English, Scottish, & Welsh Drama, Irish Drama, Historical Drama, General & Miscellaneous Drama

Edward the Second

Name: Edward the Second
Author: Christopher Marlowe
ISBN: 9783847228059

by Christopher Marlowe

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Overview

In this new edition, Charles Forker provides the most complete and detailed edition of Edward II ever published. The introduction contains a fresh analysis of the first quarto (including new evidence of its original dating) and a reconsideration of the play's complex relation to the Shakespearean histories that preceded and followed it. Charles Forker offers a fascinating and far-reaching discussion of Marlowe's use of sources, and presents a new argument for the drama's five-act structure. He delves into the conflicting and controversial opinions concerning the genre and sexual politics of the play, and also includes the fullest record of the stage history ever assembled. With meticulous scholarship, Forker has collated some forty-six editions (including the important, rare, and usually ignored editions of Broughton and Oxberry in 1818). The appendices provide substantive variants from the Broughton and Oxberry texts as well as generous extracts from the sources. This edition will stand as the definitive scholarly text for Marlowe's most provocative play for years to come.

About the Author, Christopher Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564; died 30 May 1593) was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe was the foremost Elizabethan tragedian until his mysterious early death. Marlowe greatly influenced William Shakespeare, who was born in the same year as Marlowe and who rose to become the eminent Elizabethan playwright after Marlowe's death. Marlowe's plays are known for the use of blank verse, and their overreaching protagonists.