DARK RENAISSANCE is a brilliant work from Stephen Greenblatt that focuses on the life of poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe.

Since the mid-19th-century, there have been rumors questioning William Shakespeare's authorship of his plays. The claim is that many people, including Marlowe, wrote 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 I ruled during tumultuous times in England, which included mass deaths due to multiple epidemics and pandemics, such as smallpox and the bubonic 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 that Greenblatt 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 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 tells 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 that Greenblatt illuminates about the dangerous era in which they existed and thrived is truly worthy of our admiration.