Christopher Marlowe: A Renaissance Life

by Constance Brown Kuriyama

Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593) emerges in most accounts of his life by biographers and critics as a mysterious and sensational action figure, a hapless pawn of circumstance, or a pseudonymous cipher. Constance Brown Kuriyama's new biography reconstructs the eventful life of a radically innovative playwright who flourished briefly and died violently more than four hundred years ago, yet persists in the romantic imagination even today. Many discoveries about Marlowe's life have emerged over the past hundred years. The author here supplements these findings with new material, placing the dramatist and poet more precisely in his historical milieu. Kuriyama interprets Marlowe's acts of violence―inexplicable though they may seem―as logical consequences of the circumstances he faced. Experience and temperament both accounted for the characteristically brash way he moved through the world. The stringent constraints of Elizabethan society, which encouraged intense political and religious conflicts, had a great influence on Marlowe's thinking, while his ambitions were stirred by the period's unprecedented opportunities for talented individuals to rise in society. The documentary evidence assembled by Kuriyama―and made available to readers―allows her to show how Marlowe was able to take advantage of Elizabethan social mobility. In the context of Elizabethan education, society, and culture, Marlowe becomes a fully human, three-dimensional figure.

Genres: Biography, History

280 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2002

Reviews

[E.A. Bucchianeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and level-headed is how I would describe the style of presentation in this wonderful biography about the famous Elizabethan playwright, Christopher Marlowe. Kuriyama succeeds in giving us a more objective account of his life and experiences, unlike other modern publications that tend to over-exaggerate the accusation made by one of his acquaintances that he had a `cruel heart'. The author concentrates on portraying the real man through concrete documentation and sound theories. If you are unfamiliar with Marlowe's life and times, I would certainly recommend this book to you first to keep your feet on the ground before delving into other publications that have offered some strange speculations, such as the notion Marlowe faked his own death, or have veered off into a confusing tangle of espionage history to speculate on the nature of his employment within the Elizabethan secret service. Kuriyama's text is a breath of fresh air.

This book includes an easy to follow chronology of Marlowe's life and career, an excellent 67 page appendix featuring a reprint of every extant first-hand document relating to the playwright and his close acquaintances, a number of illustrations, and an index. A must-have for every Marlowe devotee.

E.A. Bucchianeri, author of "Faust: My Soul be Damned for the World"

[Barry Wightman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit of research here. A wonderful Marlovian source book, scholarly, beautifully written. Atmospheric late 16th century England, life and times.