History Play - Marlowe Lives?

Rodney Bolt's book is not an attempt to prove that, rather than dying at 29 in a tavern brawl, Christopher Marlowe staged his own death, fled to Europe, and went on to write the work attributed to Shakespeare. Instead, it takes that as the starting point for a playful and brilliantly written "fake biography" of Marlowe, which turns out to be a life of the Bard as well. 

Using real historical sources (as well as the occasional red herring) plus a generous dose of speculation, Bolt paints a rich and rollicking picture of Elizabethan life. As we accompany Marlowe into the halls of academia, the society of the popular English players traveling Europe, and the dangerous underworld of Elizabethan espionage, a fascinating and almost plausible life story emerges, along with a startlingly fresh look at the plays and poetry we know as Shakespeare's. 

Tapping into centuries of speculation about the man behind the work, about whom so few facts are known for sure, Rodney Bolt slyly winds the lives of two beloved playwrights into one.

A Fine Madness by Alan Judd

A captivating espionage novel that explores the life of theatrical genius—and spy—Christopher Marlowe, whose violent death remains one of the most fascinating mysteries of the Elizabethan Age.

In Elizabethan England, the queen’s chief spymaster, Francis Walsingham, and his team of agents must maintain the highest levels of vigilance to ward off Catholic plots and an ever-present threat of invasion from Spain.

One agent in particular—a young Cambridge undergraduate of humble origins, controversial beliefs, and literary genius who goes by the name of Kit Marlowe—is relentless in his pursuit of intelligence for the Crown. When he is killed outside an inn in Deptford, his mysterious death becomes the subject of rumor and suspicion that are never satisfactorily resolved.

Years later, when Thomas Phelippes, a former colleague of Marlowe’s, finds himself imprisoned in the Tower of London, there is one thing that might give him his freedom back. He must give the king every detail he is able to recall about his murdered friend’s life—and death. But why is King James so fascinated about Kit Marlowe—and does Phelippes know enough to secure his own redemption?

Review: Kit Marlowe series by MJ Trow

Kit (Christopher) Marlowe, Elizabethan playwright, intelligencer for Queen Elizabeth I, man-about-town.  In this series, MJ Trow has Marlowe in the role of investigator, commencing from this days at Cambridge right up until the final reckoning.

Elizabethan England:

In short, this period in history has been referred to as the golden age. There was the stability of a reigning monarch which contributed to economic prosperity and empirical expansion and also saw the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the flourishing of the arts, especially the theatre. 

In Elizabethan England, the "theatre became a place where people went to see, not dramatised lectures on good behaviour, but a reflection of their own spirit and day-to-day interests. They wanted to laugh and to cry – to be moved, not by divine reflection, but by human beings doing good and bad things just as they did – loving and murdering, stealing, cheating, acting sacrificially, getting into trouble and behaving nobly: in short, being human like themselves." (source: No Sweat Shakespeare).  In public or in private, these plays also provided an opportunity for a carefully crafted piece of pseudo-political propaganda - which could find an unlucky playwright secreted in the Tower.

With this series, what we get is an entree into this world of Elizabethan  theatre and the notable playwrights of the day which include one fledgling Will Shaxsper (aka Shakespeare), Robert Greene, Thomas Kyd,and Ben Johnson.  We also get a look behind the scenes at the goings-on at the various theatres including The Rose.

However, there was a darker side to Elizabethan England in that religious persecution was rife, and plots, conspiracies and rebellions against the crown were frequent. Under Sir Francis Walsingham, a dedicated spy network was established. "England’s first great experiment in government-backed spying network brought down a queen and perhaps a playwright, saw kidnappings, executions and murders. The fact that Queen Elizabeth reigned for 44 years—and died naturally in her sleep—is evidence of its success." (source History)

So, to the books in the Kit Marlowe series, please see below; and find a link to my review of those that I have read following.


Dark Entry

First in the thrilling new Kit Marlowe historical mystery series - Cambridge, 1583. About to graduate from Corpus Christi, the young Christopher Marlowe spends his days studying and his nights carousing with old friends. But when one of them is discovered lying dead in his King’s College room, mouth open in a silent scream, Marlowe refuses to accept the official verdict of suicide. Calling on the help of his mentor, Sir Roger Manwood, Justice of the Peace, and the queen’s magus, Dr John Dee, a poison expert, Marlowe sets out to prove that his friend was murdered.

my review of Dark Entry

Silent Court

Second in the thrilling new Kit Marlowe historical mystery series - November, 1583. Desperate not to let the Netherlands fall into the hands of Catholic Spain, the Queen’s spymaster orders Cambridge scholar and novice spy Christopher Marlowe to go there to assist its beleaguered leader, William the Silent. However, travelling in disguise as part of a troupe of Egyptian players, Marlowe encounters trouble even before he leaves England. When the players make a detour to perform at the home of Dr John Dee, one of their tricks ends in tragedy – and an arrest for murder . . .

Witch Hammer

Christopher Marlowe investigates a possible act of witchcraft in the third of this intriguing historical mystery series. - July, 1585. Desperate to pursue his chosen career as a professional playwright, the young Christopher Marlowe abandons his Cambridge studies to join Lord Strange’s men, a group of travelling players. En route to perform at Oxford, the players are rehearsing amongst the famous Rollright Stones on the Warwickshire border when they are rudely interrupted by the discovery of the corpse of actor-manager Ned Sledd. Is it an act of witchcraft, a human sacrifice to mark the festival of Lammastide? Or is there a more personal reason? Kit Marlowe determines to find out.

Scorpions' Nest

Christopher Marlowe investigates a school for exiled Catholic priests in the fourth of this intriguing historical mystery series. October, 1586. Sir Francis Walsingham has despatched Kit Marlowe to the English College in Rheims where he suspects the Catholic traitor Matthew Baxter is hiding. Infiltrating the College undercover, Marlowe learns that the community has been rocked by a series of unexplained and violent deaths. With the help of master codebreaker Thomas Phelippes, can Christopher Marlowe unearth a murderer, track down a traitor and extract himself from the scorpions’ nest without being fatally stung?

Crimson Rose

March, 1587. Christopher Marlowe’s play Tamburlaine, with the incomparable Ned Alleyn in the title role, has opened at the Rose Theatre, and a new era on the London stage is born. Yet the play is almost shut down on its opening night. For a member of the audience, Eleanor Merchant, lies dead, hit by a musket ball fired from the stage. The man with his finger on the trigger? A bit-part player named Will Shakespeare. Convinced of Shakespeare’s innocence, Marlowe determines to find out what really happened. When a second body is found floating in the River Thames, it becomes clear that Eleanor Merchant’s death was no accident, and that something deeper and darker is afoot. And why is the Queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, taking a close personal interest in the case?

Traitor's Storm

May, 1588. With Elizabeth I s court rocked by stories of an imminent invasion and one of his key undercover agents missing, Sir Francis Walsingham despatches Kit Marlowe to the Isle of Wight off the south coast: the first line of defence against the approaching Spanish Armada. Lodging at Carisbrooke Castle with the Isle of Wight s Governor, Sir George Carey, Marlowe finds the Islanders a strange and suspicious lot, with their own peculiar customs and dialect. But is there reason to doubt their loyalty to the Crown? And is the Island really haunted, as some believe? Of one thing Marlowe is certain: it s no ghost behind the series of violent and inexplicable deaths which plague the region. But will he have time to uncover the truth and expose the killer before the might of the Armada descends?

Secret World

Christopher Marlowe tackles his most baffling case yet. June, 1589. Now a feted poet and playwright, Kit Marlowe is visiting his family in Canterbury. But it's not the happy homecoming he had hoped for. A long-standing family friend has been found dead in her bed, killed by several blows to the head. Convinced that the wrong person has been found guilty of the crime, Marlowe determines to uncover the truth. What did the dead woman mean when she spoke of 'owning the whole world'? If Marlowe could discover what she had in her possession, he would be one step closer to catching her killer. And why is the Queen's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, taking such an interest in the investigation?

All Hallows Eve

"'Tell me a story, Kit...'"

It's All Hallows' Eve and Kit Marlowe's evening is disrupted by the call of an ethereal voice, requesting a tale for the haunted night. From the depths of his creative mind comes the tale of ghostly horrors and unearthly cries which rattles even the most supernatural of beings...

Eleventh Hour

April, 1590. The queen's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, is dead, leaving a dangerous power vacuum. His former right hand man, Nicholas Faunt, believes he was poisoned and has ordered Kit Marlowe to discover who killed him. To find the answers, Marlowe must consult the leading scientists and thinkers in the country. But as he questions the members of the so-called School of Night, the playwright-turned-spy becomes convinced that at least one of them is hiding a deadly secret. If he is to outwit the most inquiring minds in Europe and unmask the killer within, Marlowe must devise an impossibly ingenious plan.

my review of Eleventh Hour

Queen's Progress

May, 1591. When Queen Elizabeth decides to embark on a Royal Progress, visiting some of the grandest homes in England, her new spymaster, Sir Robert Cecil, sends Kit Marlowe on ahead, to ensure all goes smoothly. But Marlowe’s reconnaissance mission is dogged by disaster: at Farnham Hall, a body is hurled from the battlements; at Cowdray Castle, a mock tournament ends in near tragedy; at Petworth, a body is discovered in the master bedroom, shot dead. By the time he reaches Chichester, Marlowe fears the worst. Are the incidents linked? Is there a conspiracy to sabotage the Queen’s Progress? Who is pulling the strings – and why? To uncover the truth, Marlowe must come up with a fiendishly clever plan.

my review of Queen's Progress

Black Death

As plague stalks the streets of 16th century London, Christopher Marlowe is drawn into a baffling murder investigation where nothing is as it first appears.

September, 1592. “Kit, I know we have never been friends, but you are the only man in London to whom I can write. Someone is trying to kill me”.  

Christopher Marlowe had never liked Robert Greene when he was alive. But when the former Cambridge scholar is found dead in a cheap London boarding house, shortly after sending Kit a desperate letter, Marlowe feels duty bound to find out who killed him – and why.

What secrets did Robert Greene take with him to the grave? And why is the Queen’s spymaster, Sir Robert Cecil, taking such a keen interest in the case? As plague stalks the streets of London and the stage manager of the Rose Theatre disappears without trace just days before the opening of Marlowe’s new play, the playwright-sleuth finds himself in the midst of a baffling murder investigation – where nothing is as it first appears.

my review of Black Death

The Reckoning

The inaugural performance of Christopher Marlowe's controversial new play is marred by sudden, violent death in this lively 16th century mystery. December, 1592. England is entering dangerous waters as thoughts turn to the question of the ageing Queen Elizabeth's successor. Christopher Marlowe meanwhile is leading a troupe of the Lord Chamberlain's Men on tour with a controversial new play.

Marlowe expects his latest play, Edward II, to ruffle feathers. What he doesn't expect is it to lead to is sudden, violent death. The morning the tour is due to begin, the newest member of the cast is found stabbed to death in the local brothel. And when a second murder, and then a third, disrupt rehearsals for the inaugural performance in the Great Hall at Scudbury Manor, it becomes clear that someone is determined to prevent this play from being performed – at any cost. But who ... and why?

my review of The Reckoning

I loved this latest installment in the Kit Marlowe series so much so that I did not want this to end, and as I realised where this was going, I slowed my reading to tease it out to the very end. All the old crew are back: Will Shaxsper, Burghley, Cecil, Nicholas Faunt, Tom Sledd, Ned Alleyn, Ingram Frizer, Robert Poley and Nicholas Skerries. Marlowe's path will lead him, ultimately, to a tavern in Deptford where he will meet his final reckoning. Fans of Marlowe will know what awaits the Muses' Darling.

more on Marlowe

-  Marlowe in Fiction

- Roy Kendall: Christopher Marlowe and Richard Baines: Journeys Through the Elizabethan Underground

- The Marlowe Society

- Jstor: The Truth About Elizabethan Playwrights
- Jstor: The Death of Christopher Marlowe

Review: Black Death by MJ Trow

Synopsis:  September, 1592. “Kit, I know we have never been friends, but you are the only man in London to whom I can write. Someone is trying to kill me”.

Christopher Marlowe had never liked Robert Greene when he was alive. But when the former Cambridge scholar is found dead in a cheap London boarding house, shortly after sending Kit a desperate letter, Marlowe feels duty bound to find out who killed him – and why.

What secrets did Robert Greene take with him to the grave? And why is the Queen’s spymaster, Sir Robert Cecil, taking such a keen interest in the case? As plague stalks the streets of London and the stage manager of the Rose Theatre disappears without trace just days before the opening of Marlowe’s new play, the playwright-sleuth finds himself in the midst of a baffling murder investigation – where nothing is as it first appears.

Another outing in Elizabethan England has Kit Marlowe investigating the death of Robert Greene, one of the first professional writers of the day, and a contemporary of both Marlowe and Shaxsper - the man who referred to the Bard of Avond as an "upstart crow".

Kit receives a message from Greene, no friend of our Kit, asking Marlowe to come to his aid - instead Greene is found dead in mysterious circumstances. In reality, around this time, Greene wrote exposés on the Elizabethan underworld, such as "A Notable Discovery of Coosnage" (1591) and the successful and amusing "A disputation betweene a hee conny-catcher and a shee conny-catcher" (1592).

Against this we have the appearance of the magus Simon Foreman, currently favourite of Elizabeth I, sidelining Dr John Dee, and the disappearance of steadfast Tom Sledd. But London is not only being stalked by a killer but also the Plague, resulting in a closure of the theatres, leaving Kit ample time to investigate.

Marlowe is as witty and irascible as ever; all the usual suspects are present; and red herrings abound.

Review: Christopher Wild by Kathe Koja

..... he lives by his pen, his wit, his nerves, his temper, his ambitions, his appetites, 

his ability to manoeuvre on several fields at once, keeping free of the floods that wash others away .....

Synopsis: Three lives. One man. 

Marlowe lives three different lives in this story, each time awakening in an dark alley, living a new life. I am afraid that for me, the narrative did not work; it was incoherent and disjointed (each paragraph begins with a dash symbol). I could barely follow the dialogue - was it all in his head or was he actually speaking the words aloud (hint: all dialogue is in italics), and thus I struggled at times to work out who was actually narrating the stories.

For me personally, the character portrayal, the editing and punctuation (or lack thereof), writing style and storytelling put the author firmly on the back foot with me. Marlowe was a complex character - poet, spy, heretic - there is so much that you could do with him in a fictional context.

And as much as I love Marlowe, I was not a fan of this, and sadly, I would not recommend it.

May Additions

Although May has long gone and June has all but vanished, below are the recent additions to the Library for May 2015.

I love Marlowe and Richard III - so these will make welcome additions to my Wars of the Roses - Elizabethan Poets shelves.  I am not averse to reading various authors - it just adds to a more rounded view of a character.  So read nothing into the choice of authors!

Christopher Marlowe

"O, thou art fairer than the evening air clad in the beauty of a thousand stars."


Marlowe was born in February 1564, about 2 months before Shakespeare. His father was a prosperous middle-class merchant of Canterbury. Christopher received his early education at King's School in Canterbury and at the age of 17 went to Cambridge, where he held a scholarship requiring him to study for the ministry. He received a bachelor of arts degree in 1584 and a master of arts degree in 1587. Toward the end of his stay at Cambridge he evidently aroused the suspicions of the university authorities, who threatened to withhold his degree. The Queen's Privy Council intervened, however, and assured the authorities that Marlowe "had done Her Majesty good service." The nature of this service is still a mystery, but it is likely that Marlowe was involved in a secret espionage mission abroad.

Shortly after receiving his master's degree, Marlowe went to London. He soon became known for his wild, bohemian ways and his unorthodox thinking. In 1589, for example, he was imprisoned for a time in connection with the death of a certain William Bradley, who had been killed in a violent quarrel in which Marlowe played an important part. He was several times accused of being an "atheist" and a "blasphemer," most notably by his fellow playwright Thomas Kyd. These charges led to Marlowe's arrest in 1593, but he died before his case was decided.

His Death:
The circumstances of Marlowe's death first came to light in the 20th century. On May 30, 1593, Marlowe dined at Deptford with a certain Ingram Frizer (Fraser) and two others. In the course of an argument over the tavern bill, Marlowe wounded Frizer with a dagger, whereupon Frizer seized the same dagger and stabbed Marlowe over the right eye. According to the coroner's inquest, from which this information is drawn, Marlowe died instantly. Despite the unusual wealth of detail surrounding this fatal episode, there has been much speculation about the affair. It has been suggested, for example, that the deed was politically motivated and that Frizer (who was subsequently judged to have acted in self-defense) was simply acting as an agent for a more prominent person.

His Works:
Marlowe wrote only one major poem (Hero and Leander, unfinished at his death) and six or seven plays.


Tamburlaine the Great, a two-part play, was first printed in 1590 but was probably composed several years earlier. The play itself is a bold demonstration of Tamburlaine's rise to power and his single-minded, often inhumanly cruel exercise of that power. The hero provokes awe and wonder but little sympathy.


Although written sometime between 1588 and 1592, The Jew of Malta was not printed until 1633. The chief figure, the phenomenally wealthy merchant-prince Barabas, is one of the most powerful Machiavellian figures of the Elizabethan drama. Unlike Tamburlaine, who asserts his will openly and without guile, Barabas is shrewd, devious, and secretive.

Doctor Faustus, which is generally considered Marlowe's greatest work, was probably also his last. Its central figure, a scholar who feels he has exhausted all the conventional areas of human learning, attempts to gain the ultimate in knowledge and power by selling his soul to the devil. The high point comes in the portrayal of the hero's final moments, as he awaits the powers of darkness who demand his soul.


Books:

• The Reckoning by Charles Nicholl (Review)
• Christopher Marlowe by Park Honan
• Christopher Marlowe by JE Bakeless
• Who was Kit Marlowe? The story of the poet and playwright by Della Hilton
• Christopher Marlowe by Philip Henderson
• Christopher Marlowe by GM Pinciss

Links:

• The Marlowe Society
• Christopher Marlowe
• Marlowe - Works