THE PLAYS

If Shakespeare had died at the age Marlowe died, there would have been noquestion that Marlowe was the leading figure in English Renaissance drama.This edition of all his plays shows why. The plays give us a clear pictureof Marlowe as a radical theatrical poet of great linguistic and dramaticdaring, whose characters constantly strive to break out of the social,religious and rhetorical bonds within which they are confined. Accusedduring his lifetime of blasphemy and homosexuality, Marlowe still has thepower to challenge our assumptions about conventional morality, throughhis innovative theatricality. By placing less-known plays such as TheMassacre at Paris and Dido Queen of Carthage alongside the acknowledgedmasterpieces Edward II and Dr Faustus, this edition gives a full pictureof Marlowe's distinctive and provocative talent.