New Mermaid Anthology
3 total works
Unlike Marlowe's earlier dramas, "Edward II" is a play without a starring role. Instead of the splendid rhetoric of "Tamburlaine" and "The Jew of Malta" comes realistic dialogue and a complex plot telling of the fall of Edward II and the rise and demise of his rival, Mortimer. As the action unfolds, the audience's allegiances switch from character to character. Edward's infatuation with his favourites, neglect of his kingdom and his queen are delicately offset against his genuine love for Gaveston. Mortimer's initial motives of usurping Edward are corrupted by self-interest that rightly earns him the title of 'traitor'. Though Marlowe treats the historical facts 'imaginatively', he achieves his end of emotional authenticity in Edward II.
Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), a man of extreme passions and a playwright of immense talent, is the most important of Shakespeare's contempories. This edition offers his five major plays, which show the radicalism and vitality of his writing in the few years before his violent death. Tamburlaine Part One and Part Two deal with the rise to world prominence of the great Scythian shepherd-robber; The Jew of Malta is a drama of villainy and revenge; Edward II was to influence Shakespeare's Richard II . Doctor Faustus , perhaps the first drama taken from the medieval legend of a man who sells his soul to the devil, is here in both its A- and its B- text, showing the enormous and fascinating differences between the two. Under the General Editorship of Dr Michael Cordner of the University of York, the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. In addition, there is a scholarly introduction and detailed annotation. This book is intended for students of English Literature, sixteenth- and seventeenth-century drama, from sixth-form to postgraduate level.
In this classic and much-loved edition of Marlowe's best-known play, John D. Jump provides the reader with a wealth of introductory and explanatory material. As well as a fascinating chronology of Marlowe's life and works and extensive notes on the text, this edition includes a substantial and authoritative historical introduction to the play. An essential text whether studying the play in detail or coming to it for the first time.