Christopher Marlowe, The Tragedy of Dido, Queen of Carthage

Chloe Kathleen Preedy (University of Exeter)

Ed. by Virginia Mason Vaughan, Clark University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1584

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play
Tragedy

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Dido Queen of Carthage

is heavily indebted to Books I and IV of Virgil’s

Aeneid

, an Augustan-era poem describing Rome’s foundation by the Trojan prince Aeneas following that city’s legendary fall. Marlowe supplements his engagement with this classical epic, which was widely read in sixteenth-century England, with material drawn from Virgil’s rival Ovid’s iconoclastic

Metamorphoses

Amores

, and

Heroides

. In fact,

Dido

is often said to be distinctly “Ovidian” in tone: a characterisation that emphasises the play’s overt eroticism, irreverent treatment of the gods, and playfully ironic approach. Furthermore, Marlowe’s dramatization of Aeneas’ love affair with the Carthaginian queen Dido introduces elements that are entirely his invention, including a subplot that depicts…

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2287 words

Citation: Preedy, Chloe Kathleen. "The Tragedy of Dido, Queen of Carthage". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 August 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7958, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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Christopher Marlowe, The Tragedy of Dido, Queen of Carthage

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