ΤΟ HENRY IRVING, WHO, BY HIS HISTRIONIC GENIUS, HAS KINDLED FRESH ENTHUSIASM FOR THE SHAKESPEREAN DRAMA, THIS SHORT SKETCH OF SHAKESPEARE'S GREAT PREDECESSOR Is gratefully inscribed. “Alcun non può saper da chi sia amato 458758 PREFATORY NOTE. The greater part of the following pages was written with the view of stimulating the inhabitants of Marlowe's birthplace to take an interest in the poet's writings, and to do themselves the honour of helping on the Memorial which was then under discussion. The writer was amazed at the ignorance, apathy, or positive hostility displayed with reference to Marlowe. Some had never even heard of his name; others had a vague remembrance that he was a dramatist; whilst others again preferred to believe the unproved assertions of the poet's enemies, rather than to accept gratefully the glorious gift of the poet's works. Fortunately Marlowe's admirers, scarce though they may be in his native city, are plentiful enough elsewhere, and are not likely to diminish, so that his name and fame are for ever secure. In sending this little book forth among a wider public the only hope of the writer is that it may cause others to go to the writings of the great originator of the English drama, and study them for themselves. A rich reward is in store for such students. N the register of St. George's Church, Canterbury, occurs this entry: "1563, The 26th day of February was christened Christopher the sonne of John Marlowe." Two months later (old style) the parish register of Stratford-on-Avon records the christening of William Shakespeare, so that the two men who have left the deepest impress on our national drama-the first as the pioneer of new paths, the second as the triumphant explorer of the new regions-entered the world at about the same time. But they were not destined to quit it so close together, for whilst 30 years was the limit of Marlowe's tempestuous and highlycharged career, Shakespeare's life ran on to 52. The question whether Marlowe could ever have rivalled Shakespeare as a dramatist will be glanced at later on, but, judging by the apparent ease with which he attained mastery over his art, and by the great superiority of his later work compared with Tamburlaine, it is surely not extravagant to suppose that after an additional 10 or 15 years' acquaintance with the joys and sorrows of human life he would have left us some masterpieces worthy of being ranged by the side of those of the Avon bard? At any rate, it must be granted that no poet in his early work ever gave richer promise than Marlowe, and although criticism is only bound to estimate the actual achievement, still the age at which a work was written cannot wholly be left out of consideration for purposes of comparison or contrast. TO VIMU Marlowe came of a family which had been established in Canterbury for several hundred years. His forefathers appear to have been traders, some of whom amassed sufficient wealth to be able to further public objects. Christopher's father was a shoemaker and a freeman of the city. He must have been held in some consideration, if, as Mr. Ingram supposes, the Catherine Arthur whom he married in 1561, was the daughter of Christopher Arthur, Rector of St. Peter's, and a gentleman entitled to bear arms. This question of the status of the poet's mother is a most interesting one, and seems to corroborate the commonly received opinion that most great writers have been fortunate in possessing intelligent, refined mothers. The whole of Marlowe's early youth was probably spent at Canterbury, which at that time appears to have been merrier than it is now; for feasting and public games were the order of the day, and plays and pageants were frequently given. Perhaps the latter class of entertainment may have awakened and fostered in little Kit Marlowe that dramatic element which was afterwards to be so overpoweringly manifested. There are no wonderful stories related of Marlowe's precocity, in fact it may as well be stated at once that the materials for constructing his biography are scanty and incomplete, though not more so than is usual in the case of our early dramatic poets. It is certain that he was admitted on the foundation of the King's School, Canterbury, at Michaelmas, 1578, where he must have made acquaintances among the best-born youth of the county, but where, judging from other institutions of the kind at that period, it is unlikely that his studies were either deep or extensive. It is pleasant to picture little Christopher as a gallant, high-spirited youth, joining in the games of skill and daring which were then current, or wandering about the tranquil walks of the Cathedral Precincts, and indulging, perhaps, in roseate dreams of the future. Surely, in after years, amid the storm and stress of his London life, he must sometimes have looked back regretfully upon the calm days passed at the King's School? The next important date in Marlowe's life is 1581, for he then, being in his 18th year, matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where, if it resembled St. John's College at that time, life was anything but a bed of roses. The following contemporary description of student-life at the latter College is quoted by Mr. Ingram in a recent number of the "Universal Review.' "There be divers there which rise daily about 4 or 5 of the clock in the morning, and from 5 till 6 of the clock use common prayer, with an exhortation of God's Word, in a common chapel ; and from 6 until 10 of the clock use ever either private study or common lectures. At 10 of the clock they go to dinner, when as they be content with a penny piece of beef among four, having a pottage made of the broth of the same beef, with salt and oatmeal, and nothing else. After this slender diet they be either teaching or learning until 5 of the clock in the evening; when as they have a supper not much better than their dinner. Immediately after which they go either to reasoning in problems or to some other study, until it be 9 or 10 |