n the history of the play's criticism, the problem of its genre produced the most controversy. I submit here that this critical conflict is based on confusion: the discourse meaning (textual) and the interpretative meaning (contextual) have been mistakenly separated. I regard the monologic understanding of genre, as a readymade form containing the content, to be restrictive and prefer to use Bakhtinian definition of genre as 'a form shaping ideology.' The problem of identifying …showed first 75 words of 1698 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1698 total…genre, it is not so much a form, as an outlook, an approach to the material and its presentation. Morality presents ready-made interpretations in a dramatic performance; tragedy, on the other hand, performs the drama that needs to be interpreted in the course of the performance. In this respect, the play, is a tragedy because it shows damnation in action. Nevertheless, Faustus has a distinct morality frame that displays 'Faustus's fortunes' as static. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**