For this week’s blog post I wanted to study the famous dramatist Christopher Marlowe, in hopes of understanding more about theatre in London during Shakespeare’s early years. Christopher Marlowe, considered to be Shakespeare’s rival, was born in Canterbury the same year as Shakespeare – 1564. His father, John Marlowe, was a shoemaker. Unlike Shakespeare, however, he attended not only school but University as well. Among his classmates and tutors were Will Lyly (brother of the dramatist John Lyly), William Harvey (famous physician), Stephen Gosson (satirist) and Francis Kett (clergyman later burned for heresy). During this time, Marlowe began to develop his unorthodox beliefs – he was a blaspheming atheist, an open homosexual and a controversial dramatist. “I count religion but a childish toy, and hold thee is no sin but ignorance” (Marlowe, Jew of Malta). Also at this time, Marlowe was said to have been excused by Elizabeth’s Privy Council following some trouble at University. This leads some to believe he was a spy for the crown.
After University in Cambridge, Marlowe travelled to London to become a playwright. He became very successful, writing famous works such as Tamburlaine the Great, Dr. Faustus and The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta. He is said to be the father of English Tragedy and the first to popularize blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter). These, as we know, would eventually influence Shakespeare immensely.
In 1593, Thomas Kyd, a famous dramatist and colleague to Marlowe, was arrested after he and Marlowe posted bills around the city threatening Protestants. Kyd accused Marlowe of heresy to shift the blame and a warrant for Marlowe’s arrest was issued. After being tricked into appearing at a Privy Council meeting, Marlowe was murdered on May 30, 1593. According to coroner’s report, Ingram Frizer, a English spy, acted in self-defense when Marlowe attacked him following an argument. However, due to the nature of the fatal wound (a precise stab in the right eye), scholars believe the murder to be an assassination. This wouldn’t be hard to believe, knowing what we know about Marlowe’s life and ideologies.
Of course we can’t speak about Marlowe in a Shakespeare class and not mention the Marlovian theory, one of the many theories of Shakespearian authorship. Marlovians believe that Marlowe faked his own death and became the author of many plays and sonnets under the alias of William Shakespeare. Other than the uncertainties surrounding Marlowe’s death, theorists point to the fact that the first published work of Shakespeare only appeared two weeks after Marlowe’s death. Marlovians also use textual evidence to support their theory claiming that ideas about banishment, death, disgrace and mistaken identity are so pervasive in Shakespeare’s work, because they were very personal to the author himself. They claim clues can be found in his sonnets, his writing style, vocabulary etc. Of course, like all authorship theories, it is highly criticized and largely neglected by contemporary scholars.
Two of my favorite poems:
(1)
Accurs'd be he that first invented war!
They knew not, ah, they knew not, simple men,
How those were hit by pelting cannon-shot
Stand staggering like a quivering aspen-leaf
Fearing the force of Boreas' boisterous blasts!
In what a lamentable case where I,
If nature had not given me wisdom's lore!
For kings are clouts that every man shoots at,
Our crown the pin that thousands seek to cleave:
Therefore in policy I think it good
To hide it close; a goodly stratagem,
And far from any man that is a fool:
So shall not I be known; or if I be,
They cannot take away my crown from me.
Here will I hide it in this simple hole.
(2)
It lies not in our power to love or hate,
For will in us is overruled by fate.
When two are stripped, long ere the course begin,
We wish that one should love, the other win;
And one especially do we affect
Of two gold ingots, like in each respect:
The reason no man knows; let it suffice
What we behold is censured by our eyes.
Where both deliberate, the love is slight:
Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight?
Here are some sources if you’d like to know more about his life and works:
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