Question

Read the excerpt below and answer the question.

Go, and return an old Franciscan friar;
That holy shape becomes a devil best. (scene 3, lines 21-22)

What literary term describes these lines?

morality play
tragic hero
comic relief
theme

Answer 1

comic relief

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

comic relief

Step-by-step explanation:

Faustus is addressing these lines to Mephistopheles, a demon, with whom he sold his soul to. A friar is a priest who is known to be a holy person which is the exact opposite of evil. Hence, in the seriousness of the theme of the play, these lines break the tension and give some light humor. How then can the devil, an evil incarnate ever become holy?