T.Y.B.A. (ENG)
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✔ CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE (1564 – 1593)
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Christopher
Marlowe was born in Canterbury, the son of shoemaker John and Catherine
Marlowe, in 1564. He had some of his early schooling at The King's School in
Canterbury, and an Archbishop Parker scholarship brought him from there to
Corpus Christi College at the University of Cambridge.
Marlowe
received his MA from Cambridge in 1587 and relocated to London. For the next
six years, he composed plays and collaborated with other writers, including
poet Thomas Watson and dramatist Thomas Kyd. His connection with Watson caused
trouble: the two friends were arrested in 1589, accused with the death of William
Bradley, and imprisoned to Newgate Prison.
He
became interested in literature and became attached to the Lord Admiral's
players. All of Marlowe's tragedies were composed between 1587 and 1592. He
lacked a natural aptitude for comedy, and the comic roles in several of his
plays are constantly poor.
Only in Edward II does he show
any sense of story development, and his representation, however simple, lacks
the warm humanity of Shakespeare's. All of his plays centre on a single figure
or main character, whereas Edward II features a large number of live people. His characters lack complexity and
clarity of growth, and he is just interested in portraying a single idea. In
The Jew of Malta, Barabas wants "infinite riches in a small room,"
which echoes the pursuit of greed and fortune. In Doctor Faustus, Faustus
serves a purpose beyond than human understanding. Marlowe represents aesthetic
and poetic coherence through these visions.
Henry
Howard is credited with the first known usage of blank poetry in English. The
1561 drama 'Gorboduc' by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville was the first
English play to use blank verse. Marlowe was the first English author to become
well-known for his use of blank verse. His verse is notable for its ferocious
fury, diction richness, variation of pace, and responsiveness to the needs of
diverse emotions. His poetry is full of imagery from the classics, from
astronomy and Geography, an imagery extremely cruel in its wealth and richness.
His style being deep, clear and powerful that led Ben Jonson to coin the phrase
"Marlowe's mighty lines".
👉Important works of Christopher Marlowe.
👉Tamburlaine the great (1587)
Tamburlaine
the great (1587) is centred on one inhuman figure. Its theme essentially
undramatic, Plot allows no possibility of difficulties. The Play is episodic, lacking
of solidarity or unity. It's second part of Tamburlaine the Great (1588) is
inferior to its first part. It contains still less plot and more sounding
language with little meaning.
In
Tamburlaine the great, Timur begins as a shepherd chief who rebels and
eventually defeats the Persian monarch. Timur, delighted by his accomplishment,
surges like a rush through the entire east. Seated on a chariot drawn by
captured kings, with a caged emperor in front of him, he boasts of his
all-powerful might. Then, plagued by disease, he rages against the gods and
wishes to remove earthly rulers.
Through
this extract, Marlowe wants to show the excessive power of Timur.
The
god of war resigns his room to me,
Meaning
to make me general of the world;
Jove
viewing me in arms looks pale and wan,
Fearing
my power should pull him from his throne.
👉The Jew of Malta (1589)
The
Jew of malta (1589) has two opening economically handled opening acts but get
worse later when the second villain, ithamore, other sections may be written by
another hand, possibly Thomas Heywood. The Play also based on machiavellian
villain. The Jew of Malta, a study of the lust for wealth, which centres about
Barabas, a terrible old Moneylender.The governor of Malta takes away all of
Barabas' money because he wants it to pay the Turks' massively overdue tribute.
Barabas now reflects on his long career of fury. His rage is directed not only
at the governor, but also towards Christians and Muslims in general. He poisons
the entire monastery of nuns. He hatches a bold plan in which his daughter's
two lovers murder each other. Finally, he aims to slay the leaders of the Turks
who have overrun the island, as well as the Turkish soldiers who have taken refuge
in a monastery. However, he is the one who dies. Through a scheme played by the
governor of Malta, Barabas falls into a kettle of boiling oil that he had left
ready for his foes.
👉Edward II (1591)
Edward II (1591) shows the truest
sense of the theatre of all his plays. The Play has less poetic passion than
some of the other plays. The hero is not truly tragic, but it works upon a fine
climax of deep pity or sadness. Its plot is skillfully interconnected and the
material, neatly taken from "Holinshed's Chronicles." Edward II is a tragic study of a
king’s weakness and misery. In point of style and dramatic construction. It is
by far the best of Marlowe’s plays, and is a worthy predecessor of
Shakespeare’s historical drama.
👉Doctor Faustus (Probably written in 1592)
Doctor
Faustus has a good beginning and an ending which is Marlowe's supreme
achievement but comic scenes in the middle are poor and may be by another hand.
The Play contains some interesting survivals of the miracle plays in the
conversation of the good and evil Angels. Doctor Faustus, the second play, is
one of Marlowe's best. The plot revolves around a scholar who yearns for
limitless knowledge and switches from theology, philosophy, medicine, and law,
the four sciences of the day, to the study of magic, much like a child may
switch from jewels to tinsel and colourful paper. To learn magic, he sells
himself to the devil in exchange for twenty-four years of absolute power and
knowledge.
The
extract that taken from the final speech of Faustus when he is waiting for the
devil to carry him to hell :
My
god, my god, look not so fierce on me:
Adders
and serpents, let me breathe awhile:
Ugly
hell, gape not, come not, Lucifer….
I’ll
burn my books…ah, Mephistophilis
👉MINOR WORKS.
The
tragedy of Dido, queen of Carthage (1593) is an inferior piece which is Thomas
Nash has shared. Marlowe also composed poetry, most notably "The
Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and "Hero and Leander" in
addition to his plays (he wrote at least four, and some say seven). In the
first, a shepherd woos a lover by glorifying nature, while in the second, a guy
swims a tiny sea to reach the woman he loves.
👉Praised by other writers.
George Peele remembered him as "Marley, the Muses' darling".
Michael Drayton noted that he "Had in him those brave translunary things / that the first poets had".
Ben Jonson wrote of " Marlowe's mighty line".
Thomas Nashe wrote warmly of his friend, "poor deceased Kit Marlowe,"
Work
cited
Albert, Edward. History
of English literature, Oxford University Press, 1979.
J Long, William. English
Literature Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English
Speaking world. Rupa Publications, 2015.
Carter, Ronald and John
Mcrae. The Routledge history of literature in English : Britain and Ireland.
Routledge, 2016.
