Step 2: Watch all the crazy videos that pop up.
Once you choose to search for Doctor Faustus on YouTube, YouTube will decide that your only interest in life is Christopher Marlowe. You will see ALL KINDS of suggested videos pop up. Watch them. I mean, you can’t really watch them ALL, but you can watch quite a few. Usually, they are 2-3 minute summaries. I really liked this guy, although he does use some bad language, so if your family is cautious with that, you will want to find someone else. Don’t worry, there are hundreds of options.
Step 3: Find a podcast.
Listening to others discuss the play you are trying to understand is tremendously helpful. My go-to for all things classical is Classical Stuff You Should Know. They do have a great episode on Doctor Faustus, which you can find here. For Shakespeare, there is also a podcast called The Play’s the Thing that I like. But we will focus on Faustus today.
Step 4: Read it!
At this point you have watched it, you have listened to explanations about it, and you have listened to others discuss it. This story is SO FAMILIAR to you that it should no longer feel intimidating to read it. You can even play the video and read along–but be sure to pause and read anything that the production may have cut so you get the unabridged story. For me, I read it in Bedford’s Drama and it had some really interesting history and backstory so that helped me even more.
The point is, you do not have to dive right into an unfamiliar classic with no preparation. You are not cheating if you use Netflix, YouTube, podcasts, children’s literature, etc. I do think you are cheating a little if you never actually read the work itself, just because you will have a hard time forming your own opinions if you don’t see it uncut and in its original form. For example, in the Classical Stuff You Should Know podcast, the guys argued that the scene were Mephistopheles shows Dr. Faustus the seven deadly sins was pointless and just a page filler. I would have taken them at their word because when I watched the play the first time, I didn’t get it either. So their opinion reinforced my initial reaction. But then I sat down and read Dr. Faustus for myself and when I got to that particular scene, it made perfect sense to me. Faustus had been asking Mephistopheles about heaven and needed to be distracted, so he put on a grand show of the seven deadly sins to keep his mind off of heaven and on to hell. I would have just regurgitated their opinion for myself if I had not taken the time to read it after I went through the whole process.
Classical education is ALWAYS about learning in layers. We are never one-and-done with anything. If you want to tackle the classics, approach them classically!