History Play: the Lives And Afterlife Of Christopher Marlowe

Description

Rodney Bolt's delightful life of Marlowe plays out a surprising solution to an enduring literary mystery, bringing the spirit of Shakespeare alive as we've never seen it before. Rodney Bolt's book is not an attempt to prove that, rather than dying at 29 in a tavern brawl, Christopher Marlowe staged his own death, fled to Europe, and went on to write the work attributed to Shakespeare. Instead, it takes that as the starting point for a playful and brilliantly written "fake biography" of Marlowe, which turns out to be a life of the Bard as well. Using real historical sources (as well as the occasional red herring) plus a generous dose of speculation, Bolt paints a rich and rollicking picture of Elizabethan life. As we accompany Marlowe into the halls of academia, the society of the popular English players traveling Europe, and the dangerous underworld of Elizabethan espionage, a fascinating and almost plausible life story emerges, along with a startlingly fresh look at the plays and poetry we know as Shakespeare's. Tapping into centuries of speculation about the man behind the work, about whom so few facts are known for sure, Rodney Bolt slyly winds the lives of two beloved playwrights into one.;Intro; Title Page; Table of contents; Acknowledgements; Foreword; PROLOGUE A Dead Man in Deptford; PART I; CHAPTER ONE Prejaces to Shakespeare; CHAPTER TWO Une Histoire Inventee; CHAPTER THREE Catch My Soul; CHAPTER FOUR Gentlemen of a Company; Interlude; PART Il; CHAPTER FIVE West Side Story; CHAPTER SIX Gypsy Soul; CHAPTER SEVEN Men of Respect; CHAPTER EIGHT Shakespeare in Love; CHAPTER NINE Theatre of Blood; CHAPTER TEN The Mousetrap; CHAPTER ELEVEN The Reckoning; Interlude; PART Ill; CHAPTER TWELVE His Exits and His Entrances; CHAPTER THIRTEEN In the Bleak Midwinter