John Marston Criticism
John Marston (1576–1634) was an influential English dramatist and poet, recognized for his work on plays like The Malcontent and his violent, revenge-fueled tragedies. Marston's repertoire includes city comedies and classically-inspired satires, reflecting both the grandeur and the excesses of Elizabethan drama. His work, once neglected, has undergone a critical resurgence with scholars today acknowledging his important contribution to Elizabethan literary history, as noted by H. Harvey Wood.
Born in Oxfordshire, Marston was the son of a lawyer and attended Brasenose College, Oxford. Despite his father's hopes for a legal career, Marston found his calling in literature and theater. His early satires, like The Metamorphosis of Pigmalions Image and The Scourge of Villanie, earned him a reputation for sharp wit. After a ban on satirical works, he transitioned to playwriting, collaborating with notable dramatists such as Thomas Dekker and Ben Jonson, with whom he had a famously contentious yet ultimately amicable relationship.
Marston's major plays explore themes of power, morality, and social corruption, blending satire with tragic elements. Antonio's Revenge, a significant work, is noted for its graphic depiction of vengeance, drawing on the Senecan tradition and engaging in a dialog with Shakespeare's Hamlet, as observed by Kenneth J.E. Graham. The Malcontent, considered his masterpiece, combines philosophical satire with an intricate plot and thoughtful characterizations. Philip J. Finkelpearl and others have explored its moral and political dimensions.
Critics like William Hazlitt and Algernon Swinburne have praised Marston's potent yet flawed style, appreciating its sincerity and distinctiveness. T.S. Eliot, in particular, underscored Marston's "distorted and obstructed genius," especially in plays like Sophonisba. Marston's works remain a subject of scholarly interest, with ongoing debates surrounding themes, literary influences, and the interplay of gender roles, notably in The Dutch Courtesan, as analyzed by Coppelia Kahn.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Essays
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William Hazlitt
(summary)
In the following excerpt from an essay originally written in 1820, Hazlitt discusses Marston primarily as a satirist, praising the power of his dramas despite their "impatient scorn," "bitter indignation," and indelicate language.
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Elizabethan Drama
(summary)
In the following excerpt from an essay written between 1820 and 1825, Lamb offers brief commentary on Marston's Antonio and Mellida and What You Will, comparing the former to Shakespeare's King Lear.
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John Marston
(summary)
Here, Swinburne attempts to defend the merits of Marston's style from his detractors, asserting that, while the dramatist can be both inconsistent and coarse in his choice of language and subject matter, his writing is "striking and sincere" in its own, very individual way.
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An introduction to The Plays of John Marston
(summary)
Wood's three-volume edition of Marston's plays was highly influential in bringing about a resurgence of interest in the dramatist during the 1930s. In the following excerpt from his introduction to that edition, Wood stresses the difficulty of evaluating Marston's 'worth' as a writer. He adds that Marston is a highly original thinker and concludes that, 'with all his faults … Marston had very positive virtues to commend him.'
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John Marston
(summary)
Below, Eliot argues that Marston has been underrated as a dramatist, partly as a result of comparisons between his work and that of Shakespeare. Eliot suggests that Sophonisba is Marston's best play and 'the most nearly adequate expression of his distorted and obstructed genius.'
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John Marston-Thomas Dekker: Melodrama and Civic Comedy
(summary)
Here, Boas presents an overview of Marston's career, tracing changes in his style as it developed. He also declares that critical opinions have changed in Marston scholarship.
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John Marston, Beaumont and Fletcher
(summary)
Below, Ornstein describes Marston as a playwright who commercially exploited various philosophical notions without demonstrating an understanding of them.
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Sharp-fanged Satirist
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Caputi examines Marston's style in the various satires, focusing on his use of speeches, types, and exempla, and discussing how he further developed these techniques in his plays.
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The Malcontent: Virtuous Machiavellianism
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Finkelpearl explores the moral and political dimensions of The Malcontent, emphasizing Marston's use of the doubling motif in the characterization of Malevole/Altofronto.
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Marston's Accomplishment
(summary)
Ingram evaluates Marston's overall place in and contribution to Jacobean dramatic literature, praising his "zest" and theatrical sense.
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Dreams, Innovation and Technique
(summary)
Below, Scott discusses Marston's mastery of dramatic technique, focusing on ways in which his plays fuse intellectual and subconscious response in the reader.
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Whores and Wives in Jacobean Drama
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Kahn examines The Dutch Courtesan in the context of the evolving depiction of women's sexuality in Jacobean drama.
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The Mysterious Plainness of Anger: The Search for Justice in Satire and Revenge Tragedy
(summary)
Here, Graham discusses Marston's handling of anger in The Scourge of Villanie, Antonio and Mellida, and Antonio's Revenge, arguing that "his work shows a plainness that questions all values, thus transforming anger from a reflection of some prior reality to pure self-expression."
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William Hazlitt
(summary)
- Further Reading