Christopher Marlowe was the most successful dramatist of his time, his untimely death cutting short a career that may well have rivalled Shakespeare's. His four major works (Doctor Faustus, Edward II, The Jew of Malta and Tamburlaine) are remarkable pieces of theatre, daring explorations of themes such as the nature of kingship, salvation and damnation, sexuality and ethnic prejudice. This book looks in depth at extracts from each of the plays, exploring them in parallel to uncover key concerns, including heroes and anti-heroes, gender and power and politics. As well as guiding readers in an understanding of the place of these issues in their Elizabethan context, and inviting them to consider their resonance today, the book looks in depth at Marlowe's style: his use of rhythm, the complexities and richness of his poetry, and his evolving development of 'character'. Particular attention is given throughout to the plays in performance.

The plays collected in this text provide the reader with a clear picture of Marlowe as a radical theatrical poet of great linguistic and dramatic daring, whose characters constantly strive to break out of the social, religious, and rhetorical binds within which they are confined.

Rodney Bolt's delightful life of Marlowe plays out a surprising solution to an enduring literary mystery, bringing the spirit of Shakespeare alive as we've never seen it before. Rodney Bolt's book is not an attempt to prove that, rather than dying at 29 in a tavern brawl, Christopher Marlowe staged his own death, fled to Europe, and went on to write the work attributed to Shakespeare. Instead, it takes that as the starting point for a playful and brilliantly written "fake biography" of Marlowe, which turns out to be a life of the Bard as well. Using real historical sources (as well as the occasional red herring) plus a generous dose of speculation, Bolt paints a rich and rollicking picture of Elizabethan life. As we accompany Marlowe into the halls of academia, the society of the popular English players traveling Europe, and the dangerous underworld of Elizabethan espionage, a fascinating and almost plausible life story emerges, along with a startlingly fresh look at the plays and poetry we know as Shakespeare's. Tapping into centuries of speculation about the man behind the work, about whom so few facts are known for sure, Rodney Bolt slyly winds the lives of two beloved playwrights into one.

Focusing upon Marlowe the playwright as opposed to Marlowe the man, the essays in this collection position the dramatist's plays within the dramaturgical, ethical, and sociopolitical matrices of his own era. The volume also examines some of the most heated controversies of the early modern period, such as the anti-theatrical debate, the relations between parents and children, Machiavaelli1s ideology, the legitimacy of sectarian violence, and the discourse of addiction. Some of the chapters also explore Marlowe's polysemous influence on the theater of his time and of later periods, but, most centrally, upon his more famous contemporary poet/playwright, William Shakespeare.

This book offers a lively introduction to all of the plays of Christopher Marlowe and to the central concerns of his age, many of which are still important to us--religious uncertainty, the clash between Islam and Christianity, ideas of sexuality, and the role of the marginalised inidividual in society.Each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of Marlowe's work and its cultural contexts: Marlowe's life and death; the Marlowe canon; the theatrical contexts and stage history of the plays; Marlowe's interest in old and new branches of knowledge; the ways in which he transgresses against established norms and values; and the major issues which have been raised in critical discussions of his plays.

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), a man of extreme passions and a playwright of immense talent, is the most important of Shakespeare's contemporaries. This edition offers his five major plays, which show the radicalism and vitality of his writing in the few years before his violent death.