Historicist Analysis of Christopher Marlowes The Passionate Shepherd to His Love - Essay Example

? Historicist Analysis of Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” The posthumously published poem of Christopher Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” was actually more than just a shepherd proposing to his lover. It was a reflection of the turbulent and materialistic times of 16th century England, during the time that the poem was written. The poem, with all its complexities, reflects the condemnation of the poet himself against the conventions of the urban culture of Elizabethan England. Marlowe’s poem “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” was actually a song, and so it was obviously set to music during the time that it was written. The poem or the song was written during the time when the art focused on the idea of idyllic country settings, where shepherds were love-sick and obsessed with their lovers. It was also the time when musical composers and artists praised the country settings and consider them their usual subject (“Christopher Marlowe”). However, although this is the realistic element in the poem, some lines in the poem are obviously a product of the shepherd’s rich and love-filled imagination. For example, in the line where he wants to give his lover “A gown made of the finest wool” (13) and slippers “With buckles of the purest gold” (16), the shepherd is obviously only imagining giving these very expensive presents to his lover. Nevertheless, although he cannot possibly afford it, he tells her about it as a proof of the greatness and sincerity of his love for her. Moreover, the phrases “finest wool” and “purest gold” may actually represent the purity of the shepherd’s intent and love for his lover. It would then be interesting to think that the Elizabethan era during the late 16th century and the early 17th century was actually a time when lovers were sincere about their proposals of love. According to information from the Norton Anthology of Poetry, the life of Christopher Marlowe was actually not the same as the bucolic peacefulness of “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.” Despite the tranquil rural setting of the poem, Marlowe was a rather energetic spy and entrepreneur of his time. The modern-day market during the commercial revolution during his time was also far from the ideally simple life of the shepherd in his poem, for Marlowe desired fortune during his time. Moreover, there was also disease, crime and violence during his time in England – which are actually elements that are entirely in contrast with the calmness and tranquility of the mood in the poem. In fact, according to the Norton Anthology of Poetry, Marlowe was involved in a number of controversies and his life was reflective of the urban violence during his time. In 1589 he was involved in a brawl that brought him to hail. In 1591, he was accused of atheism and treason, which were heavy crimes during those times. On Ma 18, 1593, he was arrested for blasphemy although these were merely allegations, for which a trial began on May 20. However, in 1593, on May 30, at the age of 29, he was stabbed with a dagger but the motives were unconfirmed whether this was related to his arrest or if it was the killer’s personal vendetta against Marlowe’s atheism and epicurean lifestyle (“Biography”). During the time that Marlowe wrote “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” it was the year 1593, the pastoral genre of poetry gained popularity, although the poem was posthumously published in 1599. The shepherd poet became a regular symbol of romance, pastoral text and erotic love. Particularly, in Marlowe’s poem, there is simplicity of language pertaining particularly to the use of vernacular. It therefore shows charm and wit without pomposity or pretention. It is the reflection of courtly love without the trappings of metaphors as well as other elitist and artificial elements (Zlateva 126). In short, the poem shows utmost simplicity. However, such simplicity even reflects in the trip around the countryside of England that the poet shows. This element of simplicity is fused with the elements of complex urban life. This is a testament to what Montrose said about pastoral poems: “Elizabethan practice confirms that pastoral has an affinity for paradox” (Everton 2). Such simplicity in the poem is all about a progression from the valleys and hills, and a continuing movement that staged a virtual trip of the British countryside. The goal is to “move” the mind of the reader (Zlateva 124). Moreover, as the poem starts with an invitation – “Come live with me and be my love/ And we will all the pleasures prove” (Marlowe 1-2) – it also seeks to invite the reader to such a calm and tranquil trip (Zlateva 124). Nevertheless, amidst the tranquility and calmness, the poem shows not a renunciation of material things and of corruption but rather a “conspicuous consumption of foreign luxuries and commodities” that were symbolic of 16th century London (124). In short, through his poem, Marlowe showed the combination of the pastoral love of the countryside and the commercial revolution that was happening in London at that time. According to Zlateva, Marlowe mentioned some products in the poem that came from the countryside and were more directly related to pastoral life, such as the finest wool “which from our pretty lambs we pull” (Marlowe 14) and the “belt of straw and ivy buds” (18). These are products not sold in modern urban England. However, other things mentioned in the poem resembled luxury and showed the “aristocratic ethos of leisure and idleness” (Zlateva 125). These include “fair lined slippers for the cold/With buckles of the purest gold” (Marlowe 15-16), “silver dishes for thy meat” (21), “an ivory table” (23) and even the “beds of roses” (9), which may actually symbolize impracticality. The combination of luxurious materialism and the tranquility of courtly love was therefore one of the probable goals of Marlowe. However, it could be symbolic of the confusion that the poet was undergoing at the time of writing – for, while the poem focused largely on rural love and beauty, Marlowe was a man of the city. Moreover, in the late 16th century, when the poem was written, England was experiencing several problems such as bad harvests, the war against Spain, recurrences of the bubonic plague, famine, and the fear of succession, especially that Elizabeth I was old and would soon be replaced (Gurr). In short, turbulent political and social times dominated Britain during the time that Marlowe wrote the poem. However, as he could not divorce himself from these concerns, he probably cleverly injected the elements of the urban life into the rural setting of the poem. Moreover, it is also possible that Marlowe was rejecting or renouncing the complexities, troubles and pressures of urban life, but since he cannot reconcile such renunciation with the tranquility of idyllic countryside and the pleasures of courtly love, he made these items of luxury seem impractical in the poem. He cleverly did this through contrast. When he mentioned “fair lined slippers for the cold/With buckles of the purest gold” (Marlowe 15-16), he exaggerated the expression in such a way that people would think that this luxurious golden item could only be afforded by the knight in his courtly love but not by a shepherd even with as much love for his lover. Thus, people would condemn the impracticality or materialism of the shepherd and eventually condemn the same qualities of urban life and influence. During Marlowe’s time, and something which was connected with the accusations against him and his arrests, his heroic couplets were ordered by the bishop of London and the archbishop of Canterbury to be burned in 1599, the year when he wrote “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” (Foster 180). Although it was not exactly known whether Marlowe’s this particular poem was also included in what was ordered to be burned. The reason for this, however, was that Marlowe’s poems were “events” which somehow were critical of the corruption of the late 16th century England (180). The explanation for this, however, was rather unclear. It was, however, probable that the works were ordered to be burned because of accusations of blasphemy and atheism against him, which were actually totally divorced from his pastoral poems but which perhaps the bishops feared was included in his poems. Marlowe’s poem also somehow emphasized the lowly shepherd who belonged to the lower class the poet’s time, and who had no formal education at all despite the importance of his job and its difficulty. However, as the poem was somehow paradoxical in nature, Marlowe could have possibly combined the materialistic and manipulative characteristics of the courtier with the simplicity of the shepherd’s character (Everton 2; Fenney 9). The goal of Marlowe here was probably to show the readers of his time the contrast between the shallow, manipulative love prevalent in the urban setting among the educated aristocrats and the sincere and intensely deep love of even the most uneducated people of the countryside. Such illustration must have moved many readers both in the urban and in the rural settings. Lastly, the poem may actually be a critique or a criticism of the present times, much like a satire. In fact, according to Everton, the pastoral poem implies “a process of critical reflection and awareness” of what was going on during the time that it was written (Everton 2). This means that more than anything else, the poem served as a way for people to contemplate what was exactly going on in England during that time, and that it served to make them think whether they were already embracing the materialism prevalent during those times. Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” was a testament of the turbulent times of 16th century England and a reflection of the sentiments of the poet at the time that it was written. It was a satire against materialism, of insincere love, and of manipulation. Most of all, it was a piece meant for the reader’s critical reflection of the turbulent and challenging times in 16th century England. Top of Form Bottom of Form Works Cited “Biography.” 2013. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. 4 Nov 2013. “Christopher Marlowe.” 2013. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. 4 Nov 2013. Everton, Michael. “Critical Thumbprints in Arcadia: Renaissance Pastoral and the Process of Critique.” Style 35:1 (2001): 1-17. Fenney, Alicia D. “Rhetorical Play between Marlowe and Raleigh.” Midnight Oil: The Wheaton Undergraduate Review 28 (2007): 9-15. Foster, Brett. “Reading Marlowe Again.” The Kenyon Review 31:4 (2009): 179-183. Gurr, Andrew. “England in 1599.” British Theater 35 (2008): 369-376. Zlateva, Ioanna. “Poetics and Politics of Nature in Three Early Modern English Poems.” University of Bucharest Review 14:1 (2012): 123-131. Read More