Clarke Hulse wrote:-
> The problem of the thesis of Marlowe as Philip Sidney's page-boy is that
> when Marlowe was arrested with Baines in the Low Countries in the early
> 1590s for counterfeiting, and remanded by Robert Sidney back to London, RS
> refers to him, if memory serves, as "one Marley, a scholar" or something in
> that vein. Doesn't sound as if he's ever heard of the fellow before.
Yes but -- Marlowe was let off. And besides, this was twenty years
afterwards and he had been known in the early 1570s as 'John Fisher'.
(Don't ask me why he used that name; I don't know -- but he did!)
> Since Marlowe was claiming to RS that he knows all sorts of important
> people back home, RS would likely have handled it very differently if he
> knew who Marlowe was, especially in a context where his brother's sacred
> reputation might hang in the balace.
A few years had lapsed. Presumably RS had to be seen to be doing his
job -- but, as I said, Marlowe was released anyway. He was Mr Teflon
man; he kept getting into trouble but was always let off. Nothing stuck.
Friends in high places? You bet....
> There are, however, traces and hints in the correspondance surrounding the
> Sidney/Bryskett trip on the continent about behaviors within the group
> about which some of the elders were not happy. All very vague. I can't
> give a precise reference offhand, but the Osborne edition of Sidney
> selected letters is the place to look.
Alan Stewart covers it in his recent book, 'Philip Sidney: A Double Life'.
> In short, Spenser-Harvey-Bryskett should provide enough meat for these
> stews without the seasoning of Marlowe.
Marlowe was in there but never mentioned by name. Read Harvey's
and Spenser's letters. Marlowe became 'Shakespeare' and he is the
sole reason why I got into the subject. He is the meat and they are the
veggies :-)
Peter Zenner
+44 (0) 1246 271726
Visit my web site 'Zenigmas' at
http://www.pzenner.freeserve.co.uk
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