One of the other moderators in the Mater Amabilis™ group recommended Doctor Faustus to me when I was looking for additional reading for First Daughter before her eighth grade year. I had never read it, but knew Kansas Dad had scheduled it for one of his fall classes so I thought they'd have fun discussing it together.
I found this copy at PaperBackSwap.com and it turned out to be an excellent one (better than the one Kansas Dad used in his class). The Introduction is thorough, though not one I intend to assign to First Daughter. In it, David Wootton famously quips it's "a drama in which orthodox Christian teaching triumphed, but in which Faustus has all the best lines." (right there on p. xxiv)
I struggled a little with understanding how Faustus could see and interact with Mephistopheles yet disbelieve in God or a heavenly eternal life. Late in the play, however, when he is grappling with eternal damnation and wavering between a hope in salvation and despair, struck me as a powerful reminder of the human tendency to consider ourselves beyond salvation because of our sins rather than depending on the mercy of God.
I received nothing in exchange for this post. I requested our copy of this book from another member at PaperBackSwap.com (not an affiliate link). Links to Amazon or Bookshop are affiliate links.
