The ending of Pushkin’s «Feast in Time of Plague» in the context of the episode with the Old man from «The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus» by Christopher Marlowe

Abstract

The article compares two episodes from dramatic texts: the finale of Alexander Pushkin’s «The Feast in the Time of Plague» and the episode with the old man from Christopher Marlowe’s «The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus». The basis for comparison is the typological similarity of these episodes both in terms of the sequence of events and in terms of revealing the characters’ personalities. As a result, it becomes possible to correlate the scene from Marlowe’s play and the finale of Pushkin’s play into a context in which the motives for the impossibility of repentance and righteousness are actualized. Another important semantic point is the behavioral linkage of the Chairman from «The Feast in the Time of Plague» with the diabolical background that is not revealed in Pushkin, but is obvious in Marlowe; Through the above aspect, one can build the motivation for Walsingham’s speech behavior in Pushkin. In addition, the context of Marlowe’s play clearly shows how deep Pushkin’s characters are and how semantically complex the outcome of Pushkin’s play is – both in relation to The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus and in relation to its direct source – John Wilson’s play «The Plague City».