Editorial Content for Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
DARK RENAISSANCE is a brilliant work from Stephen Greenblatt that focuses on the life of poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe.
I am a lifelong actor and consider myself to be a scholar of all things Shakespere. One misnomer about Shakespeare’s life is that he didn’t write his own plays. I was one of many who was aware of the rumors that Christopher Marlowe, among others, may have been the author of Shakespeare’s plays. How wrong these ideas have been! Greenblatt sheds light not only on these stories, passed down like oral history, but on everything involving Marlowe’s tragically short life.
Queen Elizabeth ruled during tumultuous times in England, which included mass deaths due to pandemics such as the Black plague. This led to the shuttering of all working and traveling theaters, which many applauded. However, Elizabeth was a fan of the theater. Thankfully, physical theaters in and around London were reopened, giving people like Marlowe the opportunity to have various theater companies perform his work for live audiences.
"DARK RENAISSANCE is not to be missed by scholars or admirers of Marlowe or Shakespeare. The background he illuminates about the dangerous era in which they existed and thrived is truly worthy of our admiration."
Marlowe’s history is one worth marveling at, regardless of the brief 29 years that he was alive. His two-part play, Tamburlaine, was the first to bring him notoriety, and it was obvious that he brought an Ivy League education along with him. During his school years, Marlowe roomed with writer Thomas Kyd and hobnobbed with some of the greatest young minds of the time. He was renowned for being an atheist and carried with him a desire to learn more about the undiscovered world in something that Nietzsche called “the great separation.”
Known as Kit to his friends and classmates, Marlowe immersed himself in stories that exhibited great sexual adventures, which shined a light on the secret he kept about his homosexuality. Marlowe succeeded brilliantly in school, and his plays often found placement on the local stage. He also continued to pursue his personal vision of the Christian faith, which became another impetus for his work. Perhaps his finest moment was the writing of Doctor Faustus,which is still considered to be the single greatest tragedy ever written about an alienated intellectual. The protagonist makes a deal with the Devil, but rather than wealth and power, he desires knowledge in return for his soul. Marlowe’s story still inspires others to this day with similar themes that challenge man’s faith.
Marlowe took over London, with his plays being performed at theaters like The Rose under the production rights of Philip Henslowe and performed by well-known actors of the time like Edward Alleyn. If you have ever seen the Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love, these names and locations will be quite familiar. During this time, Marlowe and Shakespeare were well aware of each other. Greenblatt also educates us that the two actually combined efforts on a series of Shakespeare’s “King” plays, specifically those involving the Henrys. Another myth busted!
Their friendly rivalry would continue, with Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta being matched by Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. This was just one of the many games of one-upmanship that went on between the two. Shakespeare later would admit that Doctor Faustus showed him how plays such as Hamlet and Macbeth could be done. Greenblatt particularly shines with his investigation into Marlowe’s death.
DARK RENAISSANCE is not to be missed by scholars or admirers of Marlowe or Shakespeare. The background he illuminates about the dangerous era in which they existed and thrived is truly worthy of our admiration.
Teaser
In repressive Elizabethan England, artists are frightened into dull conventionality; foreigners are suspect; popular entertainment largely consists of coarse spectacles, animal fights and hangings. Into this crude world of government censorship and religious authoritarianism comes an ambitious cobbler’s son from Canterbury with a daring desire to be known --- and an uncanny ear for Latin poetry. For Christopher Marlowe, it’s a secret portal to beauty, visionary imagination, transgressive desire and dangerous skepticism. What Marlowe seizes in his rare opportunity for a classical education brings about a spectacular explosion of English literature, language and culture. His astonishing literary success will nourish the talent of a collaborator and rival, William Shakespeare. DARK RENAISSANCE illuminates both Marlowe’s times and the origins and significance of his work.
Promo
In repressive Elizabethan England, artists are frightened into dull conventionality; foreigners are suspect; popular entertainment largely consists of coarse spectacles, animal fights and hangings. Into this crude world of government censorship and religious authoritarianism comes an ambitious cobbler’s son from Canterbury with a daring desire to be known --- and an uncanny ear for Latin poetry. For Christopher Marlowe, it’s a secret portal to beauty, visionary imagination, transgressive desire and dangerous skepticism. What Marlowe seizes in his rare opportunity for a classical education brings about a spectacular explosion of English literature, language and culture. His astonishing literary success will nourish the talent of a collaborator and rival, William Shakespeare. DARK RENAISSANCE illuminates both Marlowe’s times and the origins and significance of his work.
About the Book
Poor boy. Spy. Transgressor. Genius.
In repressive Elizabethan England, artists are frightened into dull conventionality; foreigners are suspect; popular entertainment largely consists of coarse spectacles, animal fights and hangings. Into this crude world of government censorship and religious authoritarianism comes an ambitious cobbler’s son from Canterbury with a daring desire to be known --- and an uncanny ear for Latin poetry. A torment for most schoolboys, yet for a few, like Christopher Marlowe, a secret portal to beauty, visionary imagination, transgressive desire and dangerous skepticism.
What Marlowe seizes in his rare opportunity for a classical education, and what he does with it, brings about a spectacular explosion of English literature, language and culture. His astonishing literary success will, in turn, nourish the talent of a collaborator and rival, William Shakespeare.
DARK RENAISSANCE illuminates both Marlowe’s times and the origins and significance of his work --- from his erotic translations of Ovid to his portrayal of unfettered ambition in a triumphant Tamburlaine to Doctor Faustus, his unforgettable masterpiece about making a pact with the devil in exchange for knowledge.
Introducing us to Marlowe’s transgressive genius in the form of a thrilling page-turner, Stephen Greenblatt brings a penetrating understanding of the literary work to reveal the inner world of the author, bringing to life a homosexual atheist who was tormented by his own compromises, who refused to toe the party line, and who was murdered just when he had found love. Meanwhile, he explores how the people Marlowe knew, and the transformations they wrought, gave birth to the economic, scientific and cultural power of the modern world, including Faustian bargains with which we reckon still.
Audiobook available, read by Edoardo Ballerini
