William Empson (1906–1984)

Empson's basic contention is that Marlowe's Doctor Faustus was heavily censored, that the A-text is the direct result of the censorship, and that the B-text is a compromised stage-friendly version with copious amounts of non-Marlovian (I love that word) verse added to complete the running-time.

All well and good, and hardly controversial. But Empson decides to go further, and to uncover what was censored, performing a sort of forensic literature analysis. And this is where things get interesting.

The short-short version is this: Mephistopholes is not a devil, but a Middle Spirit. He acts as a broker between Faust and the actual devils, who are trapped in hell. Now, Middle Spirits live a few thousand years and include beings such as the Greek gods: they have no souls, and therefore die "like beasts" unless they can obtain the soul of a human. The Faustian pack suddenly becomes less one-sided: Faust, having no interest in the afterlife (in fact wanting to die like a beast), sells his soul to Mephistopholes directly: Faust gets fame, knowledge, and enjoyment (but not possession!) of the world's riches; Mephistoheles gets a soul, and therefore a shot at paradise when the End Times come.

This adds new meaning to Faust's last words ("Ah, Mephistopholes!") and clears up the many many contradictions in Mephistopholes' theological lectures. Empson asserts that the existence of Middle Spirits was heretical under Calvinist doctrine, and that the rejection of God/Heaven must be punished, just like in the old movie codes (which may still exist, judging by the fifth and final season of a popular drug-themed TV show which shall not be named).

The actual proof, however, involves some reaching. I'm not sure I'm convinced, but I do like to entertain the theory.


A fifth star added for the academic smack-talking. Empson really gets his digs in where he can, making this a surprisingly entertaining read.… (altro)