an outlook, an approach to the material and its presentation. Morality presents ready-made interpretations in a dramatic performance; tragedy, on the other hand, performs the drama that needs to be interpreted in the course of the performance. In this respect, the play, is a tragedy because it shows damnation in action. Nevertheless, Faustus has a distinct morality frame that displays 'Faustus's fortunes' as static. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**