Usually dated 1585–6, Dido was first published in a quarto of 1594 which provides the copy-text for this edition. Its title-page tells us the play was performed by the Children of the Chapel, and its style and dramaturgy match the conventions of other plays for boys’ companies: sophisticated, ironic and faintly scandalous. Staging, too, probably reflected the style of the private theatres: scholars have conjectured that different locales were indicated by ‘houses’ or even full sets, between which, for instance, Venus walks as she descends from Olympus to the shores of Carthage in the first scene. The play requires a ‘discovery-space’, whose curtains open at the beginning of the action, and elaborate props, including a statue of Priam (2.1). More problematically, the title-page also claims that the play was co-written with Thomas Nashe. Some traces of Nashe’s vocabulary have been found in the play (though there are more of Marlowe’s), but no one has yet succeeded in dividing the text between them.
Dido is closely modelled on Virgil’s Aeneid, Acts 1 and 2 deriving, respectively, from Books I and II of the poem, Acts 3–5 from Book IV. But Marlowe’s imitation of Virgil is a curiously irreverent act of cultural piety. Although the famous incidents of the epic recur in the play, they are transformed by Marlowe’s compressions, transpositions and additions. In Virgil, the love of Dido and Aeneas is a tragic episode in tension with the larger narrative of the founding of Rome – one which importantly qualifies the poem’s celebration of Aeneas. It is the origin of the long enmity of Rome and Carthage. Events are numinous, presided over by gods who are the agents of a complex historical fate. Marlowe’s ironic love-tragedy is more narrowly focused, and its gods, from the first, invented scene between Jupiter and Ganymede, are debased, spiteful and petty. Marlowe’s Jupiter is more interested in Ganymede than in the fate of the Trojan exiles; Juno’s jealousy is manifested in clouting Ganymede round the head and plotting to murder another child, the sleeping Ascanius, later in the play. The most important god is Cupid. In Virgil, he is substituted for Ascanius for one night; Marlowe leaves him in Carthage, where his continued presence suggests the dependence of human fates on irresponsible, childlike divinities.
With Love thus literally at the centre of the action, it is appropriate that there are more lovers: Marlowe expands the role of Iarbas to make him a sometimes comic rival to Aeneas, and has Anna hopelessly in love with him. The infatuated nurse is also invented. Marlowe shows much more of the principals’ interaction than does Virgil. Dido veers between giving operatically excessive expression to her passion and being tonguetied. Aeneas is at first dumbly insensitive, later perfidious and unreliable (perhaps a reflection of the medieval tradition of Aeneas’ treachery). Unlike Virgil’s, Marlowe’s Aeneas swears to stay with Dido, and then changes his mind. (Marlowe delays the appearance of Mercury so that Aeneas’ decision to abandon Dido looks more sudden and vacillating.) When she catches him out, he lies to her, but is quickly won over by her ever-more extravagant gifts. Just to be sure, Dido takes the supposed Ascanius hostage and disables Aeneas’ fleet by reclaiming the luxury ship’s fittings she has given him. After Mercury’s embassy (it takes two visitations to drive Marlowe’s Aeneas away), the lovers’ parting is shifted more climactically towards the end of the action, and Aeneas skulks away from her in silence. In Virgil, Dido dies by the sword on the burnt reminders, including the bed, of their affair; Marlowe has her burn to death on a pyre of love-tokens – uttering, nonetheless, her most solemn Virgilian lines as she does so – and has larbas and Anna commit suicide with perhaps comically indecent haste.
The prominence of the bonfire of love-tokens is in keeping with the rest of the play. Itself a luxury object, encrusted with verbal riches, Dido is also full of expensive material objects, many of them love-gifts: Juno’s jewellery given to Ganymede, the robes, sails and crown Dido showers on Aeneas. No doubt this reflects the high production values of the Chapel Children. But it also bespeaks an imaginative materialism in the play. In Virgil, when Venus appears to Aeneas, she is suddenly there; in Marlowe, she steps out of a bush. When his companions fail at first to notice Virgil’s Aeneas, it is because he is invisible, not, as here, because he is too wretchedly dressed to be recognized. In these moments, and in the play as a whole, staging the supernatural epic exposes it to laughter.
ACT 1
Scene 1
0.1 SD the curtains draw: The curtains belong either to a concealed discovery-space at the back of the stage or (if the staging followed the conventions of court performance) to one of the ‘mansions’ or ‘houses’ constructed on the stage. See Smith 1977.
0.2 SD dandling: Bouncing a child up and down on one’s knee, but with connotations of erotic play.
SD MERCURY: (N) The messenger-god is sometimes given his Greek name, Hermes.
5–8 Today… mine ears: Ganymede supplanted Hebe, the daughter of Juno, as Jupiter’s cup-bearer.
6 pleasance: (i) Fine linen, (ii) joy, pleasure.
10 By Saturn’s soul: Jupiter swears by his father’s soul (N), and by his own hair (amended from Q’s aire, in the light of line 11: see Ovid, Metamorphoses 1, 179–80).
13–14 To hang her… cords: Cf. the punishment of Hera (the Greek Juno) in Iliad XV.
17 Helen’s brother: Like Ganymede, Castor and Pollux were originally mortals, to whom the gods granted an immortality which alternated between them. The association of one of them here with their sister, Helen of Troy, perhaps adds to the frivolity of Ganymede’s laughter.
20 walled-in… wings: Ganymede was taken to Mount Olympus by Jupiter’s eagle, or by the god himself in that guise.
23 wag: A term of endearment (normally applied to a mischievous boy).
25 exhaled: Inflamed. Ganymede’s look acts on Jupiter like the sun turning a substance to a fiery vapour or ‘exhalation’, such as a meteor. There is a pun on ‘haled’ (27) = dragged.
26 driven back… night: Perhaps the ‘meteoric’ Jupiter has lit up the night. The phrasing recalls Ovid, Amores I.xiii.40 (lente currite noctis equi ), which famously reappears in Doctor Faustus 14.71.
28 thy content: Whatever you please.
32 Vulcan: He was lame.
33 nine daughters: The Muses.
34 Juno’s bird: The peacock.
50–108 Ay, this is it… attempts: Closely modelled on Aeneid I, 223–301. Oliver 1968 notes, however, that ‘Marlowe’s Venus addresses Jupiter in a tone of greater scorn and anger than Virgil considered appropriate’.
54–61 Juno… all his train: See (N). Juno asks the god of the winds (Aeolus) for a storm.
63 Aeolia: Aeolus’ floating island home.
64–73 Poor Troy… Astraeus’ tents: See (N). The storm at sea replicates the destruction of Troy.
65 envious: Malicious.
66–7 Epeus’ horse… walls: The rocks of Mount Etna threaten to smash the ships’ hulls, taking the place of the wooden horse constructed by Epeus which was used to broach the walls of Troy.
68 sounds: Commands (like a trumpet sounding an order).
70–73 See how… Astraeus’ tents: See (N). The night overtakes the day like Ulysses capturing the Trojan spy Dolon. (Having learned the password from his captive, Ulysses entered the Trojan camp and stole away the horses of Rhesus in order to avert a prophecy which said that Troy would not fall if the horses fed or drank in Trojan territory.) The stars appear suddenly, like the horses, as though snatched from the tent of their father Astraeus.
75 our crystal world: I.e. the bright (crystalline) heavens, now menaced by the waves below.
85 fair walls: The walls of Aeneas’ future city.
86 in blood… bud: Blood can be used as a fertilizer.
87 Turnus’ town: Ardea. Turnus (N) led his people, the Italian race of the Rutuli (‘Rutiles’, line 89), against the Trojan exiles in Latium until Aeneas killed him.
88 her: I.e. Fortune.
96–103 bright Ascanius… fame: Ascanius will reign in heaven, even having his name engraved on its gates.
104 Hector’s rac
e: The Trojan royal line.
106 princess-priest: I.e. Rhea Silvia (also called Ilia), the Vestal Virgin and daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa, who became pregnant by Mars, bearing Romulus and Remus, the twin founders of Rome.
108 eternise… attempts: Preserve the eternal fame of Troy by their exploits.
111–12 Phoebus… Tyrrhene main: In the stormy dark, the sun seems to be avoiding the Mediterranean as it avoids the waters of the underworld (‘Stygian pools’).
112 taint his tresses: Dirty his hair, i.e. Phoebus refuses to shine upon.
115 Whereas: Where.
wind-god… fate: Aeolus (singular subject of a plural verb) is defying the will of fate in attacking Aeneas.
116 offspring… kingly loins: Aeneas, a descendant of Dardanus, son of Jupiter and Electra.
125 conceived with: Heavy, pregnant, with.
128–9 issued from… froth: Venus was born of the foam of the sea.
130 Triton… with Troy: The merman Triton commanded the waves and winds by blowing through a conch; the line seems to associate Triton’s trumpet with that of Fame, and to mean that he has made the Trojans’ suffering well known.
132 Thetis… Cymodoce: See (N). ‘Cymodoce’ is emended from Q’s Cimodoae.
146–7 barking Scylla… Ceraunia’s seat: The locations of famous dangers for epic voyagers. See (N).
Cyclops’ shelves: The shores of Sicily, home of the Cyclopes.
151 Pergama did vaunt: Troy boasted of.
153 virtues… annoy: Powers… suffering, injury.
154 coming: For Q’s cunning.
158 rest the map: Are still the very picture.
159 hair: For Q’s aire. Cf. lines 10, 111–12.
169 See… finds out: Proverbial (Tilley N61, P527).
170 How near… art thou driven: Into what straits, what extremities, you are forced.
179 society’s supports: The necessities of a community.
193 the sun’s bright sister: The moon-goddess Diana (or Phoebe, sister of Phoebus).
196 lighten our extremes: Alleviate the extremity we are suffering.
202 milk-white: The colour of the most highly prized sacrificial animals.
203 affect: (i) Aspire to, (ii) delight in.
204 Tyrian: (For Q’s Turen ) the Carthaginians came from Tyre in Phoenicia.
206 suit… in purple: Tyre was famed for the production of red-purple dye.
for the nonce: Specifically for the purpose.
210 Punic kingdom: Carthage.
213 Sidonian: Of Sidon, another city in Phoenicia.
220 Phrygian: Trojan (from Phrygia in Asia Minor).
224 tilts: Pitches, slops; moves unsteadily up and down.
233 A’ God’s name on: Carry on, in the name of God.
244 in these shades: In such deceptive shapes as this (of the huntress).
248 discoursive: (i) Articulated in words, (ii) protracted.
Scene 2
4 envièd: (Accented on second syllable) hated, loathed.
11 household lares: The Lares were the Roman (and hence Trojan) hearth-gods, tutelary spirits of the household.
15 weal, of victory forsook: State, having no hope of victory.
22 fertile… wealth: Rich in corn; for Ceres, see (N).
23 of his name: Italia supposedly derived its name from the Arcadian Italus whose tribe, the Oenotrians, once lived there.
25 Thither made we: An imitation of a Virgilian half-line.
26 Orion: The winter constellation associated with storms.
28 brackish: (i) Partly fresh, partly salt (usually of water), (ii) wet.
33 knows: Knows how.
34 barbarous sort: The multitude, commoners.
37 first earth interdict our feet: Forbid us to land on the shore.
41 Baucis’ house: Despite being disguised, Jupiter and Mercury were kindly entertained in the humble (‘silly’) house of Baucis and Philemon, who therefore became bywords for hospitality. Q’s Vausis is nonsense.
47 As shall surpass… speech: ‘As it will be beyond our power to describe in words’ (Oliver 1968).
ACT 2
Scene 1
1–9 Where am I… I die: Aeneas is ‘amazed’ (line 2) at a statue (in Virgil, a painting) of Priam. Niobe (N) is perhaps remembered because, like the king, she lost many children, or because, in her grief, she was turned to stone.
7–8 Ida’s hill… Xanthus’ stream: Mount Ida near Troy, from which the river Xanthus flowed down to the Hellespont.
10 humour: Mood, disposition.
13–14 saving air, / Is nothing here: There is nothing here but air.
38.1 SD Enter CLOANTHUS… others: The Trojans do not recognize each other because Ilioneus’ party is dressed in rich Carthaginian clothes, and Aeneas’ in rags. (In Virgil, Aeneas is invisible.)
40 vouchsafe of ruth: Grant out of pity.
51 names: For Q’s meanes.
79–85 base robes… Irus ware: The emphasis on clothes is Marlowe’s. It is probably ironic that Aeneas, as badly dressed as the beggarly suitor of faithful Penelope, is offered the garment of Dido’s former husband. See (N).
87 wait: Stand in attendance.
99–100 your grace… thou: Aeneas uses the deferential plural form (‘your grace’); Dido insists on the more intimate ‘thou’.
110–11 Antenor… Sinon: See (N). Virgil’s version, repeated later in this scene, held Sinon responsible; medieval tradition blamed the treachery of Antenor (and sometimes of Aeneas).
114–288 A woeful tale… sacrificed: Adapted from Aeneas’ narrative in Aeneid II.
115 stony mace: Cf. John Milton, Paradise Lost (X.294): ‘Death with his mace petrific’.
121–3 Achilles’ tongue… Myrmidons’ harsh ears: Aeneas needs the strength of Achilles to tell his story; his hearers will need the legendary hardheartedness of Achilles’ companions, the Myrmidons, to listen to it.
129 Atrides: The Greek commander, Agamemnon, son of Atreus.
134 Gave up their voices: Shouted their decision.
135 Tenedos: An island off the Trojan coast, but here apparently treated as part of the mainland.
145–6 Hermes’ pipe… sleep: To reach Io, Hermes lulled asleep the hundred-eyed guard, Argus, who had been set to watch over her, and killed him.
162 him: Priam.
165 his: The wooden horse’s.
187 pride of Asia: I.e. Troy.
188 camp: I.e. army.
193–9 Young infants… brains: The atrocities are not in Virgil.
198 a Greekish lad: I.e. Pyrrhus (but ‘dashed’ [199] seems to need a plural subject).
215 Priam’s youngest son: The death of Polites is mentioned in Virgil, but not the mutilation of his body.
217 balls of wildfire: Handheld fire-bombs.
221 jealous of: Protective of, anxious for.
222 crooked: (i) Shaped, curved, (ii) underhand, crafty.
230 Megaera: One of the Furies (N), she is a personification of violence and revenge (Pyrrhus was avenging the death of his father).
235 turned: Altered.
244–54 the frantic queen… fell down: Not in Virgil. Hecuba’s ‘howling’ (248) may be an anticipation of her eventual transformation into a dog.
254 wind: The received emendation of Q’s wound emphasizes Priam’s frailty.
264 Ilion: The Greek form of Ilium (N).
274–5 Cassandra… Ajax: See (N); Virgil mentions the attempted rescue, but not the rape, of Priam’s daughter.
275 Diana’s fane: Diana’s temple (Q’s Fawne may be merely a variant spelling).
281–8 Polyxena… sacrificed: Marlowe took Pyrrhus’ murder of Polyxena, another of Priam and Hecuba’s children, from Ovid (Metamorphoses XIII, 441–80) rather than Virgil.
289 leave: Cease.
298 Alexander: An alternative name for Paris.
322 Cytherea’s: For Q’s Citheidas.
334 nephew: Grandson.
ACT 3
Scene 1
2 thy brother’s: Aeneas’ (like Cupid, Venus’ son).
50 feed… my love: Indulge my beloved’s whim or indulge in my own passion.
57 love: Q’s love (Jove) may be correct, especially in the light of ‘shrined’, but is probably only an example of ‘foul case’, an ‘I’ having been mistakenly dropped into the case of ‘I’ type.
73 gross eye-beams: Since the eye was believed to emit a beam, it was conceivable that one could be tainted by being looked at by common eyes.
81 dull-conceited: Unimaginative, slow-witted.
96 Achates… your lord: Dido pretends not to have noticed Aeneas.
106 oars: Apparently disyllabic, as also at line 117.
108 stern: (Here) rudder.
116 odoriferous trees: The scent of the spice-trees would be communicated to the tackle.
122 pyramides: (Four syllables) obelisks.
123 wrought: (Here) embroidered.
127 manly: Q’s meanly could be correct if used ironically, but the sense is strained.
131 Thetis… Apollo’s neck: See (N). ‘The comparison is with the glories of the sun (Apollo) setting in the sea’ (Oliver 1968).
132 So that: Provided that.
146 disputed: Took part in an academic disputation.
154–64 This was an orator… The rest: Dido’s suitors are free inventions on figures of classical myth.
Scene 2
1–20 Here lies… Rhamnus town: Juno’s opening speech (a Marlovian invention) is notable for a number of textual cruces, see notes to lines 3, 11 and 16 below.
3 Fame… Fates: Q reads furie… the face.
4 imp: Child (sometimes used pejoratively: an imp could be the offspring of the devil).
7 raze: Erase. Juno intends to alter the book of fate which has decreed Ascanius’ future glory.
11 let-out life: The life-blood she will let out (for Q’s left-out ).
12–13 Paris… Ascanius die: Juno intends the murder of Ascanius as revenge for Venus’ triumph over her in the Judgement of Paris. The prize (an apple) was inscribed ‘for the most beautiful’.
14–15 O no… down told: Spoken ironically: ‘I am so helpless that I can neither wait for the proper time for action nor immediately do two good deeds in return for one’ (Oliver 1968). double fee: Twice the stake.
The Complete Plays Page 53