The theatrical expedient of performing a work within another work has been employed for centuries, particularly in the theater and in European literature (Fisher and Greiden xi). The work within the work “describes a strategy for constructing theatrical texts that contain, within the perimeter of one's fictional reality, a second or internal theatrical representation” (Fisher and Greiden xii). Such a work in the play also has a multitude of functions and tasks which, according to Fisher, can be grouped into four distinct varieties: metatheatrical (self-)reflection, introduction of different perspectives, interaction or exchange in social and historical fields . , and allowing a play to cross over from one genre to another (Fisher and Greiden xii), Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, a retelling of the classic German legend Faust, is a 15th-century play that employs this technique on several occasions, providing audiences with an added level of entertainment, a deeper understanding of Faustus's flawed character, and a metatheatrical reflection on the play itself. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The tragic story of Doctor Faustus was written during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. According to Ornstein, theater audiences of this era expected plays to possess both variety and comedy; in public theater, popular taste sometimes prevailed over critical subtlety (166). The combination of seriousness and buffoonery was not a new development: miracle comedies and morality plays in medieval times had already used this method of storytelling. In Doctor Faustus as well as other British Renaissance classics such as Romeo and Juliet, so-called clowns are used to provide a comic aspect; these may be literal clowns, like the one in Marlowe's play, or other characters with clownish functions, like the musicians in Shakespeare's play mentioned above or Marlowe's Rafe and Robin (Ornstein 166). Marlowe's clowns star in funny episodes that imitate the plot of Doctor Faustus. In the sixth scene, Rafe and Robin are introduced. The latter stole one of Faustus's magic books, his intentions consisting of such things as making “all maidens. . . he dances naked before me” (6.3-4), giving the horns to his master (6.14-15), and manages to get away with stealing the winemaker's cup (8.5-6). When they try to trick the vintner, they accidentally summon Mephastophilis, who scares them with firecrackers and turns Rafe and Robin into a dog and a monkey respectively. Scene four features the Clown and Wagner, the latter trying to convince the former to become his servant for seven years. The Clown uses wordplay for comic effect: when Wagner says he will use “beaten silk and stavesacre” (4.16) the Clown responds with “. . . scoundrel? Yes, I thought that was all the land his father had left him! . . . I would hate to rob you of your life. (4,17-19). Another entertainment within the opera is the show of the seven deadly sins, a parade that Lucifer shows to Faust to entertain him and convince him to refrain from repenting; creating characters to stand in for sin and the devil is a type of comedy that can be traced back to Miracles and Morality (Ornstein 168). This scene contributes to the main plot by preventing Faustus from turning to God for the time being, but both of the previously mentioned scenes add little to nothing to the main plot of the play; they mostly provide some comic relief between more serious scenes. This does not mean, however, that these.