The Cambridge Companion to Christopher Marlowe

Book excerpt: The Cambridge Companion to Christopher Marlowe provides a full introduction to one of the great pioneers of both the Elizabethan stage and modern English poetry. It recalls that Marlowe was an inventor of the English history play (Edward II) and of Ovidian narrative verse (Hero and Leander), as well as being author of such masterpieces of tragedy and lyric as Doctor Faustus and 'The Passionate Shepherd to His Love'. Sixteen leading scholars provide accessible and authoritative chapters on Marlowe's life, texts, style, politics, religion, and classicism. The volume also considers his literary and patronage relationships and his representations of sexuality and gender and of geography and identity; his presence in modern film and theatre; and finally his influence on subsequent writers. The Companion includes a chronology of Marlowe's life, a note on reference works, and a reading list for each chapter.