Assignment 5 : Dramatic Style of Christopher Marlowe : 22396 Paper 105 A : History of English Literature – From 1350 to 1900

 A Brief Introduction to Christopher Marlowe :

Christopher Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564 – 30 May 1593) was an English playwright, poet and translator of theElizabethan era. Marlowe was the foremost Elizabethan tragedian of his day. He greatly influenced William Shakespeare, who was born in the same year as Marlowe and who rose to become the pre-eminent Elizabethan playwright after Marlowe’s mysterious early death. Marlowe’s plays are known for the use of blank verse and their overreaching protagonists.

A warrant was issued for Marlowe’s arrest on 18 May 1593. No reason was given for it, though it was thought to be connected to allegations of blasphemy—a manuscript believed to have been written by Marlowe was said to contain “vile heretical conceipts.” On 20 May he was brought to the court to attend upon the Privy Council for questioning. There is no record of their having met that day, however, and he was commanded to attend upon them each day thereafter until “licensed to the contrary.” Ten days later, he was stabbed to death by Ingram Frizer. Whether the stabbing was connected to his arrest has never been resolved.

Of the dramas attributed to Marlowe, Dido, Queen of Carthage is believed to have been his first. It was performed by the Children of the Chapel, a company of boy actors, between 1587 and 1593. The play was first published in 1594; the title page attributes the play to Marlowe and Thomas Nashe.

Marlowe’s first play performed on the regular stage in London, in 1587, was Tamburlaine the Great, about the conqueror Tamburlaine, who rises from shepherd to war-lord. It is among the first English plays in blank verse, and, with Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, generally is considered the beginning of the mature phase of the Elizabethan theatre. Tamburlaine was a success, and was followed with Tamburlaine the Great, Part II.

The two parts of Tamburlaine were published in 1590; all Marlowe’s other works were published posthumously. The sequence of the writing of his other four plays is unknown; all deal with controversial themes.

His Contribution in English Drama :

Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe holds the position as a transistor dramatist who changed the course of traditional religious drama to the artistic approach of universality along with addition of his own genius.

Marlowe's literary works have been noted as humanistic with realistic emotions, which some scholars find difficult to reconcile with Marlowe's "anti-intellectualism" and his catering to the prurient tastes of his Elizabethan audiences for generous displays of extreme physical violence, cruelty, and bloodshed.

We can categorize his contribution in four major areas :

1. Subject Matter
2. Character
3. Blank Verse
4. Unity of Drama

(1) Subject Matter :

He raised he subject matter of the drama to a higher level.He provided big heroic subjects that appealed to the imagination. Tamburlaine - a world conqueror; Faust in pursuit of universal knowledge; Barabas with fabulous dreams of wealth; Edward II with his mingling nobility and worthless sounding that heights and depths of human nature.

His subjects were: the insatiable spirit of adventure; the master passions of love and hate; ideals of beauty; the greatness and littleness of human life.

(2) Characters :

He gave life and reality to his characters. They were no longer puppets pulled by a string; but living and breathing realities.

One can feel the fierce exaltation of the conqueror, Tamburlaine; the vibrant passion and rapturous longing of Faust; the fierce selfishness of his Barabas.

(3) Blank Verse :

He took the blank verse of the classical school, hard and unflinching as a rock, and struck it with his rod till the waters of human emotion gushed forth.

The old rhyming lines of Romantic drama he put aside; blank verse had little grip, when he took it in hand, but he fathomed its immense possibilities, and saw how it could be made the expression of the finest wit or the most delicate fancy.

(4) Unity of Drama :

He gave a unity to the drama, hitherto lacking.

Plays before has been formless: a succession of isolated scenes often with no proper connecting link.

And although, compared with Shakespeare, the work of Marlowe seems often turgid and unwieldy, yet it shows quite sufficient promise to show Us indebtedness. the extent of Shakespeare's indebtedness.

Christopher Marlowe's Writing Style :

Christopher Marlowe is one of the leading dramatists of the 16th Century Elizabethan period. Marlowe is considered as an indirect rival of William Shakespeare. Had Marlowe not died at such a young age, there would be two outstanding dramatists in the Elizabethan era. 

It is also said that if there were no Marlowe, there would be no Shakespeare. The writing style that William Shakespeare used in his plays was borrowed from Christopher Marlowe. In the very short span of his life, Marlowe had written dramas that are still considered as one of the best dramas of the English literature. Marlowe was a genius who completed his education by the scholarship provided by the university.

At a very young age, his name was added to the greatest dramatists. Dr. Faustus, Tamburlaine, and the Jew of Malta are among his prominent plays. Because of the influencing style of Tamburlaine, the play went highly successful on stage. Marlowe, then, also wrote the second part of the drama. Some of the main characteristics of the writing style of Marlowe are the following.

The technique of blank verse is pioneered by Christopher Marlowe. Though this technique had been free in the writing style by his successors, even after his death, he was the one who created a new style in the shape of blank verse. The technique of blank verse became prominent in his time. The prominent and well-known writer, including Shakespeare, employed Marlowe’s technique of blank verse in their works.

Marlowe’s play, Dr. Faustus, is the best example in which Marlowe employed the poetic concept of blank verse. The credit of poetic excellence is gained by Christopher Marlowe as he invented the new style of blank verse in poetry, which is used by the writers to present date.

Moreover, the tragedies written before Marlowe could not succeed in theatre as they were translations from the Italian language. Marlowe not only created but also structured the new style of writing tragic plays. His use of lyrical fitness, short dialogues, and the presence of actions made his tragedies very successful.

Reformation in Themes & Language :

When the first play of Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine, was staged, it announced the revolt against the conventional theme and language of his time. In the prologues of the plays, Marlowe proclaims his bold reforms

“From jigging veins of rhyming mother-wits,

 And such conceits as clownage keeps in pay,

We’ll lead you to the stately tents of war,

Where you shall hear the Scythian Tamburlaine

Threatening the world with high astounding terms.”

In simple language, these reforms are made in subject matter and versification. In language, he introduced the form of blank verse. Whereas in subject matter, Marlowe replaced the themes displaying weak sentiment, by the name of comedy with the themes of high feelings and bursting passion.

Marlowe's Tragedy :

The tragedies written by Christopher Marlowe have a separate fan base. Marlowe did not adhere to the rules set by Aristotle in tragedies and redefined the style and form of tragedies. He underrated the three unities of time, place, and action. He showed that these unities are not important for the plays. He abandoned the notion of space and time in tragedies.

His Art of Characterization :

Marlowe focused on the inner conflict of characters than the outer conflict. Even though his characters, like other tragic characters, had flaws, their conflict is not with the world of gods but with their inner self. For example, in the play, Dr. Faustus, the ambitions of Dr. Faustus, to gain unlimited knowledge, power, and luxuries of life are the main reason for his downfall. Similarly, in the play Tamburlaine the Great, the ambitions of Timur to gain power caused his fate doomed forever.

Elements of Renaissance :

In the play of Christopher Marlowe, the elements of the renaissance are abundant. Marlowe is known as the poet of the Renaissance period. If his plays are read thoroughly, it appears that it is greatly influenced by renaissance. Development in life and revival of learning were the features of renaissance in England and Italy. Christopher Marlowe also added these features in his dramas. His play, Dr. Faustus contains a lot of elements of renaissance. For example, in order to satisfy his lust for power and knowledge, Dr. Faustus takes aid from black magic.

Conclusion : To conclude, the unique characteristics of Christopher do not degrade him; however, he marks his writing style different from the common writers of his time. He is also in the list of university wits that restructured the Elizabethan theatre, and therefore increased the interest of people for watching plays.

His writing is also influenced by renaissance. Marlowe has a great influence on many writers, including Shakespeare. The writing style of many writers resembles that of Marlowe’s. Instead of showing the conflict of characters with the external world and gods, Marlowe portrays his characters having inner conflict: the conflict inside the mind and heart. 

Thank you!

Reference :

https://litpriest.com/authors/christopher-marlowe/

https://nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/era/contemporaries/christopher-marlowe-playwright/

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