Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33845 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

About the Author
David Bevington is Professor of English at the University of Chicago. Eric Rasmussen is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Nevada, Reno

Customer Reviews

Good value for money
This is a good value for money book, especially for English literature students, comprising as it does a collection of Marlowe's best known works, some of which are pieces of classic literature and should be more widely read! It handily contains both A and B texts for Dr Faustus, always useful for comparison. Recommended for literature students or anyone with an interest in great literature.

Brilliant subject matter, classic literature
After reading this I can well understand the Shakespeare related theories. Each play is well and timelessly executed.
My particular favourite is Tamburlaine, which (strangely enough) encouraged me to look into the history of the man behind the myth.

The one down side is his treatment of the Faust myth. It seemed clumsy, preachy, without the versatility offered by a more morally ambiguous treatment of other versions. Perhaps I have been spoiled by Goethe.

Stories which have entered our mythology
The story of Dr F. is no longer an original one, but in Marlowe's time the play pointed up man's increasing attempts to devolve power to himself from God. The rise of science = the fall of man, it seems, and Faustus pays the ultimate price for knowledge.
Reworkings of the Faustian myth are two a-penny today, but Marlowe's original still has a power which few versions since have attained. If you can get through the language, and understand the references to arcane historical figures and events, then you have here a powerful and demanding text. And, whatever the cover price, it has to be worth it for Marlowe's cautionary advice.