‘Dam(n)pier as Mephistopheles’

‘Dam(n)pier as Mephistopheles’

Alfred Dampier (1848-1908), cartoon, Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), devil, Dr Faustus (c. 1590), Faust (I & II), Goethe (1749-1832), ‘Mephisto’, Mephistopheles, Phil May (1864-1903), The Bulletin

‘Dam(n)pier as Mephistopheles,’ is The Bulletin cartoonist Phil May’s humorous pun on actor and theatrical entrepreneur Alfred Dampier’s name (See Louise D'Arcens, Old Songs in the Timeless Land: Medievalism in Australian Literature 1840-1910, Turnhout: Brepols, 2011, p.164). Alfred Dampier first appeared as Mephisto in Faust in 1873 at the Royal theatre, Melbourne. While reasonably successful in his chosen profession (his acting career spanned thirty years), he was generally considered “sound rather than brilliant” by his critics (See, for example: John Rickard, 'Dampier, Alfred (1848–1908)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dampier-alfred-3360/text5067, accessed 12 June 2012.) Phil May acknowledges Dampier’s competence and durability, albeit with a mischievous gleam in the eye and a knowing flourish of his pen. The literary origins of the legend of Dr Faust date back to the 1580s, and may be based upon a real person who died c. 1540-41 (J. W. Smeed, Faust in Literature, London: Oxford University Press, 1973, pp.1-2).

May, Phil

The Bulletin

The Bulletin

23 October 1886 (p. 7)

Public Domain

Journal (Microfilm)

English

Journal (Microfilm)