Faustus

Faustus

“Jeu d’Adam” tells the traditional story of the temptation the devil inflicts on Adam and Eve.   The events in this story stick pretty close to the events recorded in the Bible.   However, the events are more embellished.   In The Bible it is told more as a story whereas in Jeu d’Adam there is more verbiage and dialogue.   It is also different because it made Adam and Eve more relatable, more humanized.   The impression has always been given that even though Eve at of the apple first it was still both of their mistakes.   In this story we see how Adam very much blames Eve and calls her a “wicked woman” (Jeu 636).   They have the first domestic dispute.   When reading The Bible, even though Adam and Eve sinned they are not portrayed as bad people, they remain in everyone’s mind the Adam and Eve that lived in a perfect world.   This story allows people to view Adam and Eve on a more humane level.
The Middle English lyric “Adam lay ibounden” takes a new approach to the downfall of Adam and Eve.   The approach is that their eating of the apple was not a downfall at all; it was, as discussed in lecture, “Felix Culpa,” meaning a “fortunate fall.”   Most people in the Middle Ages were Catholic, and believed that Adam and Eve eating the apple was for the best.   The following lines exhibits this belief:
“Ne hadde the apple take ben,
The apple taken ben,
Ne hadde never our Lady
A ben Hevene Quen.”   (Adam 197 ln 9-12)
Had the apple not been taken then Jesus Christ would never have had to be sent to the earth.   Therefore, Mary would not have been “[Heaven’s Queen]” (Adam 197 ln 12).   This lyric took a story that most would believe to be a negative one and turned it into something that one should be thankful for.  
In Marlow’s “The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus,” the desire to have magical power led Faustus make a deal with the devil (Marlow 420).   Lucifer played with the idea that Faustus could be better and have the perfect life...