Conten introduction life Christopher Marlowe’s

3.Main characters and plot
Marlowe was born in Canterbury in 1564 of a family that originated in Ospringe, today part of Faversham. His father, John, was a cobbler. Christopher went to King’s School, and was awarded a Matthew Parker scholarship which enabled him to study at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, from late 1580 until 1587, when he was awarded his MA. Like other brilliant students and writers he was recruited by Sir Francis Walsingham as a part-time secret service agent. His literary career, spent, as far as we know, mainly in London, lasted for only six years from 1587 to 1593. As far as his contemporaries knew he simply disappeared in May 1593, though rumours began to circulate of his death.
We now know that he had been arrested by the Privy Council in May 1593 and released on bail. It was not until 1925 when Dr. Leslie Hotson discovered in the Public Record Office details of an inquest conducted at Deptford by the Queen’s Coroner, William Danby, concerning an affray in which Marlowe is said to have lost his life, on 30th May 1593, that an explanation was offered about his death.
Use the image links (right) to read more about Marlowe’s life and times. Marlowe has left us from his short, but brilliant, career seven plays, and in several of them he was a pioneer in that particular genre. Of these Tamburlaine Parts 1 and 2 caused the greatest excitement among his contemporaries. The heroic nature of its theme, coupled with the splendour of the blank verse and the colour and scale of its pageantry led to its constant revival, with the great actor Edward Alleyn taking the part of Tamburlaine.Alleyn was to take the lead in other Marlowe plays, and to share in their triumph, notably The Jew of Malta and Dr. Faustus. The Jew of Malta may be termed the first successful black comedy or tragi-comedy, and provided Shakespeare with his inspiration for Shylock. Dr. Faustus, though a moral drama brought about by the overreaching of the human spirit and of free thinking in a superstitious age, is a delightful blend of tragic verse and comedy.
Edward II is prob²⁹ably the earliest successful history play, and paved the way for Shakespeare’s more mature histories such as Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V. It too is a moving tragedy, and contains fine verse, and an impelling characterisation of a weak and flawed monarch. Marlowe’s Dido, Queen of Carthage is an early work derived in part from Virgil’s Aeneid, which, though rarely performed, contains much fine and moving verse. The Massacre at Paris was much admired by The Elizabethans, with its near-contemporary depiction of the murders and scandals instigated by the French Court. Sadly only a severely mutilated version has survived.
Hero and Leander is the greatest poem of Marlowe’s that has come down to us, though much of his love poetry apart from the well-known Come Live With Me, and Be My Love has been lost. George Chapman completed the unfinished Hero and Leander, and it was published finally in 1598. Shortly afterwards the memorable verse translations of Ovid’s Elegies, the Amores, and of Lucan’s First Book of³⁰ the Civil War, called Pharsalia appeared in quick succession. The translation of Amores was a massive task, and all forty-eight of Ovid’s poems were turned into elegiac couplets. Much of the verse is exceedingly beautiful, though the quality is sometimes uneven. No one has ever attempted the task since. The blank verse of the Lucan translation is at times very powerful, and it is thought this work dates from Marlowe’s university days.The Muses’ Darling Christopher Marlowe’s friends and contemporaries were quick to honour him, with the dramatist George Peele referring to him as “the Muses’ Darling”1 in a tribute printed less than a month after the events at Deptford. Thomas Nashe moved quickly to organise a Quarto edition of Dido, Queen of Carthage which was published in 1594, perhaps a little cheekily attributing himself as co-author, but writing an elegy to Marlowe inserted in some copies which is sadly no longer extant. The colourful dramatist, pamphleteer and prose writer Robert Greene who died in 1592 had seemingly been critical of Marlowe’s atheism, but had recognised “Thou famous gracer of Tragedians”.
The printer Thomas Thorpe, best known for his dedication of Shakespeare’s Sonnets to Mr. W.H., also praised Marlowe as “that pure Elemental wit … whose ghost or Genius is to be seen walk[ing] the [St Paul’s] Churchyard in (at the least) three or four sheets”2. Henry Peto we was inspired to pen a continuation of Hero and Leander (as was George Chapman) by “Marlo admir ‘d, whose honey-flowing vaine No English writer can as yet attaine”3. Francis Meres thought Marlowe, along with Shakespeare, was “one of our best for Tragedie”4, Thomas Heywood noted him “renown’d for his rare art and wit,” whilst Michael Drayton was perhaps most eloquent concerning
Marlow, bathed in Thespian springs
Had in him those brave translunary things,,
That the first Poets had, his raptures were
All air, and fire, which made his verses clear
For that fine madness still he did retain,
Which rightly should possess a poet’s brain.5
Critics and scholars through the centuries have lavished praise on the dramatic brilliance and poetic genius of one, who like Shakespeare, began life in humble circumstances, but who achieved undying fame in a very few years. Perhaps most memorably, Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote of Marlowe in the nineteenth century: “If Shakespeare is the dazzling sun of this mighty period, Marlowe is certainly the morning star”6. Critic and scholar Edward Dowden similarly opined that “if Marlowe had lived longer and accomplished the work that lay clearly before him, he would have stood beside Shakespeare.” Marlowe has been honoured among poets and playwrights as the real founder of English drama, and the perfecter of dramatic blank verse. Poet and critic Algernon Charles Swinburne thought Marlowe without compare here. “Of English blank verse, one of the few highest forms of verbal harmony, or poetic expression, Marlow³¹e was the absolute and divine creator.”. Marlowe was loved and honoured by his contemporaries for his love poetry, and his translations of Lucan and Ovid. Without Marlowe as guide and leader, Shakespea³²re and the other Elizabethan poets and dramatists would certainly not have achieved the reputation they enjoy today. Read more about the life and times of Christopher Marlowe, and his work. Also find out about the contemporary portrait found at Cambridge and believed to be of Marlowe, and the eventful history of his Memorial in Canterbury.

Summary: Peter Farey’s Marlowe Site has modern spelling versions of all Marlowe’s works, which can be downloaded as single files. He also provides a biography, a documentary chronology, and transcripts of documents relating to Marlowe. There are also many very well-researched essays on a range of Marlowe-related topics. Christopher Marlowe’s Style and Popular Poems Marlowe was a real source of guidance for Shakespeare for writing great plays in blank verse. His works contained music that was in harmony with Milton’s works. His blank verse was metrically precise, regular, and contained imagery not introduced in English poetry at that time. He also introduced genuine blank verse and tragedy in literature and paved the way for Shakespeare to follow .Critics considered Marlowe to be the father of English tragedy and blank verse. It is said that his works contained the true spirit of Elizabethan era. His most popular poems are “Hero and Leander,” “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” and “Elegies.” Come Live With Me Summary: A fascinating study by Jessica Sparks of Marlowe’s poem The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, with sections on manuscripts and printing, Marlowe, the poem, its printing as a broadside ballad, the tune, and references & responses to the poem. Plus a fascinating interactive Timeline (1591-2015) with renditions .Marlowe at Luminarium Summary: The excellent Luminarium Anthology of English Literature site provides a comprehensive portal of articles, quotes, links and images for every notable English author, including Marlowe. Swinburne’s 1910 essay on Marlowe is reproduced in the biography³³ slot. Plus an extensive list of books on Marlowe. Marlowe’s Last BowSummary: A newly published pamphlet by Trevor Fisher examines the records discovered by Hotson in 1925 and considers the subsequent views controversies that have arisen about Marlowe’s death in the context of Elizabethan politics & with particular reference to the flaws in the official account identified by Eugenie de Kalb.

Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and Robert Herrick’s “To the Virgins, Make Much of Time” share the same common theme of Carpe Diem. They also have many differences such as the tone, and the type of poem. Marlowe’s is more of a romantic poem, a Shepherd expressing his love to a woman. Herrick’s is more of a preachy poem, the poet is telling these young virgins that they need to hurry up and get married because they do not have much time. Both Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and Herrick’s “To the Virgins, Make Much of Time” Share the same common theme; Carpe Diem. Carpe Diem means seize the day. In both poems, the poets express that they have a short amount of time and that they need to live life…show more content…
“And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks
By shallow rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals” (Marlowe)
Robert Herrick’s poem “To the Virgins, Make Much of Time” is considered to be a preachy type of poem. The poet is telling young virgins that they need to hurry up and get married because they do not have much time. “Then be not coy, but use your time, and while ye may, go marry” (Herrick) The Tone of this poem is didactic, he is expressing his opinion. He is telling these young unmarried women to hurry up and get married, and stop wasting time. “Gather ye rose-buds while ye may: Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles to-day, To-morrow will be dying” (Herrick) The Rhyme Scheme for “To the Virgins, Make Much of Time” is the first and third of each stanza rhymes while the second and the fourth line rhyme. “The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun, The higher he's a-getting, the sooner will his race be run, and nearer he's to setting” (Herrick)
In Conclusion “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and “To the Virgins, Make Much of Time” is similar in theme. The theme for both stories was Carpe Diem. Even though the Theme was similar, the difference in each poem was the Tone, Rhyme Scheme and the type of poem. The tone for Marlowe’s is optimistic and loving and the poem is pastoral. Passionate Shepherd, Marlowe shows seizing the day by thinking ³⁴of everything beautifully. To him nothing seems bad or negative. The shepherd wants to live his life to fullest with his love forever. He sees life as perfect, and wants to give his love every luxury that she could want. .
"Come live with me, and be my love,.
And we will all the pleasures prove.
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,.
Woods or steepy mountains yields." (Marlowe, p. 233).
He wants to live with her in the woods, and enjoy all that nature offers. "A belt of straw and ivy buds, with coral clasps and amber studs." (Marlowe, p. 233) He is telling his love that she will have every material possession that she could ever dream of, if she comes with him. .
"The shepherd swains shall dance and sing,.
For thy delight each May morning.
If these delights thy mind may move,.
Than live with me, and be my love." (Marlowe, p. 233).
He leaves his love to decide what she will do, and waits for her to come and join him, living in the woods The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd is the opposite of Carpe Diem, because the Nymph tells that things are not always beautiful. She brings it to attention that winter will come, things will die, and the shepherd's perfect plan doesn't always stand true.
"If all the world and love were young,.
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,.
These pretty pleasures might me move.
To live with thee and by thy love." (Raleigh, p. 235).
She tells the shepherd, if everything were beautiful, and I knew that you weren't lying to me, and I could really expect all the pleasures in the world, Iwould come live with you and be yo³⁵ur love.