The Murder of Christopher Marlowe

Bibliography

As one would expect with such an important literary figure as Christopher Marlowe, most of the literature about him concerns an evaluation of his work.  There are a number of biographies, but these concentrate on his literary output and contain very little about his life and death.  This is to be expected, since details about his life are secondhand, with very few documents directly concerning him.  Some of these biographies extol Marlowes supposed virtues, while others are less sympathetic.

As Bloom indicates, one can speculate on Marlowes character by studying his plays.  This I have done.  As mentioned above in the section Was Marlowe Really Murdered? I found rereading his plays hard going.  It is true that there are individual speeches by some of Marlowes characters that are thrilling, and poetry that are (as Ben Jonson put it) mighty lines, but the moral posturing of the characters, their two-dimensionality and their lack of human qualities make the plays seem primitive, much like the naïve morality plays of a century before.

The Reckoning by Charles Nicholl

However, there are a number of books and articles about Marlowe as Shakespeare, and these contain interesting details about events leading up to Deptford and the aftermath.  The vigorous defense of Marlowe as Shakespeare by Calvin Hoffman is the primary source, but works by Charlton Ogburn (who promotes the Earl of Oxford as Shakespeare) contain miscellaneous facts about Marlowe.  Members of the Marlowe Society (the Marlovians) have been very industrious in ferreting out odd facts about Marlowe and his possible death.

A documentary was recently broadcast on the PBS program Frontline, in which the authorship of Shakespeares plays was examined.  A great deal of the program was devoted to the supposedly faked death of Marlowe, and his subsequent career as the author of Shakespeares plays.  Many of the leading Marlovians were interviewed.

A book by crime writer M.J. Trow is to be published in June, 2003, and is entitled Who Killed Kit Marlowe? A Contract to Murder in Elizabethan England.

At least two films about Marlowe are in production.  The first is an adaptation of Anthony Burgesss novel A Dead Man in Deptford.  The second is a film starring Johnny Depp as Marlowe and Jude Law as Shakespeare, but the producers have not indicated the direction that this film is taking.

Finally, there have been a number of interesting novels that deal with Marlowe as the principal protagonist, or in which he makes significant appearances.  I have read three of them, and they are cited below.  From time to time, one reads about plays that have been written about Christopher Marlowe, but none of these appear to have had theatrical staying power.

Books

Bloom, Harold, editor.  1986.  Christopher Marlowe: Modern Critical Views.  Chelsea  House.

Burgess, Anthony.  1993.  A Dead Man in Deptford.  Allen & Unwin.

Cowell, Stephanie.  1994.  Nicholas Cooke, A Novel.  Ballantine Books.

Garrett, George.  1990.  Entered From the Sun.  Doubleday.

Hoffman, Calvin.  1960.  The Murder of the Man who was Shakespeare.  Grosset & Dunlap.

Ingram, John H.  1904 (1970 reprint).  Christopher Marlowe and His Associates.  Cooper Square.

Nicholl, Charles.  1992.  The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe.  Harcourt Brace.

Ogburn, Charlton.  1984.  The Mysterious William Shakespeare.  Dodd, Mead.

Parks, Edd Winfield and Richmond Croom Beatty.  1935.  The English Drama: An Anthology 900-1642.  W.W. Norton.

Articles

Anderson, Kimberly.  No date.  Christopher MarloweSecret Agent?  Kimberly Anderson Webpage.

Brandt, Bruce.  1995.  Special Fiction Section: Six Faces of Christopher Marlowe.  Marlowe Society Book Reviews.

Gage, Carolyn.  1997.  Meeting the Ghost of Hamlets Father.  On the Issues.

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1. The Official Story
2. Who Was Christopher Marlowe?
3. The Three Men in the Room
4. Was Marlowe Really Murdered?
5. Why Was He Murdered? Theory One
6. Why Was He Murdered? Theory Two
7. Why Was He Murdered? Theory Three
8. Evidence Marlowe was Silenced
9. New Chapter - The World of Christopher Marlowe
10. Bibliography