Christopher Marlowe: Renaissance Dramatist, Influence, and Controversial Death
Christopher Marlowe: Life, Legacy, and Controversy
Christopher Marlowe was an original and popular writer who broke with tradition, inventing new ways and topics for dramatic writing. His innovations significantly influenced William Shakespeare’s early plays. Marlowe’s life and works have been subject to much speculation and controversy, often overshadowing his literary achievements, which are comparable to Shakespeare’s.
Marlowe led an extreme and marginal life, regularly involved in violence and trouble with the law. He was once arrested on suspicion of dangerous religious opinions, possibly due to his involvement in social regulations. Thomas Kyd later accused Marlowe of holding irreverent religious opinions, solidifying Marlowe’s reputation as a radical writer.
The Mystery of Marlowe’s Death
Marlowe was fatally stabbed in a tavern at Deptford. This event, known as “The Reckoning,” involved Ingram Frizer and was reportedly due to a conflict over the bill. Frizer fought with Marlowe, and the dagger entered Marlowe’s eye, reaching his brain and causing immediate death. His death remained a mystery until new evidence confirmed he was killed in the Deptford tavern. This killing has since inspired numerous fictional accounts attempting to explain the circumstances.
Marlowe was known as a man who rebelled, thought for himself, and enjoyed shocking others.
Sexuality and Identity in Marlowe’s Works
The theme of sexuality is notably represented in Doctor Faustus. Marlowe often portrayed sexuality in his plays, perhaps reflecting his own life, which critics have scrutinized to interpret his works.
There is a possible link between Marlowe as a man and Faustus as the character. Doctor Faustus seeks to go beyond conventional knowledge and establish new ideologies, essentially searching for his own identity. This tragic quest for personal success reflects Marlowe’s dissatisfaction with the societal norms, laws, and social regulations of his time, subtly introducing his own life experiences into his drama.
Critical Reception and Posthumous Reputation
Historically, critics often focused more on Marlowe’s controversial life than on his literary achievement, leading him to be considered inferior to Shakespeare, often for biographical rather than literary reasons. Despite this, Marlowe remains one of the most relevant writers in universal literature.
Marlowe’s death has generated many theories, including the idea that he did not die but continued writing under Shakespeare’s name. This has contributed to contradictions and misunderstandings surrounding his legacy. Although he died young, he wrote seven successful plays, a fact that some critics argue makes his output superior to Shakespeare’s relative to his lifespan.
Prejudices and partial interpretations long hindered a fair literary understanding of his work. Marlowe wrote only poems and plays, and his subversive life created a negative interpretation of his theatre.
However, T.S. Eliot’s influence in the 20th century helped shift critical perspective, leading to a more positive appreciation of Marlowe’s plays. He is now considered one of the most famous writers of the English Renaissance, celebrated for his “torrential imagination” and ability to create such imaginative drama at a young age.
Marlowe’s Influence on William Shakespeare
Marlowe and Shakespeare were literary rivals who became interrelated through mutual influence. They are considered models and prototypes of literary creation, central not only to the canon of their time but also to the global art of writing.
Marlowe significantly influenced Shakespeare’s writing style in his early plays, provoking Shakespeare to develop a better, more differentiated kind of writing. While previous writers established new styles, Shakespeare sought to break away from these influences, including Marlowe’s, in his later works.
Specific connections include:
- Marlowe’s character Barabas inspired Shakespeare’s Aaron.
- Similarities exist between Mortimer (by Marlowe) and Richard II (by Shakespeare).
Key Dramatic Features of Marlowe’s Theatre
Marlowe’s drama is characterized by several distinct features:
Drama of Excess
Characters, such as Doctor Faustus, are obsessed with achieving all possible pleasures, leisure, and knowledge. Critics sometimes view Marlowe’s plays as overly long or tedious due to the extensive use of soliloquies, leading to what is sometimes termed “verbal excess” where characters speak too much.
Intellectual Exploration of Man’s Possibilities
Faustus exemplifies this feature, desiring infinite knowledge and eternal life. Marlowe explores the limits of human potential, pushing beyond what was socially or religiously acceptable. This reflects a desire to experience all aspects of life, acknowledging that while man is mortal, the aspiration to achieve great things remains.
Antididactic Drama
Marlowe’s theatre stands in opposition to the didactic drama popular at the time. His characters often represent marginal people and are not presented as moral prototypes intended to teach the audience lessons.
Drama of Transgression and Dissidence
Marlowe frequently wrote against established social regulations, making transgression a central theme.
Central Thematic Interests in Marlowe’s Plays
Religion
Religion was a central topic, often mixed with Marlowe’s personal faith and literature. Faustus, a marginal man who sells his soul to the devil, represents an internal exploration of faith. Initially, theology does not provide the solution for his life. Ultimately, his Calvinist Protestant background leads him to damnation, forcing him to realize that religion alone does not guarantee salvation. Marlowe explores the various possibilities religion offers, concluding that men are inherently sinful and that religion is not their sole interest. He sought true faith but ultimately surrendered to the conclusion that he was not a truly religious person.
Materialism
Marlowe explores the possibilities generated by material values. He recognized the growing importance of new material values in everyday life and often portrayed them positively. His works suggest that while human beings pretend to be religious, they often prioritize the pursuit of wealth and material gain.
Textual Instability of Doctor Faustus
Doctor Faustus exists in two primary versions: Text A and Text B (the longer version). This textual instability means there are two distinct texts for the same play.
- In the 20th century, Text B became more popular among critics.
- In previous ages, Text A was considered the central version.
The authorship of the play is often questioned, as it is widely believed that Marlowe was not the sole writer. The main source for the play was The German Faust Book.