Christopher Marlowe

Biography

Christopher Marlowe’s exact birthday is unknown but he was baptised on February 26, 1564, three years after his parents’ marriage, at the parish church of St George the Martyr in Canterbury.  There isn’t much information about his early life until Christmas 1578 except a local lawsuit case mentioning a “boye called Christopher Marlowe” as the sole witness of a sexual assault case. In 1578 his name appears in a list of scholarship boys at the King’s School in Canterbury. Most of the information about Marlowe comes from William Urry’s Christopher Marlowe and Canterbury (1988). 

After Marlowe left Canterbury for Cambridge University, he formally matriculated at Corpus Christi College in March 1581, on a scholarship recently founded by Archibshop Matthew Parker for scholars of the King’s School and he graduated in 1584. Records indicate that he continued to stay in Cambridge for three more years after his graduation. One of the interesting things about his life during that time is his lavish spending, which should have been beyond his means as a scholar.

Evidence suggests that he was employed by the government as some of his letters had been sanctioned by highest authorities. It is also possible that he was a foreign agent, as he regularly travelled to the continent on government business. While it is hard to be certain it is generally believed that Tamburlaine the Great was his first performed work, which was in 1587 in London, where Marlowe had moved to. He had written many poems and plays and his life was certainly eventful even when he was in London, such as joining street fights with his friends.

In 1592, he was also subjected to a restraining order along with Shakespeare and other famous artists of his time, which was likely due to his play Edward II. Marlowe’s crowning achievement was probably his final play; Dr. Faustus. It was staged repeatedly in the mid 1590s and first published in 1604. While Faustus was accepted as Marlowe’s final finished work, the final work he was working on was Hero and Leander, but he couldn’t finish it before his untimely death and it was completed to twice its length by George Chapman.

In May 1593 Marlowe was accused of racism against refugees from the Continental Wars and while his trial was pending and he was on temporary bail he was stabbed to death in Eleanor Bull’s tavern in Debtford.

Hero and Leander: begun by Christopher Marloe; and finished by George Chapman

It was published in London, printed by Felix Kingston in 1598. It appears that this copy of Hero and Leander was privately printed by Felix Kingston for Paule Linley. It also says that it is to be sold in Paule’s Church-yard. It appears that Paule is a man of Clergy and he is supposed to sell the book. While it is called a tragedy Hero and Leander doesn’t look like a play. There are no speaker names indicated and instead it has the appearance of an epic. Language used in Hero and Leander is old, but it is possible to understand most of it with knowledge of modern English. At the left side of the twenty-sixth image there is a side note but I cannot understand what it says. The note doesn’t seem to be written by hand. 

One thing that took my notice about the text’s grammar is that the letter “V” was used in the place of “U” and double “V” is used in the place of “W” which is an easy to understand side of the language of the time. The play has six cantos, two were written by Marlowe and an additional four were written by Chapman. One thing to note is that instead of canto they are called sestyads. This was done by Chapman.

Ali

Links:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2011/jun/20/poem-of-the-week-christopher-marlow

https://search.proquest.com/lion/docview/2137914527?accountid=8623

https://eebo.chadwyck.com/search/full_rec?EeboId=99840679&ACTION=ByID&SOURCE=pgimages.cfg&ID=99840679&FILE=..%2Fsession%2F1575570157_28893&SEARCHSCREEN=CITATIONS&VID=5206&PAGENO=1&ZOOM=FIT&VIEWPORT=&CENTREPOS=&RESULTCLICK=&GOTOPAGENO=1&ZOOMLIST=FIT&ZOOMTEXTBOX=&SEARCHCONFIG=var_spell.cfg&DISPLAY=AUTHOR

Ben Jonson, whose full name is Benjamin Jonson is born June 11, 1572 in England and died August 6, 1637 in London. He is generally seen as the second most important English writer, after William Shakespeare. Some of Jonson’s plays are Every Man in His Humour (1598), Volpone (1605), The Silent Woman (1609), Epicoene; or The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614). Ben Jonson did not have an opportunity to go to a university but it did not stop him to get a great education. He managed to develop himself in various fields such as poetry, acting, theatre, continuity writing… 

Jonson’s Bizarre Way of Writing Poetry

Ben Jonson received a good education at Westminster School. In a way, the education Janson received in Westminster School as a poet was unfortunate. He was taught firstly to write prose exercises and after to turn them into poetry. Because of the education he gained the habit of trying to express unpoetical ideas in verse. This weird habit makes Jonson’s style of poem’s more interesting than it normally is. 

The title of the book is “Bartholmew fayre’’ by Ben Jonson. The book was first printed in 1631, it was first published by the bookseller Robert Allot. The play first acted in River Tames, October 31 1614 and dedicated to King James. The play ‘Bartholomew Fair’ is a comedy play which gives its messages through the characters by using satirical phrases. The main focus of the play is the Bartholomew Fair which is an enormous fair that takes place in London. The most striking part of the play Bartholomew Fair, to me is the one character, Ursula, who I believe represents the whole fair by herself. In the following lines: 

I am all fire and fat . . .

I shall e’en melt away to the first woman, a rib, again, I am afraid.

I do water the ground in knots as I go, like a great garden-pot; you may follow me by the S’s I make (Jonson, 2.2.49-51)

She is describing herself as ‘fire and fat’. The word she used ‘fat’ can be seen as a representation of the people’s eager to eat in the fairs since there are many places to attract their hungriness. Fair’s in a way cause people to get more fat. In a different perspective, the word ‘fat’ can represent the fullness of the fair’s with all the chaos people make and the noises all around. There is an overdose of people that creates a ‘fat’ image of the fairs.  The second word ‘fire’ represents the fair’s effort to strike people’s attention with all the lights also it can be seen as the glorious side of the fair’s that creates an illustration of a passionate place like a fire. The second sentence represents the fear of being lost in the crowdedness of the fair since it mentions the fear of turning to the first women and a rib at last. In a way losing the function and becoming useless in the crowd of the fair like a rib. The last sentence’s ‘follow me by the S’s I make’ stands for the attractiveness of the noises in the fair’s that grab people’s attention and make them go where the noise is. To my perspective, Ursula is the most well-thought character in the play because she represents the main focus of the play which is the Bartholomew Fair. 

Bibliography

Jonson, Ben. Bartholmew fayre. London: Printed by I.B. for Robert Allot. 1631.

Peri Naz Akbaş

George Herbert and The Temple

George Herbert, born April 3rd 1593, came from a family in the Marches, around Montgomery Castle, and during his time there he cultivated a view upon family life. His father died when he was three and their family travelled to Oxford and then London, to be closer to his elder brother Edward, who was also to become famous as a poet and also as a diplomat. He attended the Westminster School, which was a grammar school, and excelled in Greek, Latin and music, learned French, Italian and Spanish. Indeed, he even composed his own pieces for the flute. His mother remarried in 1609 to Sir John Danvers, and their household in Chelsea became a center for the intellectual society. One of the more famous people who visited was John Donne, with whom Herbert himself was to forge a deep friendship. Herbert was admitted to Trinity College in Cambridge as a scholar and in 1612 his fist published work appeared, two latin poems there. He continued his career in the college concerned with divinity and in 1620 became its orator. He entered parliament from his family seat in Montgomery in 1623. He was dispensed from there in 1624 and soon after was ordained as a deacon in Lincoln. This sudden change in Herbert’s way of life is an important part of his poetry. The secular life at odds with the clergical one. The effort to balance these two can be seen in some of his poems (e.g. ‘In cities, theaters, gardens, parks, and courts’ in ‘Redemption’). During this crucial time in his life he was guided in his decision by none other than John Donne, the  liberal poet turned priest, so he had been in a similar situation himself, not only writing devotional poems both (Donne’s Holy Sonnets). In 1628 he resigned from his oratorship and left his stepfather’s home in Chelsea to his elder brother’s house at Dauntesey in Wiltshire. It is widely believed that here Herbert wrote the most of The Temple. 

The Temple is a complex of poems devotional and religious, exploring themes such as faith, earthly life, doubt and love of God. The book is divided into three parts: ‘The Church-porch’, ‘The Church’, and ‘The Church Militant’. Herbert sent a manuscript shortly before his death to Nicholas Ferrar in Little Gidding, telling him to publish it if he saw it was worth to publish, otherwise to burn it. In 1633, The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations, was published with a preface by Ferrar. Herbert experimented with lineation and this is most evident in ‘Easter Wings’. Here the two parts of the poem resemble wings themselves, thus underlining the crucial function of poem as prayer, which adds a deeper layer of meaning to them. It is, at first glance, extremely easy to stereotype Herbert, as the holy and virtuous poet, but when one actually looks at the poems, they underline a deep and subtle force of doubt which is very human and relatable. Otherwise how could they be valuable to people other than priests and prayers. 

Mustafa

Sir Thomas Wyatt, Songes and Sonettes

Born in 1503, Sir Thomas Wyatt is an English Renaissance poet who is famous for his diplomatic career and his controversial private life. In his early years, he received his education in St. John’s College, Cambridge. His courtly life began in 1526 when he travelled to France and Italy for diplomatic affairs. Arguably, in his travel to Italy, Wyatt may have been impressed by Petrarch because Wyatt’s early contribution to English literature traces back to his adaptations of Petrarch’s sonnets. Petrarchan conceit’s influence on Sir Thomas Wyatt is worth considering because it gives readers an opportunity to speculate about the nature of his troubled love affairs. In Sir Wyatt’s adaptation of Petrarch’s “Rima 190” which is “Whoso list to hunt”, Wyatt creates a metaphor for unrequited love based on the practice of hunting. Some literary critics argue that Sir Wyatt addresses to Anne Boleyn in most of his love sonnets because among Wyatt’s romantic relationships with women, his relationship with Anne Boleyn, Queen of England was the most controversial one. Although it is not known whether there was a passionate or a platonic love between Sir Thomas Wyatt and Anne Boleyn, Wyatt was imprisoned for his suspected secret affair with King Henry VIII’s wife, Anne Boleyn. In 1536, Anne was executed to death on adultery charges but Wyatt was freed. After his release, Wyatt was appointed as Henry VIII’s ambassador to Spain in 1537. After returning back to England in 1539, Wyatt developed a friendship with Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. Both of their love of Italian sonnets is probably the keystone of their companionship. In 1542, Sir Thomas Wyatt died from a serious fever, at the age of 39. 

In his lifetime, not any sonnet of Wyatt was published, however, after his death his poetry was published in Henry Howard’s Songes and Sonettes otherwise known as Tottel’s Miscellany in 1557. Interestingly, Wyatt’s name does not appear in the frontispiece of Songes and Sonettes whereas Henry Howard’s name appears. Considering the hierarchical order of English aristocracy in 1500s, someone who had the title of Earl in their name was regarded as superior to someone who had the title of Sir. Because of this reason, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey’s name and his portrait appear in the frontispiece, though his contribution to Songes and Sonettes is less than Sir Thomas Wyatt’s contribution in terms of the number of the poems. 

The font style of Songes and Sonettes is Black Letter which the contemporary readers may find it illegible as they are not familiar with it. Although the Black Letter font style may be a little bit illegible, it looks fancy enough to catch readers’ attention. Besides the intriguing font style, the content of the dedication page is interesting enough to focus on too. In the dedication page, Richard Tottel who is the first publisher of Songes and Sonettes addresses to the reader: “And I exhort the unlearned, by reading to be more skilful, and to purge that swinelike grossenesse.” Tottel’s claim about the sonnets not only encourages readers to appreciate reading it, but it also encourages them to abandon their ignorance. While dedicating to the readers, Tottel’s choice of a highly rude language may not satisfy the expectations of the reader. However, it is quite likely that Tottel may have aimed to prevent the possible prejudices against a new kind of English sonnet form with his bold claims.

Begum

Works Cited

Surrey, Henry Howard, Earl of. Songes and Sonettes, Written by the Right Honorable Lorde 

Henry Howard Late Earle of Surrey, and Other. London, 1557. Early English Books Online. 4 December 2019. https://eebo.chadwyck.com/search/fulltext?SOURCE=config.cfg&ACTION=ByID&ID=D00000998421230000&WARN=N&SIZE=479&FILE=&ECCO=undefined

“Wyatt, Thomas, Sir, 1503?-1542.” Literature Online,    

           https://search.proquest.com/lion/docview/2137933847

Sir Thomas Wyatt

Sir Thomas Wyatt’s family came originally from Yorkshire. He is son of Sir Henry Wyatt who lived during the reign of Richard III. His father was tortured and imprisoned because of his loyalty to Henry Tudor. He married Anne (daughter of John Skinner of Reigate) and they had three children one of which is Sir Thomas Wyatt. At the age of 12, he entered St. John’s College, Cambridge where he made the acquaintance of the antiquary and poet John Leland. (After Wyatt’s death he wrote how river Granta had joined them in friendship. In 1520, He married Elizabeth Brooke and they had two children who are Thomas and Elizabeth. They separated in 1525 and the reason was Sir Thomas Wyatt’s action of charging his wife with infidelity. Wyatt’s diplomatic career began with his travel with Sir Thomas Cheney to France on his first diplomatic mission. Since he knew something of French and Italian literature before he went abroad, he was stimulated by his experiences in Italy to introduce Petrarch’s poems to English readers by Queen (Katherine of Aragon) in 1527. 

One of the defining influences on Wyatt’s career was his love for Anne Boleyn, who was to become Henry VIII’s second wife. It was completely platonic and sensual. Even if Anne Boleyn found his poetry very nice, his love remained platonic. Before the king intended to marry Anne Boleyn, Wyatt adapted a well-known sonnet of Petrarch: ‘Who so list to hunt, I know where is a hind’, which seems relevant to his personal situation, as it describes the pursuit of Caesar’s hind who cannot be touched. His rise was rapid since he was seen a handsome man whose reputation was “the best poet of his age”.

One of his friendships was very interesting. He was a friend of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, who had different political and religious thoughts than him. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey regarded him as a master and Sir Thomas Wyatt admired him because of his literary skills. Therefore, it is not improper to say that their love of poetry outweighed their differences.

He died aged thirty-eight in October 1542 (because of fever he contracted) while he was going to meet the Spanish envoy who had landed at Falmouth. He was buried at Sherborne, where he was taken ill. None of Wyatt’s poems appeared in print during his lifetime, and his first published work was Certain Psalms Drawn into English Metre (1549). More of his poetry, lyrics and satires appeared in Tottel’s Miscellany (1557). The rest remained in manuscript until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The Courte of Venus

The Courte of Venus (The Court of Venus) is a book containing ballads-poems from 16th century. Whether it’s author is accepted as Robert Singleton, its attributed author is Sir Thomas Wyatt. It is written in 1538, 3 years before Wyatt’s death and is printed in around 1563 (without certainty) in London. It is believed that its prologue belongs to Robert Singleton and some other parts belong to Sir Thomas Wyatt.

Title Page

One of the things that I’m very obsessed with about books is title pages. When it comes to the title page of The Courte of Venus, I found it very interesting because of the drawings around the title and description. There are figures and patterns including faces and leaves at right and left of the written part which have left a good impression to me at once. That is one of the reasons why I’ve chosen this work to write my blog assignment to be honest. Title and description also looks beautiful to me since the lines get shorter and shorter as you read from beginning to the end. Written part and the drawings are in a harmony with each other and it makes the work seem worthwhile to read to me. 

Bora

Born as a Noble, Died as Author: Lady Mary Wroth

The Renaissance is one of the most fascinating periods of our common history. It is a time for the revival of antiquity especially in terms of arts, technological advancements and great expeditions that changed the political map and shaped the future of Europe for good. Even though these developments make this era even more interesting, my interest in this era is aroused by the sociological features of it, especially women’s role in the Renaissance. Although women were denied entirely from major political and social rights of our 21st Century world, some women were able to break this chain of disparity. One of the women that was persistent enough to break this chain and introduce her voice was Lady Mary Wroth. Her importance for the British literature comes from her famous sonnet sequence called “The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania” which is believed to be the first female-authored sonnet sequence by an English woman. However, her being the first women writing a sonnet sequence doesn’t come as a surprise since she comes from an extensive literary family that has famous members such as Sir Philip Sidney and Sir Walter Raleigh. It is possible to say that she was a brilliant lady in terms of intelligence and excelled in all areas (literature, dancing, music) that she studied. She was so successful that even had a chance to dance to entertain Queen Elizabeth I. Even though she enjoyed her privileges extensively, after the death of her husband which left her a huge debt and losing her 2 years old son James which resulted in losing her inherited house to her uncle, she became far less prominent within royal circles. However, as a result of her declining role in royal circles and liaison with William Herbert she composed her famous work, “The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania”. After publishing her famous work and few other works such as “Love’s Victorie” she came under heavy and misogynistic criticisms such as being a ‘Hermaphrodite in show, in deed a monster’ especially from Edward Denny, Baron of Waltham. Although it is believed that she continued to suffer greatly from financial problems, she has managed to ensure her remembrance with her relatives and personal connections such as Ben Jonson reminding her talent and intelligence in his sonnets to his readers. 

“The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania” is a very authentic piece of work that doesn’t resemble anything that was produced by a woman, in English before. Wroth published her famous book in 1621 with Sir Robert and Philip Sidney’s name on its title page. I find this little strategy of Wroth quiet clever considering isolationist point of view towards women. She used Sir Robert’s and Philip Sidney’s name in order to not draw negative reactions from the public. Even though I searched for information about where it was published, I couldn’t find it. However, I found that it was published by Augustine Matthews who was working in London. I think one of the most interesting things about the book is that it is in a sense, a very personal book. I think consciously or unconsciously since she was heavily oppressed due to her gender she in a way wanted to make this more personal to show her voice and existence. In her book, she introduces lots of characters that resemble Sidney family members and creates a character called Lindamira that is regarded as having been possibly autobiographical in inspiration. This analogy is made due to her similar experiences to Lindamira and her similar state of victimhood due to gossips and rumours that caused her to be less effective in the Royal circles. Some scholars even go further and say that Queen Pamphylia (one of the major characters) love for her cousin Emperor Amphilanthus represents Wroth’s own love for her cousin William Herbert that both have arranged marriages with different people. Another fascinating fact about the book is that, even though I didn’t see many cover pages of literary pieces that belong to the Renaissance era in my life, the cover page of “The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania” is in my top ten. It is nicely constructed and super detailed. For example, at the lower left, you see a lady and a knight who walks into a castle that has statues of Cupid and Venus who represent their love. I think this is a brilliant idea that represents the context of the book in a less explicit way and arouses the interest of the reader. At first, I was hesitant of choosing Lady Mary Wroth at the beginning of this assignment due to my bias towards her as she being another spoiled noble person who doesn’t experience any kind of hardships at all and consequently, extremely difficult to relate to her. However, my whole perception changed after seeing she didn’t have ‘normal’ or expected adulthood in comparison to the other members of this circle and maybe suffered more than an ordinary human being that lives in 21st century. I think when the hardships that she endured and her courage that caused her to write this book combines it makes a perfect literary piece that makes it possible to see women’s perspective from a time as early as 1621.

Alperen

Resources:

https://search.proquest.com/lion/docview/2137908189/fulltext/35F04349DA3F4B4FPQ/1?accountid=8623

https://shakespeareandbeyond.folger.edu/2017/03/03/lady-mary-wroth-countess-of-montgomerys-urania/

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

Doctor Faustus is Christopher Marlowe’s last and most remarkable work. It was first performed around 1588. It was published under two different titles, both after Marlowe’s death. The Tragicall History of D. Faustus (The A-Text) was published in 1604 andThe Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus (The B-Text) in 1616. He was famous for the use of blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) and writing overreaching protagonists, just like Dr. Faustus. The play is about a man who sells his soul to devil for power and knowledge and we can say that an agreement like this never ends well. The play was too bold for the Elizabethan era’s beliefs, so Marlowe had to make some changes on it. Because playwrights were not completely free, they could be arrested while staging their plays.