The Christopher Marlowe we are interested in is an English Dramatist, (not to be confused with the American sportcaster 'Chris Marlowe'. He is nowhere near as interesting or culturally/literarily? is that a word? exciting as our Marlowe). As Mr.Francis said to put links to other websites, I shall include a link to the wikipedia biography of Chris Marlowe, just for the curious folk and indeed the folk who should not be doing English Literature if you are more interested in him than our Marlowe. Here's the link nonetheless:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Marlowe
Anyway, back to our main man - Christopher Marlowe was baptised on the 26 February 1564 and died on the 30 May 1593 at the ripe old age of 29. He was an English Dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era, (i.e. a very long time ago and around the same time of our fave man Billy Shakespeare).
Alongside Willy himself, Marlowe was a famous Elizabethan tragedian and his work was actually much more popular than Shakespeare's at the time. The three things Marlowe was most famously known for were: 1. his blank verse, 2. his overreaching protagonists, and 3. his mysterious death.
Other than the formalities of his age of death and job rahrahrah, Marlowe's biography should really focus on the other aspects of his person and life that makes him so interestingly unique.
Atheism - Marlowe was reputed to be an atheist, which, at that time, made him an 'enemy of God' and really made him a bit of a rebel, a bit of a 'queer'. (Though we'll come to that later.) However, Marlowe was also, supposedly, a government spy, and his atheism may just have been a cover up or something to aid his investigations. Everything we assume as 'true' about Marlowe can always be questioned by the fact that he was a government spy, and thus nothing we assume about him can ever be proven as fact, (apart from his birth, death and main job ofc. although writing the odd play and poem may not have been his only job, cheeky).
Sexuality - Marlowe is sometimes seen today as a homosexual, a bit like Willy Shakespeare, maybe they had a thing? Sorry this biography is getting much too informal now. There are hints of it in his work, "in his looks were all that men desire", and an interesting quote, "All they that love not Tobacco and Boys are fools". However the quote may not be reliable and, due to his untimely death and the suspicious circumstances surrounding it, it may just have been made up/a rumour after he died. More on Marlowe's sexuality: http://www.duke.edu/web/emt/student_projects/steinberger/marlowe.html
His death - There are various accounts of Marlowe's death, which makes it very confusing and indeed very suspicious. Some say he was "stabbed to death by a bawdy serving-man, a rival of his in his lewd love" as "punishment for his atheism". And some say that he was killed in a drunken fight. Or, it may have been connected to the state secret service and his job as a government spy, and there was an argument over 'The Reckoning' bill, in which Marlowe was stabbed above the right eye, killing him instantly. Whatever happened, Marlowe died in suspicious and highly abnormal circumstances, and at such a young age! Such a waste! CONSPIRACY THEORIES IN MORE DETAIL OOOH LALA: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2577206
Aaaaand we will be studying one of his fab creations, 'Faustus'.
P.s. I must apologise that I can't get the pictures I have onto the blog for some reason which is highly disappointing and upsetting. I will try again later, not sure if it's my computer or my technical incompetence?
Monday, 18 July 2011
Sunday, 3 July 2011
NOSFERATUUUUUU - gothic ideas/atmospheres
Okay so we all know 'gothic' tings tend to be scaary. In nosferatu, the idea of there being something to be frightened of is set up near the beginning with the ironic 'don't be afraid', in fact, the audience should be afraaaid, they should be veery afraaid.
Much of the landscape throughout the film is subterraneous, (as it was in the two extracts we looked at for homework). This makes the story more tense, especially when Harker is trying to return to his wife, it is difficult and there are many, I quote, 'obstacles' in his way. This makes the atmosphere all the more dramatic, will he get back to her safely? Will he not? It keeps the whole gothic idea of the 'unknown' alive and thus the tension is also kept alive (or dead, muahahaha).
There is also the idea of dramatic irony. There is the idea of secret knowledge at the beginning when Harker is unaware that dracula or 'nosferatu' is evil, but all the townsfolk know. This dramatic irony is also present when people keep dying and the 'medical world', 'townspeople' and basically everyone, is confuzzled as to why this is happening and come to the conclusion that it must be the plague killing everyone. However, we, the clever ol' audience, know it's really dracula biting people, the cheeky monk. Dramatic irony is also used when the people have 'no idea of the terrible cargo' they're carrying, i.e. draccy boi, but the audience know he's there, in his coffin of earth. Which leads onto my next point about the gothic idea of being connected to nature in some way, by the fact that the coffins have to be 'earth-filled' for dracula to keep his power. There's also the whole 'vampire of the vegetable kingdom' ting which might link vampires to nature? Maybe? But anyway, there is this whole terror of the 'unknown' which seems to be a recurring gothic theme, no-one knows it's draccy murdering everyone and half the time people don't even know he's there, what with the hiding in the cargo bit in the ship n all, he's a sneaky one that drac.
The idea of being 'forbidden to do something' also crops up a few times, and it also links in with the 'corruption of innocence', e.g. when Nina reads 'The Book of Vampires' even when she has promised not to. Another idea is the idea of 'mind control' or just generally magical/psychic things happening. E.g. Nina and her hubby seem to be 'in tune' as she seems to know he is in danger when she sleep walks. There also seems to be some supernatural psychic connection between Renfield and Dracula, Renfield goes 'out of his mind' and is also aware of when his 'master' arrives at the town. This may show Dracula's magical/supernatural powers and how he may use them to control people.
There may also be the idea of being forceably constrained by society, as Harker has to talk and do business with Dracula even though his senses are telling him he's a creepy other-worldly crazy man. Can you blame him? I mean, drac walks like an absolute creep, what with the massive hunched shoulders and starey eyes and all. Odd man.
Much of the landscape throughout the film is subterraneous, (as it was in the two extracts we looked at for homework). This makes the story more tense, especially when Harker is trying to return to his wife, it is difficult and there are many, I quote, 'obstacles' in his way. This makes the atmosphere all the more dramatic, will he get back to her safely? Will he not? It keeps the whole gothic idea of the 'unknown' alive and thus the tension is also kept alive (or dead, muahahaha).
There is also the idea of dramatic irony. There is the idea of secret knowledge at the beginning when Harker is unaware that dracula or 'nosferatu' is evil, but all the townsfolk know. This dramatic irony is also present when people keep dying and the 'medical world', 'townspeople' and basically everyone, is confuzzled as to why this is happening and come to the conclusion that it must be the plague killing everyone. However, we, the clever ol' audience, know it's really dracula biting people, the cheeky monk. Dramatic irony is also used when the people have 'no idea of the terrible cargo' they're carrying, i.e. draccy boi, but the audience know he's there, in his coffin of earth. Which leads onto my next point about the gothic idea of being connected to nature in some way, by the fact that the coffins have to be 'earth-filled' for dracula to keep his power. There's also the whole 'vampire of the vegetable kingdom' ting which might link vampires to nature? Maybe? But anyway, there is this whole terror of the 'unknown' which seems to be a recurring gothic theme, no-one knows it's draccy murdering everyone and half the time people don't even know he's there, what with the hiding in the cargo bit in the ship n all, he's a sneaky one that drac.
The idea of being 'forbidden to do something' also crops up a few times, and it also links in with the 'corruption of innocence', e.g. when Nina reads 'The Book of Vampires' even when she has promised not to. Another idea is the idea of 'mind control' or just generally magical/psychic things happening. E.g. Nina and her hubby seem to be 'in tune' as she seems to know he is in danger when she sleep walks. There also seems to be some supernatural psychic connection between Renfield and Dracula, Renfield goes 'out of his mind' and is also aware of when his 'master' arrives at the town. This may show Dracula's magical/supernatural powers and how he may use them to control people.
There may also be the idea of being forceably constrained by society, as Harker has to talk and do business with Dracula even though his senses are telling him he's a creepy other-worldly crazy man. Can you blame him? I mean, drac walks like an absolute creep, what with the massive hunched shoulders and starey eyes and all. Odd man.
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