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Holly A.J.'s avatar

Those lines about Helena of Troy are famous enough that they are quoted without attribution in many works from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. But, in the context of the play, there is a nasty catch to Faustus' ecstasy over Helena, isn't there? Earlier he admits that he cannot really conjure Alexander and his paramour, only spirits that act as them. Faustus has conjured Helena of Troy for the entertainment of his friends. So this is not really Helena that Faustus embraces, but a spirit apparition, a hologram imitating her. The keenest joy Faustus experiences since his bargain with Lucifer is an illusion.

There is a subtle point made about there being no rest for the wicked. Mephistopheles mentions at one point that Faustus hasn't slept in eight days. He has been too busy traipsing around the world - a subtle reference to Satan in the book of Job "Going to and fro upon the earth" - playing silly conjuring tricks. It is hinted that lack of rest is hastening his approaching death:

'Now, Mephistophilis, the restless course

That time doth run with calm and silent foot,

Shortening my days and thread of vital life,

Calls for the payment of my latest years:'

The one time Faustus does sleep, he does by invoking the hope of Christ pardoning the thief on the cross, as if resting in the hope of a last minute repentance:

'What art thou, Faustus, but a man condemn’d to die?

Thy fatal time doth draw to final end;

Despair doth drive distrust into my thoughts:

Confound these passions with a quiet sleep:

Tush, Christ did call the thief upon the Cross;

Then rest thee, Faustus, quiet in conceit.'

Another subtle biblical reference to Hebrews (2:3-11), which states that Jesus Christ is our rest.

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Karen Swallow Prior's avatar

Sorry, everyone, that the audio isn’t working. I did all the initial troubleshooting. Substack told me, and now it needs to be bumped up to a higher level.

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