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The Tragedy of Dido Queene of Carthage
This is a reproduction of the original artefact. Generally these books are created from careful scans of the original. This allows us to preserve the book accurately and present it in the way the author intended. Since the original versions are generally quite old, there may occasionally be certain imperfections within these reproductions. We're happy to make these classics available again for future generations to enjoy!
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First published January 1, 1590
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About the author
Christopher Marlowe
728 books832 followersChristopher "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.
The author's Wikipedia page.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
May 26, 2019
This, probably the first dramatic work by the Elizabethan age's second best playwright, reveals Marlowe's inexperience in various clumsy, half-hearted passages of verse, and—perhaps more damning—in an accumulation of unnecessary suicides toward the end, which—unlike the black humor of his later work—does not seem ironic and cynical, but instead merely ludicrous and excessive. The play does indeed get worse and worse as it progresses (perhaps Marlowe began to revise it but soon lost interest), which makes it even more disappointing.
The first scene, though, is exceptionally fine, and everyone who admires Doctor Faustus and Edward II should read it. The atheist playwright who is reported to have said “all who love not tobacco and boys are fools” here presents a distinctively fallible image of the godhead, as we see Jupiter fawning over his young cup bearer Ganymede, vowing to protect him from the attacks of his wife the goddess Juno. And yet this Jupiter is magnificent too, threatening to hang Juno “meteor like, 'twixt heaven and earth,” and telling his beloved boy that through him he may “controul proud fate, and cut the thread of time." The pride of the Marlovian hero is already here in miniature. If you listen closely, it is not hard to hear the voices of Tamburlaine and Faust:
Come, gentle Ganymede, and play with me ;
I love thee well, say Juno what she will...
What! dares she strike the darling of my thoughts ?
By Saturn's soul, and this earth threatening air,
That, shaken thrice, makes nature's buildings quake,
I vow, if she but once frown on thee more,
To hang her, meteor-like, 'twixt heaven and earth,
And bind her hand and foot with golden cords,
As once I did for harming Hercules !...
What is't, sweet wag, I should deny thy youth ?
Whose face reflects such pleasure to mine eyes,
As I, exhal'd with thy fire-darting beams,
Have oft driven back the horses of the night,
When as they would have hal'd thee from my sight.
Sit on my knee, and call for thy content,
Controul proud fate, and cut the thread of time :
Why, are not all the gods at thy command,
And heaven and earth the bounds of thy delight ?
Vulcan shall dance to make thee laughing sport,
And my nine daughters sing when thou art sad ;
From Juno's bird I'll pluck her spotted pride,
To make thee fans wherewith to cool thy face ;
And Venus' swans shall shed their silver down,
To sweeten out the slumbers of thy bed :
Hermes no more shall shew the world his wings,
If that thy fancy in his feathers dwell,
But as this one I'll tear them all from him,
Do thou but say, " their colour pleaseth me."
Hold here, my little love, these linked gems,
My Juno wore upon her marriage day,
Put thou about thy neck, my own sweet heart,
And trick thy arms and shoulders with my theft.
June 22, 2023
Slight but lovely. Too short to wear out its welcome. All in all, a delightful way to spend a couple of hours.
October 8, 2019
I quite enjoyed this play. One of Marlowe's shorter plays, it is easy to read and follow. The opening is a bit disturbing (Zeus fondling Ganymede and all that) but the rest of the play is actually really good. However, I must admit that I expected more from 'Dido, Queen of Carthage'. It may have to something to do with the fact that I loved the original story so much. Dido is basically my favourite character in Aeneid. Having loved the original story so much, it was hard to get into the spirit of this one. Not that I didn't enjoy some of Marlowe's unique twists to this classical tale.
Marlowe's verse is dark and potent, but something seems to be missing in this play. It is hard to put a finger to exactly what. There are some really clever verses in it and some touching moments. Moreover, the story and the plot seem logical enough. Nevertheless, I wasn't that impressed. The play just didn't come to life. Some episodes were perhaps too short. I felt like the play could have benefited from more Aeneas and Dildo scenes. We don't really see their relationship develop, it all happens suddenly and we learn of their 'time in the cave' from the others. I think as readers (or viewers) of this play, this makes us feel alienated from them. I know some scenes might have been risque for early Elizabethan play viewers, but the writer could have explored the protagonists' emotions a bit more more. Aeneas doesn't get a lot of space in this play, we don't get to see his inner struggle (if there was any implied?). All in all, it is definitely a play I would recommend. It is quite easy to read and even if it didn't impress me deeply, I still liked it a lot.
Marlowe's verse is dark and potent, but something seems to be missing in this play. It is hard to put a finger to exactly what. There are some really clever verses in it and some touching moments. Moreover, the story and the plot seem logical enough. Nevertheless, I wasn't that impressed. The play just didn't come to life. Some episodes were perhaps too short. I felt like the play could have benefited from more Aeneas and Dildo scenes. We don't really see their relationship develop, it all happens suddenly and we learn of their 'time in the cave' from the others. I think as readers (or viewers) of this play, this makes us feel alienated from them. I know some scenes might have been risque for early Elizabethan play viewers, but the writer could have explored the protagonists' emotions a bit more more. Aeneas doesn't get a lot of space in this play, we don't get to see his inner struggle (if there was any implied?). All in all, it is definitely a play I would recommend. It is quite easy to read and even if it didn't impress me deeply, I still liked it a lot.
July 30, 2019
Sahnede seyretmekten pek keyif almasam da Shakespeare'i okumaya tam anlamıyla "bayılırım". Hal böyle olunca Shakespeare ile adı sık sık anılan Christopher Marlowe'u ne zamandır okumak istiyordum; fakat bir türlü oyunlarını bulamıyordum. YKY tüm oyunlarını "Bütün Oyunları" isimli kitapta yayımlamış; ama maalesef baskısı tükendiği için İş Bankası Yayınları Marlowe'un eserlerini yayımlamaya başlayana kadar okuma fırsatım olmadı.
Marlowe, dediğim gibi, oldukça ilgimi çekiyor; çünkü hayatı yaşadığı dönemle birlikte düşünecek olursak bir hayli enteresan. Ayrıca kendisi çeşitli "efsaneler"e konu. Shakepeare'in oyunlarının aslında Marlowe tarafından yazıldığını ya da kendisinin I. Elizabeth'in ajanı olduğunu ve saklanmak için ölmüş gibi gösterildiğini, sonrasında da William Shakespeare mahlasıyla yazmaya devam ettiğini söyleyenler bile var. Bunlar doğru mudur elbette bilmek şu an için mümkün görünmüyor; ama bu efsaneler Marlowe'u daha da merak uyandırıcı hale getirmeye yetiyor bence.
Henry Purcell'in Vergilius'un Aeneas Destanı'ndan hareketle bestelediği Dido ve Aeneas operasında yer alan "Dido's Lament" aryasını gerçekten çok çok çok severim. Bu sebeple İş Bankası Yayınları'nın Marlowe'un oyunlarını yayımlamaya başladığını görünce hemen Kartaca Kraliçesi Dido'yu aldım.
Oyun da Vergilius'un Aeneas isimli eserinde anlatılan Kartaca Kraliçesi Dido ve Aeneas'ın ilişkisi üzerine kurulu. Bundan sonrası spoiler niteliğinde, baştan uyarayım:
Çeviri Shakespeare çevirilerini çok sevdiğim Özdemir Nutku'ya ait. Oyunla ilgili de kısa bir değerlendirmesi bulunuyor. Diğer çevirileri gibi bu çevirisi de oldukça başarılı.
Önyargımdan dolayı mı bilemiyorum; ama evet, oyun bana sanki bir Shakepeare okuyormuşum gibi hissettirdi. Zevkle okunan bir oyun bence. Tavsiye ederim.
Son olarak o kadar bahsettim, Dido's Lament aryasını eklemeden yorumu bitirmeyeyim:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGQq3...
Marlowe, dediğim gibi, oldukça ilgimi çekiyor; çünkü hayatı yaşadığı dönemle birlikte düşünecek olursak bir hayli enteresan. Ayrıca kendisi çeşitli "efsaneler"e konu. Shakepeare'in oyunlarının aslında Marlowe tarafından yazıldığını ya da kendisinin I. Elizabeth'in ajanı olduğunu ve saklanmak için ölmüş gibi gösterildiğini, sonrasında da William Shakespeare mahlasıyla yazmaya devam ettiğini söyleyenler bile var. Bunlar doğru mudur elbette bilmek şu an için mümkün görünmüyor; ama bu efsaneler Marlowe'u daha da merak uyandırıcı hale getirmeye yetiyor bence.
Henry Purcell'in Vergilius'un Aeneas Destanı'ndan hareketle bestelediği Dido ve Aeneas operasında yer alan "Dido's Lament" aryasını gerçekten çok çok çok severim. Bu sebeple İş Bankası Yayınları'nın Marlowe'un oyunlarını yayımlamaya başladığını görünce hemen Kartaca Kraliçesi Dido'yu aldım.
Oyun da Vergilius'un Aeneas isimli eserinde anlatılan Kartaca Kraliçesi Dido ve Aeneas'ın ilişkisi üzerine kurulu. Bundan sonrası spoiler niteliğinde, baştan uyarayım:
Çeviri Shakespeare çevirilerini çok sevdiğim Özdemir Nutku'ya ait. Oyunla ilgili de kısa bir değerlendirmesi bulunuyor. Diğer çevirileri gibi bu çevirisi de oldukça başarılı.
Önyargımdan dolayı mı bilemiyorum; ama evet, oyun bana sanki bir Shakepeare okuyormuşum gibi hissettirdi. Zevkle okunan bir oyun bence. Tavsiye ederim.
Son olarak o kadar bahsettim, Dido's Lament aryasını eklemeden yorumu bitirmeyeyim:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGQq3...
January 6, 2024
Büyük bir hayal kırıklığı olmakla birlikte konunun biraz beklentiyle ilgili olduğuna da değinmeden geçemeyeceğim. Sanırım Marlowe’un ilk oyunu ve dönemin ihtiyaçlarına ve yapısına göre değerlendirildiğinde oldukça iyi. Ancak Vergilius’un bu kadar muazzam anlattığı öykünün dönüştüğü şeyi görünce tadınız kaçıyor. Asla sevemedim. Çok kısa bir oyun olmasına rağmen ittire ittire bitirebildim ancak. Biterken eklemezsem olmaz, “gerçek Aeneas bu değil.”
April 10, 2020
I liked how Marlowe took the romance in Virgil’s Aeneid and gave it textures that fleshed out the players. And he did this with some of his own creative add-ons, so he wasn’t just retelling it verbatim. Marlowe’s Aeneas is more sensitive to Dido’s love and not as keen to leave her. Venus’s meddling and plotting also made him less culpable for Dido’s fate. Similarly, Marlowe’s Dido differs with an earthiness that makes her feel more human. I also liked how he expanded the characters of Iarbas and Anna, making room for two love triangles that wound up the tension further.
I didn’t find Marlowe’s poetry easy at first, but it got easier as I kept reading. I coudn't tell if this was down to the poetry sweeping along the romance, or the romance making the poetry speak to me. I also liked how Marlowe took big story ideas from Aeneid and just shrunk it down, sometimes to a few pen strokes.
I was informed in my background reading this is a comedy, I was definitely charmed by this play but I didn’t find it funny. Maybe I had missed something as the scenes with Venus and Juno bickering could have been played with comical affect. Or maybe I was blind to the comedy by the unfolding tragedy, when the ending came it was made sharper of what I had expected and yet it wasn’t. I can see myself reading this one again.
I didn’t find Marlowe’s poetry easy at first, but it got easier as I kept reading. I coudn't tell if this was down to the poetry sweeping along the romance, or the romance making the poetry speak to me. I also liked how Marlowe took big story ideas from Aeneid and just shrunk it down, sometimes to a few pen strokes.
I was informed in my background reading this is a comedy, I was definitely charmed by this play but I didn’t find it funny. Maybe I had missed something as the scenes with Venus and Juno bickering could have been played with comical affect. Or maybe I was blind to the comedy by the unfolding tragedy, when the ending came it was made sharper of what I had expected and yet it wasn’t. I can see myself reading this one again.
December 13, 2015
A Very Messy Love Triangle
12 May 2014
This is a rather scrappy play and from what I gathered, the Kit Marlowe's first. In the collection that I read it actually came last, though I am not inclined to believe that the order that the plays appeared in the book were the best to the worst (considering that they begun with Tamerline the Great). The play is based upon an episode in The Aeneid, though is more of a love triangle that has been created by the gods (as is typical with Greek and Roman drama, which appears that Kit is trying to emulate). As is typical of most love triangles (well, not the Hollywood ones, but this is hardly Hollywood) it all ends badly (with the exception of Aeneas, who goes on to found Rome).
I won't go much more into the play itself because while the setting and the story is interesting, it is not my favourite namely because of the dubiousness of its authenticity. In fact, I don't believe the episode actually happened. While I will go more into the reasoning when I get around to reading the Aeneid again, I will briefly explain. The reason that I believe the story (of Aeneas and Dido) is dubious is not just because the dating is completely out of sync, but because I do not actually believe that Aeneas is the founder of Rome. The reason that I say that is because as far as I am concerned the Aeneid is little more than a piece of propaganda that was commissioned by the emperor Augustus Ceaser to create a reason for the Roman's enmity against Greece, namely by making the founder of Rome a Trojan.
Aeneas actually appears in the Illiad, and according to Greek mythology he was one of the few survivors. After leaving Troy, he travels about the Mediterranean. During his adventures he travels to hell to discover his destiny, and then gets trapped in Carthage where he becomes embroiled in a love affair with Dido. Aeneas then manages to flee and as a result Dido kills herself. To me this sounds like a complete rip off of the Odyssey.
Dido, however, has some more solid historical background. She was originally from the Phonecian city of Tyre and was exiled after her brother assumed the throne. According to myth, she then travelled the Mediterranean and ended up in Africa. She was given the option of taking a portion of land for herself, but the catch was that she could only take enough that was covered by an oxhide. So she cut the oxhide into strips and encircled a hill, which became Carthage.
The other thing about the Roman version of the story is that it not only creates a reason as to why the Greeks and Romans were at odds (not that it mattered during the reign of Augustus because Greece was already a Roman province, which makes me suspect that the story is much older) but it also creates a reason as to why Carthage and Rome were enemies. The reason being is that Dido was a jilted lover and this memory was passed down to the Cartheginians who ended up becoming enemies of Rome. Obviously it does not actually account for the fact that both were empires that had come into conflict over a piece of land (Sicily) and ended up going to war over it, but it seems that even in the Ancient World governments would create stories to justify wars.
12 May 2014
This is a rather scrappy play and from what I gathered, the Kit Marlowe's first. In the collection that I read it actually came last, though I am not inclined to believe that the order that the plays appeared in the book were the best to the worst (considering that they begun with Tamerline the Great). The play is based upon an episode in The Aeneid, though is more of a love triangle that has been created by the gods (as is typical with Greek and Roman drama, which appears that Kit is trying to emulate). As is typical of most love triangles (well, not the Hollywood ones, but this is hardly Hollywood) it all ends badly (with the exception of Aeneas, who goes on to found Rome).
I won't go much more into the play itself because while the setting and the story is interesting, it is not my favourite namely because of the dubiousness of its authenticity. In fact, I don't believe the episode actually happened. While I will go more into the reasoning when I get around to reading the Aeneid again, I will briefly explain. The reason that I believe the story (of Aeneas and Dido) is dubious is not just because the dating is completely out of sync, but because I do not actually believe that Aeneas is the founder of Rome. The reason that I say that is because as far as I am concerned the Aeneid is little more than a piece of propaganda that was commissioned by the emperor Augustus Ceaser to create a reason for the Roman's enmity against Greece, namely by making the founder of Rome a Trojan.
Aeneas actually appears in the Illiad, and according to Greek mythology he was one of the few survivors. After leaving Troy, he travels about the Mediterranean. During his adventures he travels to hell to discover his destiny, and then gets trapped in Carthage where he becomes embroiled in a love affair with Dido. Aeneas then manages to flee and as a result Dido kills herself. To me this sounds like a complete rip off of the Odyssey.
Dido, however, has some more solid historical background. She was originally from the Phonecian city of Tyre and was exiled after her brother assumed the throne. According to myth, she then travelled the Mediterranean and ended up in Africa. She was given the option of taking a portion of land for herself, but the catch was that she could only take enough that was covered by an oxhide. So she cut the oxhide into strips and encircled a hill, which became Carthage.
The other thing about the Roman version of the story is that it not only creates a reason as to why the Greeks and Romans were at odds (not that it mattered during the reign of Augustus because Greece was already a Roman province, which makes me suspect that the story is much older) but it also creates a reason as to why Carthage and Rome were enemies. The reason being is that Dido was a jilted lover and this memory was passed down to the Cartheginians who ended up becoming enemies of Rome. Obviously it does not actually account for the fact that both were empires that had come into conflict over a piece of land (Sicily) and ended up going to war over it, but it seems that even in the Ancient World governments would create stories to justify wars.
December 4, 2016
Shakespeare dönemi oyun yazarlarından biri olan Christopher Marlowe'un "Kartaca Kraliçesi Dido / Dido, Queen of Carthage" oyunu Vergilius'un "Aeneid" destanındaki Aeneas ile Kraliçe Dido'nun aşkını konu alan heyecanlı ve okunması oldukça rahat bir tragedya. Hikayesi oldukça basit olması sebebiyle güçlü olmadığını düşündüğüm tragedyada normalde kibirli olarak resmedilen Aeneas'ın burada daha ölçülü tasvir edildiği göze çarpıyor. Sonu itibariyle Shakespeare'i andıran oyunun edebiyat tarihinin oldukça ünlü aşk hikayelerinden birini konu alması itibariyle özellikle Antik Yunan ve Roma edebiyatını okuyanlar için büyük önem taşıdığını belirtmek gerek.
28.11.2016
İstanbul, Türkiye
Alp Turgut
http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...
28.11.2016
İstanbul, Türkiye
Alp Turgut
http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...
March 8, 2017
Everyone talks about this play as if it were the ugly stepchild to Marlowe's other works, but they are wrong. It's glorious. Dido is Cleopatra, and Helena, and Rosalind all rolled into one, and it's a stunning work onstage.
Dido: O Anna, Anna, I will follow him.
Anna: How can you go when he hath all your fleet?
Dido: I'll frame me wings of wax like Icarus,
And o'er his ships will soar unto the Sun,
That they may melt, and I fall in his arms.
Dido: O Anna, Anna, I will follow him.
Anna: How can you go when he hath all your fleet?
Dido: I'll frame me wings of wax like Icarus,
And o'er his ships will soar unto the Sun,
That they may melt, and I fall in his arms.
August 2, 2020
Marlowe will always be my favourite dramatist of all times. His style captivates me from the first line in the play.
"Dido, the queene of Carthage" is not less important than "Dr Faustus" or "Tamburlaine".
The play reveals the affect of the renaissance age on Marlowe's writings
-First of all "Humanism",
Marlowe focused on the ambition of Aeneas as an individual, who wants to revenge for his dead father and return to Italy
-Wealth and Exploration:-
The Renaissance man desired wealth and worldly pleasures, when Dido convinced Aeneas to stay with her and not depart to Italy she offered him gold and honor to his men.
Aeneas started to plan for the new city he would build
"Triumph my mates, our travels are at end.
Here will Aeneas build a statelier Troy,"
"From golden India Ganges will I fetch,
Whose wealthy streams may wait upon her towers,"
"And triplewise entrench her round about:
The Sun from Egypt shall rich odors bring,
Wherewith his burning beams like laboring Bees,"
-The play is a concentrative dose of feelings, love, revenge, longing for home, and melancholy
Literary critics throughout the years have interpreted, questioned, and thoroughly deconstructed Christopher Marlowe's Dido, Queen of Carthage. They have sought to answer the following questions: Did Marlowe write it on his own? Was Virgil's Aeneid his only source material? Despite any lack of consensus about the answers to these queries, one thing is for sure: Marlowe retold the story with a certain extra twist of tragedy by adding a triple suicide.
"Dido, the queene of Carthage" is not less important than "Dr Faustus" or "Tamburlaine".
The play reveals the affect of the renaissance age on Marlowe's writings
-First of all "Humanism",
Marlowe focused on the ambition of Aeneas as an individual, who wants to revenge for his dead father and return to Italy
-Wealth and Exploration:-
The Renaissance man desired wealth and worldly pleasures, when Dido convinced Aeneas to stay with her and not depart to Italy she offered him gold and honor to his men.
Aeneas started to plan for the new city he would build
"Triumph my mates, our travels are at end.
Here will Aeneas build a statelier Troy,"
"From golden India Ganges will I fetch,
Whose wealthy streams may wait upon her towers,"
"And triplewise entrench her round about:
The Sun from Egypt shall rich odors bring,
Wherewith his burning beams like laboring Bees,"
-The play is a concentrative dose of feelings, love, revenge, longing for home, and melancholy
Literary critics throughout the years have interpreted, questioned, and thoroughly deconstructed Christopher Marlowe's Dido, Queen of Carthage. They have sought to answer the following questions: Did Marlowe write it on his own? Was Virgil's Aeneid his only source material? Despite any lack of consensus about the answers to these queries, one thing is for sure: Marlowe retold the story with a certain extra twist of tragedy by adding a triple suicide.
March 6, 2023
it's not vergil, but nothing is vergil. also there are way more parallels between this and shakespeare's antony and cleopatra than i expected. which is good for the-thing-i'm-writing reasons but also bad because i don't know how to make an argument about it yet
September 30, 2024
I wrote my final thesis for my English degree on this play, so I might be a bit biased (which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, Marlowe's intricate reworkings and commentary on Virgil's 'Aeneid' is a work to behold and easily worth 5 stars on analysis, but as a play I'd say 4 so that's what I'm going with).
Anyway, this play focuses on the Dido-episode from Virgil's Aeneid and follows Virgil quite closely (Marlowe has even translated some speeches directly from the Latin), nevertheless he has made some interesting and noticeable changes. The play for instance opens on a very weird scene with Jupiter and Ganymede which completely undermines any of the gods' gravitas. Anna also has a much bigger role, and Dido really is the main character (not Aeneas!). And there are many more small and big changes, which makes it a very interesting text to read!
The story itself is not very new and most of the plot is borrowed from Virgil, so there's not a lot of surprise there, although it still remains interesting.
Anyway, as I said I'm a bit (much) biased, but I'd definitely recommend this to anyone even slightly interested in Dido, Aeneas, the Aeneid or just an interesting play!
Anyway, this play focuses on the Dido-episode from Virgil's Aeneid and follows Virgil quite closely (Marlowe has even translated some speeches directly from the Latin), nevertheless he has made some interesting and noticeable changes. The play for instance opens on a very weird scene with Jupiter and Ganymede which completely undermines any of the gods' gravitas. Anna also has a much bigger role, and Dido really is the main character (not Aeneas!). And there are many more small and big changes, which makes it a very interesting text to read!
The story itself is not very new and most of the plot is borrowed from Virgil, so there's not a lot of surprise there, although it still remains interesting.
Anyway, as I said I'm a bit (much) biased, but I'd definitely recommend this to anyone even slightly interested in Dido, Aeneas, the Aeneid or just an interesting play!
May 14, 2025
And have not any couverture but heaven.
June 16, 2017
Esta es una de las primeras obras de Marlowe, la gran sombra de Shakespeare, un personaje tan poco conocido y misterioso.
El relato es ligero, particularmente me gusta por el tema pues es mitológico, habla de la relación de Eneas quien viene huyendo de Troya con la reina De Cartago Dido. Tiene un estilo muy inocente en cierto modo aunque en algunos parlamentos hay un poco de vehemencia, un poco de relación aparentemente hoosexual entre Júpiter y Ganimedesl un exceso de crueldad en alguna descripción que en general me hizo recordar las cosas que se dicen del autor.
Pero fuera de eso realmente la obra parece hecha para encantar al público inglés devoto de la época. Me gusto mucho la manera que Marlowe utiliza la historia para contar varios pasajes mitológicos con referencias sutiles y bien colocadas. Si parece haber ligeras deficiencias a la hora de armar la pieza teatral, cierto desorden que no le da una unidad sólida y los tiempos no parecen estar armoniosos.
Personalmente creo también que abuso un poco en seguir a la Eneida muy al pie de la letra, consideró que las adaptaciones de Racine por ejemplo son más profundas, pero el desenlace aunque un poco tonto sigue el objetivo inicial de la obra aunque no termine por convencer.
El relato es ligero, particularmente me gusta por el tema pues es mitológico, habla de la relación de Eneas quien viene huyendo de Troya con la reina De Cartago Dido. Tiene un estilo muy inocente en cierto modo aunque en algunos parlamentos hay un poco de vehemencia, un poco de relación aparentemente hoosexual entre Júpiter y Ganimedesl un exceso de crueldad en alguna descripción que en general me hizo recordar las cosas que se dicen del autor.
Pero fuera de eso realmente la obra parece hecha para encantar al público inglés devoto de la época. Me gusto mucho la manera que Marlowe utiliza la historia para contar varios pasajes mitológicos con referencias sutiles y bien colocadas. Si parece haber ligeras deficiencias a la hora de armar la pieza teatral, cierto desorden que no le da una unidad sólida y los tiempos no parecen estar armoniosos.
Personalmente creo también que abuso un poco en seguir a la Eneida muy al pie de la letra, consideró que las adaptaciones de Racine por ejemplo son más profundas, pero el desenlace aunque un poco tonto sigue el objetivo inicial de la obra aunque no termine por convencer.
October 20, 2020
Many of the reviews on here are giving this one a bad rap and I can't see I don't get why, but as uneven as DIDO is, I think there are some gems in there. Firstly, I think this play has a wonderful undercurrent of irony: romantic love is painted in the most ridiculous light possible, with all of the characters trapped in a conga line of unrequited desire. I understand the one reviewer who said they found the triple suicide at the end silly, but if viewed from the ironic perspective the play seems to take in regards to romantic love in general, it's rather fitting, especially since the more rational Anna also expires from repressed passion. No one is immune.
Dido's own love for Aeneas is both tragic and humorous. At one point, she claims that she will worship the very waves that brought his ship to Carthage and by extension to her. Like Faustus, she too claims that "eternity" lies in the body of her beloved rather than in any finer spiritual concept or being-- and considering that the gods are presented as just as irrational and earthy when it comes to love as the mortals are, that might be, once again, part of Marlowe's ironic treatment of his source material.
Dido's own love for Aeneas is both tragic and humorous. At one point, she claims that she will worship the very waves that brought his ship to Carthage and by extension to her. Like Faustus, she too claims that "eternity" lies in the body of her beloved rather than in any finer spiritual concept or being-- and considering that the gods are presented as just as irrational and earthy when it comes to love as the mortals are, that might be, once again, part of Marlowe's ironic treatment of his source material.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 3, 2024
mvito diuertido
March 4, 2013
I enjoyed reading this, because I am interested in the story of Dido and Aeneas. If you already know the story, it really helps. He does change it somewhat from Virgil's version. But I liked seeing how he added his own twists to the story.
It is a little bit of a tough read, b/c it is in his original text--words do not have our modern spelling, "u"s are "v"s. I liked that the text was completely unchanged, but it did make it slow going.
All and all, if you like Marlowe or are interested in Dido/Aeneas story, you will enjoy this play.
It is a little bit of a tough read, b/c it is in his original text--words do not have our modern spelling, "u"s are "v"s. I liked that the text was completely unchanged, but it did make it slow going.
All and all, if you like Marlowe or are interested in Dido/Aeneas story, you will enjoy this play.
August 23, 2016
Dipnotlar bir süre sonra yorucu oluyor. Konu ya işlenirken kafada dağılıyor ya da dağınık olarak geliyor. İçine girip, olayları kendi içimizde yaşayarak okuduğumuz tiyatro eserlerinden değildi benim için.
March 6, 2020
3.5/5 stars, rounded up to 4 on Goodreads
Dido, Queen of Carthage is the second Christopher Marlowe play I've read for uni. I expected it to be somewhat difficult to read, because it's Elizabethan and not Shakespeare, and it was. What I didn't expect is that I would enjoy reading it so damn much. It's fun and entertaining and ridiculous and over-the-top and grounded and human and it feels tragic and decidedly-not-tragic and it feels contemporary and relatable (though that isn't really the right word) and melodramatic all at once. I'm looking forward to studying this, and I'm hoping that that experience might result in me (raising my rating and) not being left with the lingering feelings that this play is structurally a bit messy and/or that I missed some small-but-significant detail(s), as I kind of am now.
Dido, Queen of Carthage is the second Christopher Marlowe play I've read for uni. I expected it to be somewhat difficult to read, because it's Elizabethan and not Shakespeare, and it was. What I didn't expect is that I would enjoy reading it so damn much. It's fun and entertaining and ridiculous and over-the-top and grounded and human and it feels tragic and decidedly-not-tragic and it feels contemporary and relatable (though that isn't really the right word) and melodramatic all at once. I'm looking forward to studying this, and I'm hoping that that experience might result in me (raising my rating and) not being left with the lingering feelings that this play is structurally a bit messy and/or that I missed some small-but-significant detail(s), as I kind of am now.
March 23, 2021
Wer die Aeneis von Virgil gelesen hat kennt die Geschichte dieses Theaterstücks. Es behandelt eines der Bücher der Aeneis: Aeneas landet mit seinen Leuten im Königkreich von Dido. Die verliebt sich in ihn, er liebt sie auch, aber Jupiter und die Götter intervenieren und verlangen, dass er seine Pflicht erfüllt. Römische Tugend eben: Pflicht vor Liebe. Die Handlung ist 1:1 übernommen worden, soweit ich mich noch an meine Aeneis Lektüre erinnere.
Marlowe geht sogar so weit wortwörtlich auf Latein aus der Aeneis zu zitieren.
Sprachlich kein Vergleich mit Shakespeare. Viel einfacher zu lesen und weniger pretentiös mit Worten. Kaum ein Wort, das man nicht kennen würde. Es wird aber einiges an Vorwissen der römischen Mythologie und Geschichte vorausgesetzt. Im Prinzip ein Bildungstheaterstück, dass zumindest eines der Bücher der Aeneis unter das normale Volk bringt.
Marlowe geht sogar so weit wortwörtlich auf Latein aus der Aeneis zu zitieren.
Sprachlich kein Vergleich mit Shakespeare. Viel einfacher zu lesen und weniger pretentiös mit Worten. Kaum ein Wort, das man nicht kennen würde. Es wird aber einiges an Vorwissen der römischen Mythologie und Geschichte vorausgesetzt. Im Prinzip ein Bildungstheaterstück, dass zumindest eines der Bücher der Aeneis unter das normale Volk bringt.
September 3, 2022
Marlowe getting a commission from a boys' company - Children of St Paul's - presumably on the basis of the huge hits of his first plays, Tamburlaine 1&2 and Dr Faustus. This is in very different mode, drawing heavily on Virgil and with a cast of Trojans, Roan deities and Carthaginians, some with scarily/impressively long speeches. Clearly for a different audience, though deliberate echoes of his earlier plays suggest that his name and fame were attracting the elite to both forms of theatre.
March 12, 2020
I am a big fan of everything Christopher Marlowe and The Tragedy of Dido Queene of Carthage is no exception.
October 6, 2021
Achates though mine eyes say this is stone,
Yet thinkes my minde that this is Priamus,
And when my grieved heart sighes and sayes no,
Then would it leape out to give Priam life.
Yet thinkes my minde that this is Priamus,
And when my grieved heart sighes and sayes no,
Then would it leape out to give Priam life.
August 15, 2024
respectfully my guy marlowe what the fuck was that ending
July 19, 2019
Sorta fun. Kinda.
This play isn't very long, and reads pretty easy, especially if you get an annotated version. The mythological references would fly over my head without help, and probably most people--they aren't the easy ones, I mean--but the action is straightforward and comprehensible. Some of the joy is checking off another bit of classical literature that I was pretty sure I would never get to. Proved ya wrong.
Reading blank verse doesn't make an impression on me the way it should; it doesn't really sound like anything in my head, though I do suspect I'd enjoy it more performed, as intended. And yet I always find Marlowe's language sparkling and inventive, whether spoken aloud or read silently, and I recommend his writing at least for that reason.
Not for verisimilitude. Not much of that around here. To be fair, I didn't see it staged 400 years ago; the sets and props and costumes might have been awesome. I doubt it, though.
Like pretty much all British literature of the Renaissance and afterwards (plays and operas in particular, I mean), every nation on earth looks like England; every fighting man is a knight in armor; every court reads like Henry VIII's or Elizabeth I's; every love story is western. All culture is flattened to Elizabethan culture, as if nothing ever changes, language isn't a thing, and distance makes no difference.
It's a little like Star Trek TOS--they speak English everywhere, on every planet, and everything looks pretty familiar.
Imagine, though, if this play had been written by a Punic-speaking Carthaginian. Imagine how different the setting would have appeared. Instead of an Englishman's conception of a Roman's conception of a Phoenician colony, we would see the actual place; we'd hear the voices of the people; we'd experience their actual culture and norms; we'd experience 8th Century BCE Carthage. Or even if, say, a 3rd Century BCE Carthaginian could write about these events that made up his or her heritage from 500 years before we would still be miles better than what we have here.
Virgil got (just about) everything wrong in the Aeneid, and Marlowe didn't make the slightest effort (as far as I can see) to give any historical accuracy to his account. Carthage seems like Sussex, not North Africa. But, of course, it's a play, for fun, and it's written for an English audience that knew less than Marlowe about an ancient city called Carthage. They wouldn't have cared about historical accuracy. Or if they did care, they couldn't do anything about it. *Just watch the play, man! We can argue about his cultural appropriation at the pub! Watch. Scantily clad women. Poetry. Pageantry. Shhh!
So, here's the thing: for them to have any account of Carthage at all, it had to come from Marlowe, as ill-equipped as he was. Nobody else was gonna do it.
In fact, generally speaking, for an English audience of that time to enjoy a story taking place almost anywhere in the world, it needed another Englishman to write it, whether or not the author knew what he was talking about. Yes, a reader could get other European literature in the original, and some in translation, but almost nothing from anywhere else. Asia? Africa? The New World? Some religious literature, and a fair amount of literature (history, philosophy, science) from the Arab world, but little of any of that was popularly available. (I'm making sweeping generalizations to make a point. Hang with me.)
It is no longer that way. We don't have to have an uninformed Westerner's version of stories set in exotic locales. We live in a time when we can read literature from all over the world. You want an idea of life in North Africa now? There are novels in English and French and Arabic and other languages that will give you an excellent idea. Not my idea, or Marlowe's, or Virgil's. These are novels coming straight from someone who has lived there or grew up in that tradition.
English language fantasy set in Ancient China or India or West Africa? There are bunches of fantasy writers from those nations, and from the diaspora of those nations, writing in English (and other languages, of course) who can supply satisfying stories with much greater accuracy, stories that make an effort to capture the true flavor of a place. We learn about the people and culture and norms and quirks and fascinating details from writers who have lived in those societies, writers who grew up learning about those traditions, from sources who can write with authority about settings and cultures that a Western audience can only guess at or acquire through loooong study.
I'm not talking about the ethical or moral implications of writing in a culture not your own; I'm not judging or excluding or making a case one way or another. Different conversation, one I'm not good at. I'm just saying that we're lucky to have a chance in this century to enjoy the charm and the beauty of well written stories taking place in settings all over the world, written by people who know about those places. People who can do the things that Renaissance writers were really bad at. (Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors takes in the Greek city of Ephesus in Turkey. If you read or watch that play, do you feel like you've learned anything about historical Ephesus at all? I doubt it. It's just meant to be a funny play. Set it in Vancouver--same story.)
In 2019, Marlowe is no longer the right person to write about the queen of a North African city founded by a Semitic people. Not only is he not good at it, he would offend a bunch of people. In the 16th Century, he was the only choice. He was as good as it was going to get.
We're fortunate to have better options.
*Would Marlowe be amused by my anachronisms? Would he see the irony? :)
This play isn't very long, and reads pretty easy, especially if you get an annotated version. The mythological references would fly over my head without help, and probably most people--they aren't the easy ones, I mean--but the action is straightforward and comprehensible. Some of the joy is checking off another bit of classical literature that I was pretty sure I would never get to. Proved ya wrong.
Reading blank verse doesn't make an impression on me the way it should; it doesn't really sound like anything in my head, though I do suspect I'd enjoy it more performed, as intended. And yet I always find Marlowe's language sparkling and inventive, whether spoken aloud or read silently, and I recommend his writing at least for that reason.
Not for verisimilitude. Not much of that around here. To be fair, I didn't see it staged 400 years ago; the sets and props and costumes might have been awesome. I doubt it, though.
Like pretty much all British literature of the Renaissance and afterwards (plays and operas in particular, I mean), every nation on earth looks like England; every fighting man is a knight in armor; every court reads like Henry VIII's or Elizabeth I's; every love story is western. All culture is flattened to Elizabethan culture, as if nothing ever changes, language isn't a thing, and distance makes no difference.
It's a little like Star Trek TOS--they speak English everywhere, on every planet, and everything looks pretty familiar.
Imagine, though, if this play had been written by a Punic-speaking Carthaginian. Imagine how different the setting would have appeared. Instead of an Englishman's conception of a Roman's conception of a Phoenician colony, we would see the actual place; we'd hear the voices of the people; we'd experience their actual culture and norms; we'd experience 8th Century BCE Carthage. Or even if, say, a 3rd Century BCE Carthaginian could write about these events that made up his or her heritage from 500 years before we would still be miles better than what we have here.
Virgil got (just about) everything wrong in the Aeneid, and Marlowe didn't make the slightest effort (as far as I can see) to give any historical accuracy to his account. Carthage seems like Sussex, not North Africa. But, of course, it's a play, for fun, and it's written for an English audience that knew less than Marlowe about an ancient city called Carthage. They wouldn't have cared about historical accuracy. Or if they did care, they couldn't do anything about it. *Just watch the play, man! We can argue about his cultural appropriation at the pub! Watch. Scantily clad women. Poetry. Pageantry. Shhh!
So, here's the thing: for them to have any account of Carthage at all, it had to come from Marlowe, as ill-equipped as he was. Nobody else was gonna do it.
In fact, generally speaking, for an English audience of that time to enjoy a story taking place almost anywhere in the world, it needed another Englishman to write it, whether or not the author knew what he was talking about. Yes, a reader could get other European literature in the original, and some in translation, but almost nothing from anywhere else. Asia? Africa? The New World? Some religious literature, and a fair amount of literature (history, philosophy, science) from the Arab world, but little of any of that was popularly available. (I'm making sweeping generalizations to make a point. Hang with me.)
It is no longer that way. We don't have to have an uninformed Westerner's version of stories set in exotic locales. We live in a time when we can read literature from all over the world. You want an idea of life in North Africa now? There are novels in English and French and Arabic and other languages that will give you an excellent idea. Not my idea, or Marlowe's, or Virgil's. These are novels coming straight from someone who has lived there or grew up in that tradition.
English language fantasy set in Ancient China or India or West Africa? There are bunches of fantasy writers from those nations, and from the diaspora of those nations, writing in English (and other languages, of course) who can supply satisfying stories with much greater accuracy, stories that make an effort to capture the true flavor of a place. We learn about the people and culture and norms and quirks and fascinating details from writers who have lived in those societies, writers who grew up learning about those traditions, from sources who can write with authority about settings and cultures that a Western audience can only guess at or acquire through loooong study.
I'm not talking about the ethical or moral implications of writing in a culture not your own; I'm not judging or excluding or making a case one way or another. Different conversation, one I'm not good at. I'm just saying that we're lucky to have a chance in this century to enjoy the charm and the beauty of well written stories taking place in settings all over the world, written by people who know about those places. People who can do the things that Renaissance writers were really bad at. (Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors takes in the Greek city of Ephesus in Turkey. If you read or watch that play, do you feel like you've learned anything about historical Ephesus at all? I doubt it. It's just meant to be a funny play. Set it in Vancouver--same story.)
In 2019, Marlowe is no longer the right person to write about the queen of a North African city founded by a Semitic people. Not only is he not good at it, he would offend a bunch of people. In the 16th Century, he was the only choice. He was as good as it was going to get.
We're fortunate to have better options.
*Would Marlowe be amused by my anachronisms? Would he see the irony? :)
September 17, 2012
Ok, this is the first Christopher Marlowe play I have read so i can't relate it to his later (and more famous) works. So this is a stand alone review. First of all I think most people will admit this is no Shakespeare. There are hardly any quotable lines or moments of poetry. This is a pretty simple straight forward work. Second, I will admit that I don't know much about Greek mythology and many of the refrences were lost on me. But I did get into the story of Dido and her love for the Greek hero and his desire to leave and learned a lot about that particular story of Carthage. I think this was a good introduction to Mr Marlowe and can't wait to read further in this cannon.
February 16, 2011
Dido is a dodo for the way she carries on in this minor Marlowe (and maybe Nashe). Is the play an example of love turned tragic, or as some think, an ironic subversion of this theme? I’m going against consensus and declaring it a comedy. Written for a company of young boys, the intensity of emotion and sexual declarations these children could not have understood seem funny ha-ha to me. Maybe first audiences would not have scanned the play that way, but I can’t help but wonder. There is some lovely language.
January 19, 2023
“Sometime I was a Trojan, mighty queen,
But Troy is not: what shall I say I am?”
Marlowe tackles identity and agency so well in such a short play, one of my faves. The tragic figure of Dido, another woman who falls victim to the whims of the gods, hits particularly hard because of her haughtiness and self assured way of speaking. She is queen of Carthage, her birthright is that of kings just as Æneas’ but the narrative treats her w significantly less respect.
“If he forsake me not, I never die;
For in his looks I see eternity,
And he’ll make me immortal with a kiss”
But Troy is not: what shall I say I am?”
Marlowe tackles identity and agency so well in such a short play, one of my faves. The tragic figure of Dido, another woman who falls victim to the whims of the gods, hits particularly hard because of her haughtiness and self assured way of speaking. She is queen of Carthage, her birthright is that of kings just as Æneas’ but the narrative treats her w significantly less respect.
“If he forsake me not, I never die;
For in his looks I see eternity,
And he’ll make me immortal with a kiss”
March 15, 2015
Dire che è una sorta di noia mortale sarebbe più o meno descrivere tutto quello che ho provato leggendo questa tragedia. Conoscendo l'autore mi aspettavo una cosa un po' più commerciale, e quindi godibile, ma evidentemente non è così, spero nelle altre produzioni dell'autore.
August 3, 2018
Okuduğum en güzel oyunlardı. Dido'nun dramatik sonunun peşine mutlaka Henry Purcell - Dido's Lament aryasını dinlemelisiniz.
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