ABSTRACT
The good and bad angels are the external manifestations of the conflict which we are told Dr Faustus has experienced but which does not feature strongly in the drama until they appear. Externalising inner conflict in complex way can be used as a starting point for drama, as a means of bringing clarity to an ongoing drama in order to crystallise possible courses of action, or as a way of slowing the action down in order to emphasise and summarise central dilemmas. Representing conflict can be a useful concrete way of taking stock of key moments in dramatic texts. In reality, internal conflict is experienced in more complex ways than is implied by the simple technique of giving voice to alternative courses of action or pressures on decision making. Pupils can be taught to incorporate the non-naturalistic technique into their own group plays which very often will include internal conflicts.
