Christopher Marlowe: (The University Wits)

In uncovering the origin of the designation 'University Wits', Bob Logan examines the characteristics of the Wits and their influence on the course of Elizabethan drama. For the first time, Christopher Marlowe is placed in the context of the six University Wits, where his reputation stands out as the most prominent, and the impact of his university education on his works is clarified. The essays selected for reprinting assess the most significant scholarship written about Marlowe, including biographical studies, challenges to familiar assumptions about the poet/playwright and his works, compositions on groupings of his works, on individual works, and on subjects particular to Marlowe. Unique in its perspective and in the collection of essays, this book will interest all students and scholars of Renaissance poetry, drama, and specialized cultural contexts.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction; Part I Biography of Marlowe: Marlowe's Life and Career: Chronology and Introduction, Constance B. Kuriyama; Christopher Marlowe, Matthew N. Proser. Part II Initiating Controversy: Challenges to Familiar Assumptions about Marlowe: Christopher Marlowe, T.S. Eliot; Biography, mythography, and criticism: the life and works of Christopher Marlowe, Lukas Erne; 'Writ in blood': Marlowe and the new historicists, Richard Wilson. Part III Essays on More Than a Single Work: Marlowe and the 'comic distance', J.R. Mulryne and S. Fender; Marlowe and the will to absolute play, Stephen Greenblatt. Part IV Essays on Individual Works: Dido, Queen of Carthage: Errant Eros: transgressions of sex, gender, and desire in 'Dido, Queene of Carthage', Sarah Munson Deats; Tamburlaine, 1 & 2: The structure of 'Tamburlaine', Clifford Leech; The contemporary perception of Marlowe's Tamburlaine, Richard Levin; Dr Faustus: 'The forme of Faustus fortunes good or bad', C.L. Barber; Marlowe and God, David Bevington; The Jew of Malta: Innocent Barabas, Alfred Harbage; Marlowe as experimental dramatist: the role of the audience in 'The Jew of Malta', Edward L. Rocklin; The Massacre at Paris: Mirrors for foolish princes, Judith Weil; 'The Massacre at Paris': Marlowe's messy consensus narrative, Rick Bowers; Edward II: History without morality: Edward II, Wilbur Sanders; The eye of the beholder, Stephen Orgel; Hero and Leander: Marlowe, 'Hero and Lander', and the art of leaping in poetry, Jane Adamson; Marlowe's Other Poetry: 'On the Death of Sir Roger Manwood', Ovid's Elegies 'The Passionate Shepherd', Hero and Leander, and Lucan's First Book: Marlowe's poems and classicism, Georgia E. Brown. Part V Essays on Particularized Interests: Marlowe's boy actors, Evelyn Tribble; Marlowe reruns: repertorial commerce and Marlowe's plays in revival, Roslyn L. Knutson; Name Index.

About the Author :
Robert A. Logan is Professor of English at the University of Hartford, USA

Review :
'..a particularly careful selection... this work is an excellent Marlowe resource for academic libraries and Marlowe enthusiasts.’ Reference Reviews 'While most obviously beneficial as an introduction to the field or a contextualization of the masses of criticism that abound on its subject, this volume also has much to offer the seasoned veteran of early modern scholarship.' Sixteenth Century Journal