Overview

In repressive Elizabethan England, artists are frightened into dull conventionality; foreigners are suspect; popular entertainment largely consists of coarse spectacles, animal fights, and hangings. Into this crude world of government censorship and religious authoritarianism comes an ambitious cobbler’s son from Canterbury with a daring desire to be known—and an uncanny ear for Latin poetry. A torment for most schoolboys, yet for a few, like Christopher Marlowe, a secret portal to beauty, visionary imagination, transgressive desire, and dangerous skepticism. What Marlowe seizes in his rare opportunity for a classical education, and what he does with it, brings about a spectacular explosion of English literature, language, and culture. His astonishing literary success will, in turn, nourish the talent of a collaborator and rival, William Shakespeare. Dark Renaissance illuminates both Marlowe’s times and the origins and significance of his work—from his erotic translations of Ovid to his portrayal of unfettered ambition in a triumphant Tamburlaine to Doctor Faustus, his unforgettable masterpiece about making a pact with the devil in exchange for knowledge. Introducing us to Marlowe’s transgressive genius in the form of a thrilling page-turner, Stephen Greenblatt brings a penetrating understanding of the literary work to reveal the inner world of the author, bringing to life a homosexual atheist who was tormented by his own compromises, who refused to toe the party line, and who was murdered just when he had found love. Meanwhile, he explores how the people Marlowe knew, and the transformations they wrought, gave birth to the economic, scientific, and cultural power of the modern world including Faustian bargains with which we reckon still.

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Reviews

""A rigorous and sparkling exploration of what makes an artist. Essential and addictive reading: Stephen Greenblatt’s Kit Marlowe leaps from the page with all the élan and immediacy of his plays."" -- Maggie O'Farrell, author of Hamnet ""Brilliant and riveting. . . . No critic has done more than Stephen Greenblatt to illuminate Marlowe’s world and work."" -- James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare ""A thrilling portrait of the English theatre’s great transgressor. Stephen Greenblatt gives brilliant life to Marlowe's vaunting intellect, his reckless sexuality, his double-dealing with the security services and above all his theatrical imagination, which exploded out of nowhere to transform the Elizabethan stage."" -- Sir Nicholas Hytner, former Artistic Director of London’s National Theatre ""The era- and genre-transforming radicalism of Christopher Marlowe’s work has never been examined more cogently. . . . In gorgeous, gracefully authoritative prose, Stephen Greenblatt makes the miracle of artistic genius inhabit a recognizably human plane."" -- Tony Kushner, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Angels in America ""A staggering achievement in character study, about the man who could have been king of the poets had Shakespeare not supplanted him. . . . From the formidable twenty-first-century mind of Stephen Greenblatt, this is an all-inclusive exploration of one of the sixteenth century’s most consequential and extraordinary talents."" -- John Douglas Thompson, Tony Award-nominated actor in Tamburlaine, Parts I and II ""A vivid back-stage tour of the turbulent world from which Marlowe emerged and what may have been his enduring impact on early modern culture. Essential reading."" -- Farah Karim-Cooper, director, Folger Shakespeare Library ""Stephen Greenblatt’s writing is effortless, his humor superb, his arguments unanswerable. He brings to life Marlowe in the way that he did Shakespeare. . . . In short, he has done it again: written a totally engrossing, compelling read."" -- Eric Idle, Grammy Award-winning lyricist, and co-creator of the Monty Python comedy group ""Effortlessly gripping and unputdownable."" -- Neel Mukherjee, author of Choice

""This brilliant and riveting book brings Christopher Marlowe out of the shadows, capturing the remarkable and sudden life (and the no less sudden and violent death) of this extraordinary Elizabethan poet and playwright. No critic has done more than Stephen Greenblatt to illuminate Marlowe’s world and work. Dark Renaissance is a worthy successor and companion to Will in the World."" -- James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare ""A staggering achievement in character study, about the man who could have been king of the poets had Shakespeare not supplanted him: Christopher Marlowe. This engaging book brings to vivid detail the tremendous arc of Marlowe’s life, complete with a cast of fascinating characters, all within the tapestry of events shaping the beauty and brutality of the Elizabethan Era. From the formidable 21st-century mind of Stephen Greenblatt, this is an all-inclusive exploration of one of the 16th century's most consequential and extraordinary talents."" -- John Douglas Thompson, Tony Award nominated actor in Tamburlaine, Parts I and II ""The era-and genre-transforming radicalism of Christopher Marlowe’s work has never been examined more cogently or with such immediacy than in this genuinely thrilling, almost terrifying account of his shockingly reckless and courageous life. In gorgeous, gracefully authoritative prose, Stephen Greenblatt makes the miracle of artistic genius inhabit a recognizably human plane."" -- Tony Kushner, Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright of Angels in America ""Stephen Greenblatt’s writing is effortless, his humor superb, his arguments unanswerable. He brings to life Marlowe in the way that he did Shakespeare. Through their writing as well as through the scant historical details of their lives, Greenblatt make them live for us. In short, he has done it again: written a totally engrossing, compelling read."" -- Eric Idle, Grammy Award winning lyricist, and the co-creator of the Monty Python comedy group ""I cannot think of a more effortlessly gripping and unputdownable non-fiction I've read in the last decade or so. Absolutely masterful, written with an extraordinary lightness of touch."" -- Neel Mukherjee, author of Choice ""A thrilling portrait of the English theatre’s great transgressor. Stephen Greenblatt gives brilliant life to Marlowe's vaunting intellect, his reckless sexuality, his double-dealing with the security services and above all his theatrical imagination, which exploded out of nowhere to transform the Elizabethan stage."" -- Sir Nicholas Hytner, former Artistic Director of London’s National Theatre ""A vivid back-stage tour of the turbulent world from which Marlowe emerged, revealing who Marlowe really was, what shaping influences created his drama and what may have been his enduring impact on early modern culture. Essential reading."" -- Farah Karim-Cooper, Director, Folger Shakespeare Library

""As was clear from Will in the World, such speculative riffs are not a weakness but a mainspring of [Greenblatt’s] biographical approach.... Greenblatt’s speculations are too well informed to be idle."" -- Anthony Lane - The New Yorker ""In Dark Renaissance,’ Mr. Greenblatt tells this murky but exhilarating tale with pace and gusto... No one can speculate with greater authority than Mr. Greenblatt."" -- Boyd Tonkin - Wall Street Journal ""[A] terrific read… ‘Dark Renaissance’ is a thrilling, twisty tale that brilliantly captures the horror and the possibilities of that lost, crepuscular world."" -- Jonathan Healey - New York Times ""Stephen Greenblatt has the rare ability to write vivid narratives for the general public that rest on firm scholarly foundations. This gift is particularly valuable in his new book, Dark Renaissance,’... Greenblatt crafts a brilliant recreation of the world Marlowe inhabited."" -- Wendy Smith - Washington Post ""Greenblatt has translated a donnish provocation into the sinews of an unforgettable literary biographical tour de force. Almost single-handed, he has curated a rehabilitation of Marlowe's reputation as the greatest rival, collaborator and exact contemporary of the glover's boy from Stratford."" -- Robert McCrum - The Independent ""This gripping biography focuses on Marlowe's brief, brilliant life."" -- The Times ""[E]legant, engrossing... From aristocrats to shopkeepers to “bawdy baskets” (prostitutes), Greenblatt captures the crowds that cut across classes. His analysis is Shakespearean in spirit, crisp and conversational, tipped with puns and wordplay... Dark Renaissance offers a genial tutorial on the vitality of a humanities education, kindled by Greenblatt’s close readings in an era of declining literacy and the rise of AI."" -- Hamilton Cain - Boston Globe ""[R]iveting... In previous books including Will in the World, his best-selling biography of Shakespeare, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Swerve, Greenblatt emphasized the importance of cultural context in understanding literature, the so-called ‘new historicism.’ In Dark Renaissance, he does so with dazzling effects, evoking England circa 1580 as an almost dystopian backwater”"" -- Ann Levin - Associated Press ""An evocative new biography."" -- The Economist ""The magic of Dark Renaissance, the usual Greenblatt magic, is the way he uses the individual life to illuminate corners of the surrounding culture."" -- Tablet Magazine ""Stephen Greenblatt’s attempt to reconstruct the playwright’s story is brilliant."" -- John Mullan - New Statesman ""Stephen Greenblatt’s superb skills as a literary historian and critic are thrillingly on display in ‘Dark Renaissance’… With its mix of fastidious scholarship, storytelling chops, and educated guesswork, ‘Dark Renaissance’ illuminates a cause for celebration in an age of darkness."" -- Heller McAlpin - Christian Science Monitor ""[A] brilliant work… Dark Renaissance is not to be missed by scholars or admirers of Marlowe or Shakespeare."" -- Ray Palen - Bookreporter ""Greenblatt efficiently traces Marlowe’s improbably journey... Greenblatt writes comfortably for a general audience despite his academic background, skillfully melding conventional biography with accessible and informative literary criticism."" -- Harvey Freedenberg - Bookpage ""[I]n Dark Renaissance, Greenblatt provides a rollicking good read, full of cunning conjecture about Marlowe’s life."" -- Tobias Grey - Air Mail ""A rigorous and sparkling exploration of what makes an artist. Essential and addictive reading: Stephen Greenblatt’s Kit Marlowe leaps from the page with all the élan and immediacy of his plays."" -- Maggie O'Farrell, author of Hamnet ""Brilliant and riveting. . . . No critic has done more than Stephen Greenblatt to illuminate Marlowe’s world and work."" -- James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare ""A thrilling portrait of the English theatre’s great transgressor. Stephen Greenblatt gives brilliant life to Marlowe's vaunting intellect, his reckless sexuality, his double-dealing with the security services and above all his theatrical imagination, which exploded out of nowhere to transform the Elizabethan stage."" -- Sir Nicholas Hytner, former Artistic Director of London’s National Theatre ""The era- and genre-transforming radicalism of Christopher Marlowe’s work has never been examined more cogently. . . . In gorgeous, gracefully authoritative prose, Stephen Greenblatt makes the miracle of artistic genius inhabit a recognizably human plane."" -- Tony Kushner, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Angels in America ""A staggering achievement in character study, about the man who could have been king of the poets had Shakespeare not supplanted him. . . . From the formidable twenty-first-century mind of Stephen Greenblatt, this is an all-inclusive exploration of one of the sixteenth century’s most consequential and extraordinary talents."" -- John Douglas Thompson, Tony Award-nominated actor in Tamburlaine, Parts I and II ""A vivid back-stage tour of the turbulent world from which Marlowe emerged and what may have been his enduring impact on early modern culture. Essential reading."" -- Farah Karim-Cooper, director, Folger Shakespeare Library ""Stephen Greenblatt’s writing is effortless, his humor superb, his arguments unanswerable. He brings to life Marlowe in the way that he did Shakespeare. . . . In short, he has done it again: written a totally engrossing, compelling read."" -- Eric Idle, Grammy Award-winning lyricist, and co-creator of the Monty Python comedy group ""Effortlessly gripping and unputdownable."" -- Neel Mukherjee, author of Choice ""As evocative as any novel, Stephen Greenblatt takes the reader into the biting cold and dark of the little ice age of Elizabethan England and explores the network of spies, patrons, poets and fraudsters who copied, exploited and trapped Christopher Marlowe. A triumphant piece of storytelling."" -- Philippa Gregory, author of The Other Boleyn Girl ""This is such a gleeful piece of writing. Greenblatt writes with his customary exuberance - which, of course, perfectly suits his principal subject, the life and work of Christopher Marlowe."" -- Simon Russell Beale ""A scintillating biography of Christopher Marlowe by one of America’s leading humanities scholars."" -- Kirkus (starred review) ""Greenblatt excels at immersing the reader in that time and place and has an ear for the delectable turn of phrase. The rich historical detail, thriller-like pacing, and an abundance of intrigue keep the pages turning."" -- Bill Kelly - Booklist

Author Information

Stephen Greenblatt is Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. He has written extensively on English Renaissance literature and acts as general editor of The Norton Anthology of English Literature and The Norton Shakespeare. He is the author of fourteen books, including The Swerve, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, and Will in the World, a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

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