Christopher Marlowe’s Birthday
February 6
“What are kings, when regiment is gone,
But perfect shadows in a sunshine day?”
King Edward in Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II
This blog is taken from my October 12 writing from Theatre Is My Life. We can’t go through this day without observing the birthday of the great Renaissance playwright, Christopher Marlowe!
When Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, England performed Edward II in 2011, reviewer Charlotte Starkey remarked, “Five weeks after the murder of Christopher Marlowe, on the evening of 30th May 1593 in Deptford, the text of Edward II was entered in the Stationer’s Register, as required by law, and it has been argued that the play itself was in existence as early as 1591 — a date recently argued for some of Shakespeare’s English history plays, too.” The full title of the first publication of the play is quite a mouthful: The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer.
Marlowe’s play tells the tale of the short rule and meteoric downfall of King Edward II (who lived from 1284 to 1327). It was an unruly period in England during civil war. A weak king relied upon his favorites, and powerless nobleman stirred up trouble. Even Queen Isabella took a role in a conspiracy against her husband.
As he surveys the shattered remains of his kingdom, King Edward II becomes philosophical and compares himself to a perfect shadow “in a sunshine day.” Starkey goes on to say about the quote, “The beauty of the paradox within that image belies the horror of Edward’s death. This is a tragedy of a king, a queen, a country, a family, a man and a boy. This production at different moments gave Edward all these roles and, as in Marlowe’s text, Edward simply could neither play nor resolve them all. Marlowe himself played a few and had the same problem and, tragically, an equally fateful, early demise.”
Don’t we all feel like that sometimes, though? A mere shadow of that something we were before, feeling less strong and less powerful than we were in the past, even a moment ago? One translation of Job 17:7 is, “My eye also is dim by reason of sorrow. All my members are as a shadow.” Cancer may do it, illness, failed marriage, addiction, abuse, the death of a significant person in your life, or as in the case of Job, a number of these misfortunes.
Depression, postpartum, and even menopause can overwhelm a person to the point of leaving the old self behind. You can look at Marlowe’s quote and take the word “regiment” to mean “to order or control,” rather than its intended meaning of a king’s battalion. Probably most of us find ourselves shadows when we lose our health or loved ones (or our kingdom). Our daily discipline is pulled out from under us, and we find ourselves mourning the life we once lived, grieving for the death of our self as we were.
I have become a shadow of myself a couple of times, after huge life losses and also when I was afflicted with agoraphobia. People who have experienced intense anxiety for several years often say they once felt personable, gregarious, humorous, and glad to be themselves; but living with constant panic attacks kills the individual we used to be. If you are struggling with something that makes you feel like a shadow, don’t give up hope. Therapy, medication, support groups, and calming skills — depending on your situation — can all work to find not only your old self, but a better, stronger, newer one.