The Complete Plays (Everyman Paperback Library) [Paperback]

Christopher Marlowe (Author), Mark Thornton Burnett (Editor), J.C. Maxwell (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1999 | Series: Everyman's Library (Paper)

Blasphemy, perversion, defiance and transgression...in a series of compelling tragedies, Marlowe challenged every authority of heaven and earth. From the proud wrath of Tamburlaine, the tyrant of Asia, to the racked anguish of Edward II, himself in thrall to unspeakable desires; from God's own Machiavel, the Duke of Guise, to Barabas, the Jew of Malta, curse of Christianity: all are taboo-breakers, to be broken in their turn. And in the tragedy of Doctor Faustus we perhaps read Marlowe's own: a tale of brilliance and audacity - and of terrible, inexorable punishment.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Founded in 1906 by J.M. Dent, the Everyman Library has always tried to make the best books ever written available to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible price. Unique editorial features that help Everyman Paperback Classics stand out from the crowd include: a leading scholar or literary critic's introduction to the text, a biography of the author, a chronology of her or his life and times, a historical selection of criticism, and a concise plot summary. All books published since 1993 have also been completely restyled: all type has been reset, to offer a clarity and ease of reading unique among editions of the classics; a vibrant, full-color cover design now complements these great texts with beautiful contemporary works of art. But the best feature must be Everyman's uniquely low price. Each Everyman title offers these extensive materials at a price that competes with the most inexpensive editions on the market-but Everyman Paperbacks have durable binding, quality paper, and the highest editorial and scholarly standards. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) was born in Canterbury the year of Shakespeare’s birth. Like Shakespeare, he was of a prosperous middle-class family, but unlike Shakespeare he went to a university, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he received the bachelor’s degree in 1584 and the master’s degree in 1587. The terms of his scholarship implied that he was preparing for the clergy but he did not become a clergyman. Shortly before he received his M.A. the University seems to have wished to withhold it, apparently suspecting him of conversion to Roman Catholicism, but the Queen’s Privy Council intervened on his behalf, stating that he “had done her majesty good service” and had been employed “in matters touching the benefit of the country.” His precise service is unknown. After Cambridge, Marlowe went to London, where he apparently lived a turbulent life (he had two brushes with the law and was said to be disreputable) while pursuing a career as a dramatist. He wrote seven plays--the dates of which are uncertain--before he was yet again in legal difficulties: he was arrested in 1593, accused of atheism. He was not imprisoned, and before his case could be decided he was dead, having been stabbed in a tavern while quarreling over the bill.

Frank Romany teaches English at St. John’s College, Oxford.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Paperbacks (April 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0460879871
• ISBN-13: 978-0460879873
• Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 5.2 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,231,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good accessible edition, April 20, 2001

By 

Karl Graves (CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Plays (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a generally good and easily available, inexpensive edition of Marlowe's plays. My only reservation about it is Steane's edition of Dr. Faustus. He makes the worst of both major texts, taking the general outline from the 1616 text but throwing in a lot of corrupt scraps from the 1604 edition for the clown scenes. I would advise anyone who wants to read Dr. Faustus to look elsewhere. I'm convinced that the 1604 version is on the whole a corrupt and truncated version of the play, but if you prefer it you might look into the Folger Library edition. If on the other hand you would rather read the play more or less as I think Marlowe wrote it, try the Signet edition edited by Sylvan Barnet.

The other plays present no major textual problems (except for The Massacre at Paris, which is pretty hopeless) and this is a fine place to meet them.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reviewing Burnett's edition, February 5, 2000

By 

J. R. Bidwell - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Plays (Everyman Paperback Library) (Paperback)

I also wrote the April 15 review. It should be noted that I was reviewing the Steane edition, while the November reviewer was evidently reviewing the Burnett edition - since both editions have the same titles, Amazon includes the review for one in the other, and vice versa. What I said April 15 applies to Steane, not Burnett.

As to theonlytruegeo's disagreement. The B-text additions were almost certainly written in 1602, according to an entry in Henslowe's diary. Marlowe died in 1593; and the play was probably written about 1588, though some disagree. It's quite a stretch to say that Marlowe had ideas about what to include in the play, but they were not incorporated in his lifetime, or for 9 years after his death.

The 1616 version may be a little tidier, but it is also almost universally judged inferior. The additions to it (some 1000 lines) are practically all slapstick and special effects. By 1616 Marlowe's play had degenerated from a "tragicall history" into harum scarum.

But as to Burnett's edition, which I am reviewing here. It includes all of Marlowe's plays, including the 2 versions of Doctor Faustus. What I don't like is Burnett's editing. He is one of those scholars intuned to faddish critical theory. Notably, instead of considering Marlowe's works as plays, as literature, he sees them merely as "texts," thinly veiled autobiography, something to be dismantled, and so you can expect to get a warped interpretation from him. His quotes of Marlowe are usually taken out of context to prove some point, and his commentary is full of pompous language: "In its atomization of all forms of culturally conditioned distinction lies a key to the play's destabilising importance." How meaningless! He's trying to say that Marlowe picks apart cultural roles and beliefs, but what is the "destabilising importance"? George Orwell wrote an essay about meaningless language; if you write like that, Orwell might set you straight.

Burnett is too divorced from the literary values of Marlowe. In one place he praises an essay collection about Marlowe for being "Theoretically informed." No comment on whether their essays are particularly good, or insightful -- they're just "theoretically informed." And in another place: "[Marlowe's]plays are sufficently diffuse in subject matter and wide-ranging in orientation to attract readers of contrasting persuasions, from the critic interested in language and performance to the 'New Historicist' drawn to the representation of subversive types and dissident ideologies." Revealingly, he seems to be unable to see how people might be interested in Marlowe even if they don't have a particular theoretical ax to grind. Burnett seems to have forgetten that people read Marlowe because he is a great poet and playwright; he is an artist; his works are great literature. Yet he can only imagine that people would be interested in Marlowe for the opportunity to tinker on his plays with some pet critical Theory. By all means read Marlowe, but if you can, find another edition.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In spite of what the previous reviewer's said..., November 21, 1999

By 

GeoX "GeoX" (Men...Of...The...Sea!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Plays (Everyman Paperback Library) (Paperback)

...this edition contains both the 1604 and 1616 editions of Dr. Faustus. In all honestly, though, I don't entirely buy the notion that the former should automatically take precedence over the latter. It's entirely possible that the additions made to it were in fact Marlowe's own ideas that were merely added by others. And in any case, I would have to say that, as a whole, the 1616 version is more coherent, with a lot of the threads left hanging in the 1604 cleared up. More is done with the clowns, and the character on whom Faustus inflicts horns goes from an anonymous "knight" to an actual character. The 1604 does have some things to be said for it (the bit about Christ's blood streaming in the firmament has been inexcusably edited out of the 1616, f'rinstance, and there's a brief scene at the end with the scholars that seems superfluous), but as a whole I'd go with it rather than the 1604. If I was going to put on a production of the play, I'd combine the two as I saw fit. Okay then.