Talk:Christopher Marlowe

Edits to introduction

I have made three changes.

1. A lengthy clumsy locomotive-and-carriages strung together with nuts and bolt has become two sentences; this is extremely poor English expression because it demonstrates a misunderstanding of the semi-colon and its appropriate use; furthermore it makes overly long sentences that are not easy to follow; this sentence demonstrates the problem.

2. Statements like "Modern Scholars consider that Christopher Marlowe is one of the most famous etc etc" are ridiculous pussy-footing around.

Christopher Marlowe is a famous Elizabethan playwright. There is no question that he is one of the most famous Elizabethan playwrights. It does not take a modern scholar to say that. It falls into the same category as saying "Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most famous Renaissance painters" or "Abraham Lincoln is one of the most famous US presidents". You can cite the claim, but to give it as the opinion of scholars is entirely superfluous, and if editors imagine that it is a requirement of Wikipedia, then it is a ridiculous one.

3. The third sentence is a scholarly opinion. Was Marlowe actually the most popular Elizabethan playwright prior to his death? Modern scholars say he was, and this, based on their research, needs to be stated.

Understand the difference. It is not "Modern scholars" opinions that account for Marlowe's present fame, i.e. the fact that his work is still studied, read for pleasure, performed on stage, attended by theatre-goers, and that the person of Kit Marlowe has appeared in several popular movies. This is about fame; it has nothing to do with "scholarly opinion".

NOTE: the last sentence contains a semi-colon, indicating a balance between two ideas.

Amandajm (talk) 20:56, 10 September 2021 (UTC)

Very poor expression

Can someone with an interest in this article, who knows how to express themselves coherently, rewrite some of this nonsense?

Reports of Marlowe's death in 1593 were particularly infamous in his day and are contested by scholars today due to a lack of good documentation. Traditionally, the playwright's death has been blamed on a long list of conjectures, including a vicious bar-room fight, blasphemous libel against the church, homosexual intrigue, betrayal by another playwright, and espionage from the highest level: the Privy Council of Elizabeth I.

"Reports of Marlowe's death in 1593 were particularly infamous in his day"

This is the wrong use of the word "infamous". A report is very rarely an "infamous" report..... unless it causes a huge amount of trouble.

A person is infamous, not a report. You could say "Marlowe was killed by the infamous Ingram Frizer." You could say "Marlowe was infamous as a heretic"

But the reports of his death were not infamous of themselves, and they were certainly not "particularly infamous". "particularly is a "weasel word".

"Traditionally, the playwright's death has been blamed on a long list of conjectures".

This sentence is nonsense.

The poet's death is not blamed on conjectures. The conjectures are or are not "traditional". Many of the conjectures about the death of Marlowe are modern and scholarly, and not traditional at all.

It needs to be stated clearly: The factors which led to the death of Marlowe are the subject of conjecture.

Amandajm (talk) 01:59, 11 September 2021 (UTC)

Dating contradiction re Edward the Second

Currently the article suggests:

Written: c. 1592;

First official record: 1593 [presumably the 6 July 1593 Stationers' Register entry for William (or Richard?) Jones – mentioned in E.C. Pendry's notes in the Dent Everyman 1976 edition of Complete Plays and Poems];

First published: 1590;

Earliest extant edition: 1594 [presumably that published by Jones].

The 1592 writing and 1590 first publication dates are clearly incompatible, and I'd guess that 1590 is in error, but lacking expertise in this field I can't assume that there was no edition prior to Jones', so I can't just change 1590 to 1592 (or -3, or -4).

For what it's worth, Pendry says:

"Marlowe's main source was Holinshed. To this he added the shaving-scene——which, if it comes from Stow's [The] Annales [of England] (1592), gives a clue to the date of the play."

Can anyone resolve this? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.208.88.97 (talk) 21:45, 17 May 2022 (UTC)

90, if you don't get a good reply here, you could try WP:Reference desk/Humanities. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 07:25, 18 May 2022 (UTC)

Malthouse Theatre?

Under Christopher_Marlowe#Works_of_Marlowe_in_performance, is it WP:PROPORTIONate to include? Fwiw, no WP-article on this theatre [1] Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 07:40, 13 September 2023 (UTC)

“Years active” in infobox

Currently, the infobox states that Marlowe was active from 1564–1593. Given that Marlowe was baptized in 1564, and only received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1584, this date really ought to be pushed later. However, I will leave it to those more knowledgeable than myself to determine what this date ought to be. Johan Brahm (talk) 02:39, 15 October 2023 (UTC)

Per Template:Infobox person, "Date range in years during which the subject was active in their principal occupation(s) and/or other activity for which they are notable.", so yeah. I changed it to "c. mid-1580s–1593" per what the article said about Dido. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 05:36, 15 October 2023 (UTC)