Complete Plays and Poems

by Christopher Marlowe, Mark Thornton Burnett (Editor)

This book gathers all seven of the dramas of Christopher Marlowe, in which the lure of dark forces drives the shifting balances between weak and strong, sacred and profane. Supported by textual notes and featuring modern punctuation and spelling, they include:
- Dido, Queen of Carthage
- Tamburlaine the Great, Part One
- Tamburlaine the Great, Part Two
- The Jew of Malta
- Doctor Faustus
- Edward the Second
- The Massacre at Paris

With a critical introduction, a chronology of Marlowe's life, extensive commentary, and a glossary, this will remain the authoritative anthology of Marlowe's plays for years to come.

Genres: Poetry, Plays, Classics, Drama, Fiction, Literature

543 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1976

About the author

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564) was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. The foremost Elizabethan tragedian next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his magnificent blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his own mysterious and untimely death.

The author's Wikipedia page.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a great fan of Christopher Marlowe, both of his poetry and his plays. The Everyman edition that I own has held up under some pretty heavy usage, as I tend to mark up a book until it vomits pages. Good thing I own this one.

Marlowe's choice of subjects for plays always dumbfounded me. He went for the most unpleasant subjects possible. Tamburlaine, not just one, but two of those. The Jew of Malta, sheesh what a horrible title. Edward II, we all know he died as a result of a hot poker stuck up his ass. The ever unpleasant The Massacre at Paris where Huguenots get killed by the hundreds, and Catherine the Queen is blamed for the whole thing.

But! We also have Dido,Queen of Carthage a very lovely telling of that very sad tale. It's also a bit snarky in places, especially where the gods are involved. Doctor Faustus which is his greatest work.

Marlowe was part of the University educated dramatists. Shakespeare had no real University education, so we might say that the subject matter chosen by Marlowe was that of the classical world, and heavily influenced by Protestant thinking, The Massacre at Paris. Shakespeare took his from English history, and therein lay a world of difference.

Overall, I prefer Shakespeare to Marlowe, but it has to be said that there was Marlowe, Jonson and Shakespeare that are really worth remembering today, the rest just wrote plays. Oh, now I have set the hordes of dramaturges on me like the furies of old.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evidently, this play is not published by itself. I am planning on reading more Marlowe this year, but this review reference "Edward II." I've gotten a bee in my bonnet to read the history plays of Shakespeare now that "Edward III" has been entered into the canon. I read it a few months ago and I will re-read it soon so I can learn the history of England "theatrically," rather than literally. Anyway, Marlowe clearly was sympathetic to the gay king. His relationship with Gaveston is related with dignity. Gaveston himself is a bit of a jerk, but the king's love blinded Edward to Gaveston's faults. Indeed, Queen Isabel I rather sympathize with. Poor thing. Married to a gay man, pretty much abandoned after the heir is born. Well, that's the backstory I provided in my mind. I am not all that conversant with this period of English history. But that's my private scholarly work to do for awhile. I am not an authority, but I do agree that Marlowe was Shakespeare's only real rival and I do wonder what Marlowe would've written if he hadn't been conveniently killed in that tavern brawl.

[Josh]

Just the poems, the poems the poems

[James Violand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not thrilling. I was disappointed. Perhaps I expected the talent of a peer: Shakespeare that is.

[Eladio Garro · Rating 3 out of 5]

De aquí sólo resalto Eduardo II y La Masacre de París junto a sus dos poemas.