BOOK LAUNCH with Jeffrey Masten: Edward II

Celebrate the launch of the

Beverages and books will be available for purchase throughout the event!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Vivid and daring in Marlowe’s time and ours, Edward II has captivated generations of readers, audiences and performers with its evocative portrayal of passionate friendship, kingly power and brutal retribution. Leading scholar Jeffrey Masten’s new edition of Marlowe’s great tragedy distils its importance for the history of queer sexuality, historical drama and modern performance alike. Drawing on new research into Edward’s earliest readers, as well as modern stage, film and operatic adaptations, Masten unpacks the play’s early meanings and modern resonances to spotlight its radical potential across a span of 400 years.

This edition gives students a modernised, comprehensively annotated text with a detailed, illustrated introduction addressing Marlowe’s life and education, the play’s influence as a history play and its sexual, religious and national politics. Highlighted as well are Derek Jarman’s landmark queer film adaption of Edward II and celebrated performances by Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi and Tilda Swinton.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Guggenheim Fellow and Northwestern professor Jeffrey Masten is the editor of the new
Arden edition of Christopher Marlowe’s queer masterpiece, Edward II. He is the author
of prize-winning scholarship on Marlowe, Shakespeare, the history of sexuality, and early modern drama. Masten’s books include Queer Philologies: Sex, Language, and Affect in Shakespeare’s Time (2016), and Textual Intercourse: Collaboration, Authorship, and Sexualities in Renaissance Drama (1997), as well as an edition of Thomas Middleton’s collaborative play The Old Law (2007). At Northwestern, Masten is Professor of English and Gender & Sexuality Studies and Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence.