The King and I
The King and I is the fifth musical by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel and the King of Siam, in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s; the musical's plot relates the experiences of Anna, a British schoolteacher hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his country. The relationship between the King and Anna is marked by conflict through much of the piece, as well as by a love to which neither can admit; the musical premiered on March 1951, at Broadway's St. James Theatre, it ran for nearly three years, making it the fourth longest-running Broadway musical in history at the time, has had many tours and revivals. In 1950, theatrical attorney Fanny Holtzmann was looking for a part for her client, veteran leading lady Gertrude Lawrence. Holtzmann realized that Landon's book would provide an ideal vehicle and contacted Rodgers and Hammerstein, who were reluctant but agreed to write the musical.
The pair sought Rex Harrison to play the supporting part of the King, a role he had played in the 1946 film made from Landon's book, but he was unavailable. They settled on television director Yul Brynner; the musical was an immediate hit, winning Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Actress and Best Featured Actor. Lawrence died unexpectedly of cancer a year and a half after the opening, the role of Anna was played by several actresses during the remainder of the Broadway run of 1,246 performances. A hit London run and U. S. national tour followed, together with a 1956 film for which Brynner won an Academy Award, the musical was recorded several times. In revivals, Brynner came to dominate his role and the musical, starring in a four-year national tour culminating in a 1985 Broadway run shortly before his death. Christopher Renshaw directed major revivals on Broadway, winning the Tony Award for Best Revival, in the West End. A 2015 Broadway revival won another Tony for Best Revival. Both professional and amateur revivals of The King and I continue to be staged throughout the English-speaking world.
Mongkut, King of Siam, was about 57 years old in 1861. He had lived half his life as a Buddhist monk, was an able scholar, founded a new order of Buddhism and a temple in Bangkok. Through his decades of devotion, Mongkut acquired an ascetic lifestyle and a firm grasp of Western languages; when Nangklao died in 1850, Mongkut became king. At that time, various European countries were striving for dominance, American traders sought greater influence in Southeast Asia, he succeeded in keeping Siam an independent nation by familiarizing his heirs and harem with Western ways. In 1861, Mongkut wrote to his Singapore agent, Tan Kim Ching, asking him to find a British lady to be governess to the royal children. At the time, the British community in Singapore was small, the choice fell on a recent arrival there, Anna Leonowens, running a small nursery school in the colony. Leonowens was the Anglo-Indian daughter of an Indian Army soldier and the widow of Thomas Owens, a clerk and hotel keeper, she had arrived in Singapore two years claiming to be the genteel widow of an officer and explaining her dark complexion by stating that she was Welsh by birth.
Her deception was not detected until long after her death, had still not come to light when The King and I was written. Upon receiving the King's invitation, Leonowens sent her daughter, Avis, to school in England, to give Avis the social advantage of a prestigious British education, traveled to Bangkok with her five-year-old son, Louis. King Mongkut had sought a Briton to teach his children and wives after trying local missionaries, who used the opportunity to proselytize. Leonowens asked for $150 in Singapore currency per month, her additional request, to live in or near the missionary community to ensure she was not deprived of Western company, aroused suspicion in Mongkut, who cautioned in a letter, "we need not have teacher of Christianity as they are abundant here". King Mongkut and Leonowens came to an agreement: $100 per month and a residence near the royal palace. At a time when most transport in Bangkok was by boat, Mongkut did not wish to have to arrange for the teacher to get to work every day.
Leonowens and Louis temporarily lived as guests of Mongkut's prime minister, after the first house offered was found to be unsuitable, the family moved into a brick residence within walking distance of the palace. In 1867, Leonowens took a six-month leave of absence to visit her daughter Avis in England, intending to deposit Louis at a school in Ireland and return to Siam with Avis. However, due to unexpected delays and opportunities for further travel, Leonowens was still abroad in late 1868, when Mongkut fell ill and died. Leonowens did not return to Siam, although she continued to correspond with her former pupil, the new king Chulalongkorn. In 1950, British actress Gertrude Lawrence's business manager and attorney, Fanny Holtzmann, was looking for a new vehicle for her client when the 1944 Margaret Landon novel Anna and the King of Siam was sent to her by Landon's agent. According to Rodgers biographer Meryle Secrest, Holtzmann was worried that Lawrence's career was fading; the 51-year-old actress had appeared only in plays, not in musicals, since Lady in the Dark closed in 1943.
Holtzmann agreed that a musical based on Anna and the King of Siam would be ideal for her client, who purchased the rights to adapt the no
Napoleon
Napoléon Bonaparte was a French statesman and military leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. He was Emperor of the French as Napoleon I from 1804 until 1814 and again in 1815 during the Hundred Days. Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars, he won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, building a large empire that ruled over much of continental Europe before its final collapse in 1815. He is considered one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleon's political and cultural legacy has endured as one of the most celebrated and controversial leaders in human history, he was born in Corsica to a modest family of Italian origin from minor nobility. He was serving as an artillery officer in the French army when the French Revolution erupted in 1789.
He rose through the ranks of the military, seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution and becoming a general at age 24. The French Directory gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents. At age 26, he began his first military campaign against the Austrians and the Italian monarchs aligned with the Habsburgs—winning every battle, conquering the Italian Peninsula in a year while establishing "sister republics" with local support, becoming a war hero in France. In 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt, he became First Consul of the Republic. Napoleon's ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, he became the first Emperor of the French in 1804. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805. Napoleon shattered this coalition with decisive victories in the Ulm Campaign and a historic triumph over the Russian Empire and Austrian Empire at the Battle of Austerlitz which led to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt marched his Grande Armée deep into Eastern Europe and annihilated the Russians in June 1807 at the Battle of Friedland. France forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high-water mark of the French Empire. In 1809, the Austrians and the British challenged the French again during the War of the Fifth Coalition, but Napoleon solidified his grip over Europe after triumphing at the Battle of Wagram in July. Napoleon invaded the Iberian Peninsula, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, declared his brother Joseph Bonaparte the King of Spain in 1808; the Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support. The Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, ended in victory for the Allies against Napoleon.
The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states Russia. The Russians were unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade and violated the Continental System, enticing Napoleon into another war; the French launched a major invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The campaign did not yield the decisive victory Napoleon wanted, it resulted in the collapse of the Grande Armée and inspired a renewed push against Napoleon by his enemies. In 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in the War of the Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, but his tactical victory at the minor Battle of Hanau allowed retreat onto French soil; the Allies invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba off the coast of Tuscany, the Bourbon dynasty was restored to power.
Napoleon took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition which defeated him at the Battle of Waterloo in June; the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years at the age of 51. Napoleon's influence on the modern world brought liberal reforms to the numerous territories that he conquered and controlled, such as the Low Countries and large parts of modern Italy and Germany, he implemented fundamental liberal policies throughout Western Europe. His Napoleonic Code has influenced the legal systems of more than 70 nations around the world. British historian Andrew Roberts states: "The ideas that underpin our modern world—meritocracy, equality before the law, property rights, religious toleration, modern secular education, sound finances, so on—were championed, consolidated and geographically extended by Napoleon. To them he added a rational and efficient local administration, an end to rural banditry, the encouragement of science and the arts, the abolition of feudalism and the greatest codification of laws since the fall of the Roman Empire".
The ancestors of Napoleon descended from minor Italian nobility of Tuscan origin who had come to Corsica fr
Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers, CBE was an English film actor and singer. He performed in the BBC Radio comedy series The Goon Show, featured on a number of hit comic songs and became known to a worldwide audience through his many film characterisations, among them Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series of films. Born in Portsmouth, Sellers made his stage debut at the Kings Theatre, when he was two weeks old, he began accompanying his parents in a variety act. He first worked as a drummer and toured around England as a member of the Entertainments National Service Association, he developed his mimicry and improvisational skills during a spell in Ralph Reader's wartime Gang Show entertainment troupe, which toured Britain and the Far East. After the war, Sellers made his radio debut in ShowTime, became a regular performer on various BBC radio shows. During the early 1950s, along with Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine, took part in the successful radio series The Goon Show, which ended in 1960.
Sellers began his film career during the 1950s. Although the bulk of his work was comedic parodying characters of authority such as military officers or policemen, he performed in other film genres and roles. Films demonstrating his artistic range include I'm All Right Jack, Stanley Kubrick's Lolita and Dr. Strangelove, What's New, Pussycat?, Casino Royale, The Party, Being There and five films of the Pink Panther series. Sellers's versatility enabled him to portray a wide range of comic characters using different accents and guises, he would assume multiple roles within the same film with contrasting temperaments and styles. Satire and black humour were major features of many of his films, his performances had a strong influence on a number of comedians. Sellers was nominated three times for an Academy Award, twice for the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his performances in Dr. Strangelove and Being There, once for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film.
He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role twice, for I'm All Right Jack and for the original Pink Panther film, The Pink Panther and was nominated as Best Actor three times. In 1980 he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role in Being There, was nominated three times in the same category. Turner Classic Movies calls Sellers "one of the most accomplished comic actors of the late 20th century". In his personal life, Sellers struggled with depression and insecurities. An enigmatic figure, he claimed to have no identity outside the roles that he played, his behaviour was erratic and compulsive, he clashed with his directors and co-stars in the mid-1970s when his physical and mental health, together with his alcohol and drug problems, were at their worst. Sellers was married four times, had three children from his first two marriages, he died as a result of a heart attack in 1980, aged 54. English filmmakers the Boulting brothers described Sellers as "the greatest comic genius this country has produced since Charles Chaplin".
Sellers was born on 8 September 1925, in a suburb of Portsmouth. His parents were Yorkshire-born William "Bill" Sellers and Agnes Doreen "Peg". Both were variety entertainers. Although christened Richard Henry, his parents called him Peter, after his elder stillborn brother. Sellers remained an only child. Peg Sellers was related to the pugilist Daniel Mendoza, whom Sellers revered, whose engraving hung in his office. At one time Sellers planned to use Mendoza's image for his production company's logo. Sellers was two weeks old when he was carried on stage by Dick Henderson, the headline act at the Kings Theatre in Southsea: the crowd sang "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow", which caused the infant to cry; the family toured, causing much upheaval and unhappiness in the young Sellers' life. Sellers maintained a close relationship with his mother, which his friend Spike Milligan considered unhealthy for a grown man. Sellers's agent, Dennis Selinger, recalled his first meeting with Peg and Peter Sellers, noting that "Sellers was an immensely shy young man, inclined to be dominated by his mother, but without resentment or objection".
As an only child though, he spent much time alone. In 1935 the Sellers family settled in Muswell Hill. Although Bill Sellers was Protestant and Peg was Jewish, Sellers attended the North London Roman Catholic school St. Aloysius College, run by the Brothers of Our Lady of Mercy; the family was not rich. According to biographer Peter Evans, Sellers was fascinated and worried by religion from a young age Catholicism. In his life, Sellers observed that while his father's faith was according to the Church of England, his mother was Jewish, "and Jews take the faith of their mother." According to Milligan, Sellers held a guilt complex about being Jewish and recalls that Sellers was once reduced to tears when he presented him with a candlestick from a synagogue for Christmas, believing the gesture to be an anti-Jewish slur. Sellers became a top student at the school, he was prone to laziness, but his natural talents shielded him from cri
Gaston Leroux
Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction. In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera, made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney, Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical, his novel The Mystery of the Yellow Room is one of the most famous locked-room mysteries ever. Leroux died in 1927 in Nice, he went to school in Normandy and studied law in Paris, graduating in 1889. He lived wildly until he nearly reached bankruptcy. In 1890, he began working as a court theater critic for L'Écho de Paris, his most important journalism came when he began working as an international correspondent for the Paris newspaper Le Matin. He was present at, covered, the 1905 Russian Revolution. Another case at which he was present involved the investigation and in-depth coverage of the former Paris Opera; the basement contained a cell. He left journalism in 1907 and began writing fiction.
In 1919, he and Arthur Bernède formed their own film company, Société des Cinéromans, to publish novels and turn them into films. He first wrote a mystery novel titled Le mystère de la chambre jaune, starring the amateur detective Joseph Rouletabille. Leroux's contribution to French detective fiction is considered a parallel to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's in the United Kingdom and Edgar Allan Poe's in the United States. Leroux published his most famous work, The Phantom of the Opera, as a serial in 1909 and 1910, as a book in 1910. Leroux was made a Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur in 1909. 1907 - Le mystère de la chambre jaune 1908 - Le parfum de la dame en noir 1913 - Rouletabille chez le Tsar 1914 - Rouletabille à la guerre consisting of Le château noir Les étranges noces de Rouletabille 1917 - Rouletabille chez Krupp 1921 - Le crime de Rouletabille 1922 - Rouletabille chez les Bohémiens Première Aventures de Chéri-Bibi Chéri-Bibi et Cécily Nouvelles Aventures de Chéri-Bibi Le Coup d'État de Chéri-Bibi La double vie de Théophraste Longuet Le roi mystère Le fauteuil hanté Un homme dans la nuit La reine de Sabbat Le fantôme de l'Opéra Balaoo L' épouse du soleil La colonne infernale Confitou L' homme qui revient de loin Le capitaine Hyx La bataille invisible Tue-la-mort Le coeur cambriolé Le sept de trèfle La poupée sanglante La machine à assassiner Les ténébreuses: La fin d'un monde & du sang sur la Néva Hardis-Gras ou le fils des trois pères La Farouche Aventure La Mansarde en or Les Mohicans de Babel Mister Flow Les Chasseurs de danses Pouloulou 1887 - "Le petit marchand de pommes de terre frites" 1902 - "Les trois souhaits" 1907 - "Baïouchki baïou" 1908 - "L'homme qui a vu le diable" 1911 - "Le dîner des bustes" 1912 - "La hache d'or" 1924 - "Le Noël du petit Vincent-Vincent" 1924 - "La f
World War II
World War II known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries; the major participants threw their entire economic and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China, it included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, the only use of nuclear weapons in war. Japan, which aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific, was at war with China by 1937, though neither side had declared war on the other. World War II is said to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom.
From late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Finland and the Baltic states. Following the onset of campaigns in North Africa and East Africa, the fall of France in mid 1940, the war continued between the European Axis powers and the British Empire. War in the Balkans, the aerial Battle of Britain, the Blitz, the long Battle of the Atlantic followed. On 22 June 1941, the European Axis powers launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the largest land theatre of war in history; this Eastern Front trapped most crucially the German Wehrmacht, into a war of attrition. In December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States as well as European colonies in the Pacific. Following an immediate U. S. declaration of war against Japan, supported by one from Great Britain, the European Axis powers declared war on the U.
S. in solidarity with their Japanese ally. Rapid Japanese conquests over much of the Western Pacific ensued, perceived by many in Asia as liberation from Western dominance and resulting in the support of several armies from defeated territories; the Axis advance in the Pacific halted in 1942. Key setbacks in 1943, which included a series of German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy, Allied victories in the Pacific, cost the Axis its initiative and forced it into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and turned toward Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in Central China, South China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy and captured key Western Pacific islands; the war in Europe concluded with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet troops, the suicide of Adolf Hitler and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945.
Following the Potsdam Declaration by the Allies on 26 July 1945 and the refusal of Japan to surrender under its terms, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August respectively. With an invasion of the Japanese archipelago imminent, the possibility of additional atomic bombings, the Soviet entry into the war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria, Japan announced its intention to surrender on 15 August 1945, cementing total victory in Asia for the Allies. Tribunals were set up by fiat by the Allies and war crimes trials were conducted in the wake of the war both against the Germans and the Japanese. World War II changed the political social structure of the globe; the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The Soviet Union and United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the nearly half-century long Cold War. In the wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia.
Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic expansion. Political integration in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities and create a common identity; the start of the war in Europe is held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred and the two wars merged in 1941; this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935; the British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the fo
Dual Alibi
Dual Alibi is a 1947 British drama film directed by Alfred Travers and starring Herbert Lom, Phyllis Dixey and Terence De Marney. It is a film noir, it was made by British National Films at Elstree Studios. A top French acrobatic act, the de Lisle twins, are hired by a British promoter to perform in his Blackpool show. While they are working there one of the twins falls in love with a cigarette girl and aspiring singer named Penny. After the twins win the French lottery she steals their ticket, with the help of a spivish publicity agent, goes to Paris to claim the prize; the twins follow them to seek revenge. Herbert Lom as Jules de Lisle / Georges de Lisle Phyllis Dixey as Penny aka Gloria Gregg Terence De Marney as Mike Bergen Ronald Frankau as Vincent Barney Abraham Sofaer as French Judge Eugene Deckers as French Ringmaster The Cromwell Brothers as Trapeze Act Ben Williams as Charlie Clarence Wright as M. Mangan Beryl Measor as Gwen Harold Berens as Ali Sebastian Cabot as Loterie Nationale Official Andreas Malandrinos as French Judge Marcel Poncin as French Lawyer Wallas Eaton as Court Official Gerald Rex as Call Boy Margaret Withers as Blackpool Landlady H.
G. Guinle Leonard Sharp Ernst Ulman Eric Mason Griffiths Moss Gerald Conway Murphy, Robert; the British Cinema Book. British Film Institute, 2001. Spicer, Andrew. Historical Dictionary of Film Noir. Scarecrow Press, 2010. Dual Alibi on IMDb
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe was the foremost Elizabethan tragedian of his day, he influenced William Shakespeare, born in the same year as Marlowe and who rose to become the pre-eminent Elizabethan playwright after Marlowe's mysterious early death. Marlowe's plays are known for the use of their overreaching protagonists; some scholars believe that a warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May 1593. No reason was given for it, though it was thought to be connected to allegations of blasphemy—a manuscript believed to have been written by Marlowe was said to contain "vile heretical conceipts". On 20 May, he was brought to the court to attend upon the Privy Council for questioning. There is no record of their having met that day, he was commanded to attend upon them each day thereafter until "licensed to the contrary". Ten days he was stabbed to death by Ingram Frizer. Whether or not the stabbing was connected to his arrest remains unknown.
Marlowe was born in Canterbury to his wife Catherine. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 26 February 1564, is to have been born a few days before. Thus, he was just two months older than his contemporary William Shakespeare, baptised on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. Marlowe attended The King's School in Canterbury and Corpus Christi College, where he studied on a scholarship and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1584. In 1587, the university hesitated to award him his Master of Arts degree because of a rumour that he intended to go to the English college at Rheims to prepare for ordination as a Roman Catholic priest. However, his degree was awarded on schedule when the Privy Council intervened on his behalf, commending him for his "faithful dealing" and "good service" to the Queen; the nature of Marlowe's service was not specified by the Council, but its letter to the Cambridge authorities has provoked much speculation, notably the theory that Marlowe was operating as a secret agent working for Sir Francis Walsingham's intelligence service.
No direct evidence supports this theory, although the Council's letter is evidence that Marlowe had served the government in some secret capacity. Of the dramas attributed to Marlowe, Queen of Carthage is believed to have been his first, it was performed by the Children of the Chapel, a company of boy actors, between 1587 and 1593. The play was first published in 1594. Marlowe's first play performed on the regular stage in London, in 1587, was Tamburlaine the Great, about the conqueror Timur, who rises from shepherd to warlord, it is among the first English plays in blank verse, with Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy is considered the beginning of the mature phase of the Elizabethan theatre. Tamburlaine was a success, was followed with Tamburlaine the Great, Part II; the two parts of Tamburlaine were published in 1590. The sequence of the writing of his other four plays is unknown; the Jew of Malta, about the Jew Barabas' barbarous revenge against the city authorities, has a prologue delivered by a character representing Machiavelli.
It was written in 1589 or 1590, was first performed in 1592. It was a success, remained popular for the next fifty years; the play was entered in the Stationers' Register on 17 May 1594, but the earliest surviving printed edition is from 1633. Edward the Second is an English history play about the deposition of King Edward II by his barons and the Queen, who resent the undue influence the king's favourites have in court and state affairs; the play was entered into the Stationers' Register on 6 July five weeks after Marlowe's death. The full title of the earliest extant edition, of 1594, is The troublesome reigne and lamentable death of Edward the second, King of England, with the tragicall fall of proud Mortimer; the Massacre at Paris is a short and luridly written work, the only surviving text of, a reconstruction from memory of the original performance text, portraying the events of the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572, which English Protestants invoked as the blackest example of Catholic treachery.
It features the silent "English Agent", whom subsequent tradition has identified with Marlowe himself and his connections to the secret service. The Massacre at Paris is considered his most dangerous play, as agitators in London seized on its theme to advocate the murders of refugees from the low countries and, indeed, it warns Elizabeth I of this possibility in its last scene, its full title was The Massacre at Paris: With the Death of the Duke of Guise. Doctor Faustus, based on the German Faustbuch, was the first dramatised version of the Faust legend of a scholar's dealing with the devil. While versions of "The Devil's Pact" can be traced back to the 4th century, Marlowe deviates by having his hero unable to "burn his books" or repent to a merciful God in order to have his contract annulled at the end of the play. Marlowe's protagonist is instead carried off by demons, in the 1616 quarto his mangled corpse is found by several scholars. Doctor Faustus is a textual problem for scholars as two versions of the play exist: the 1604 quarto known as the A text, the 1616 quarto or B text.
Both were published after Marlowe's death. Scholars have disagreed which text is
