'A Roaring Piece of Work': A Neglected Biblical Echo in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus

Abstract

IN the A-Text (1604) of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Robin the ostler, having stolen one of Faustus’ books of magical spells, warns his companion: ‘Keep out, keep out, or else you are blown up, you are dismembered Rafe, keep out, for I am about a roaring piece of work.’1 The online OED3 defines ‘roaring’ as: ‘behaving or living in a rowdy, boisterous, or unruly manner’; and thus, by extension: ‘relating to or suitable for such a person’ and actually cites the above passage as its source: ‘MARLOWE Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. D3, Keepe out, for I am about a roaring peece of worke.’ Almost inevitably, explanatory notes in editions of Doctor Faustus have taken their lead from this authoritative source, variously glossing ‘roaring’ as: ‘fit for a “roarer” ’; ‘wild and dangerous’; ‘riotous’.2 While such notes are helpful, their emphasis on explicating the adjectival sense of ‘roaring’ has unfortunately deflected attention from its more important dramatic and thematic function as an ironic Biblical echo of 1 Peter 5:8 which, in the Geneva translation favoured by Marlowe, reads: ‘Be sober, and watch, for your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour’;3 a reference entirely in keeping with the function of the comic scenes which consistently parallel and parody Faustus’ actions in the main plot of the play.