Faust.  Nay,  an  this  be  hell,  I'll  willingly  be  damn'd :
What !  sleeping,  eating,  walking  and  disputing  !


THE  DEBATE  ON  HELL.  643

Only  one  scene  known  to  me  in  modern  poetry  offers

any  parallel  to  these  weird  dialogues  between  the  fiend

and  Faustus.     That  is,  the  conversation  which  Mala-

gigi  holds  with  Astarotte  in  '  The  Morgante  Maggiore.'

But   Pulci   is   not,    like    Marlowe,   in   earnest.     The

Italian  magician  has  not  compromised  his  soul  ;  and

the  discourse  glides  gracefully  from  painful  topics  into

a  strain  of  courteous  persiflage.     Far  more  captivating

to  the  imagination  than  Astarotte  is  this  melancholy

figure  of  Mephistophilis,  the  fallen  angel,  the  servant

of  the  Lord  of  Hell,  standing  at  midnight  in  the  doctor's

study,  dressed  like  a  brown  Capuchin,  and  resolving

doleful  problems  of  damnation  with  sinister  sincerity.
Marlowe's  dramatic  instinct  drew  advantage  from  the

fiend's    uncompromising    candour.      He    used    it    to

heighten    the    intrepidity  of   Faustus,  to  deepen   the

picture  of  the  doomed  man's  spiritual  arrogance.
Faustus  makes  ample  use  of  his  dearly  purchased
power.  He  surfeits  his  sense  with  carnal  pleasure,  and
gluts  his  appetite  for  knowledge.  Homer  sings  and
Amphion  plays  to  him.  He  forces  Mephistophilis  to
answer  questions  in  astronomy  and  cosmography ;  flies
in  a  chariot  drawn  by  dragons  round  about  the  world ;
pries  upon  the  planets,  and  surveys  the  kingdoms  of
the  earth.  Yet,  when  he  is  left  alone,  the  snakes  of
conscience  wake,  and  the  two  voices  keep  buzzing  in
his  ear.  The  good  angel  grows  faint ;  the  evil  threatens.
