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The late medieval ars moriendi (art of dying) fascinated early modern English playwrights. It was related to the danse macabre tradition in Western art represented in painting, statuary, and even dramatic spectacles, as John Carpenter's civic mural Dance ofPoulys (c. 1420) and John Lydgate's "Dance of Death" poetry (c. 1425) both imply.1 It is not surprising, then, that the tragedies of Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are replete with memorable lines that echo the lessons espoused in popular tracts devoted to the ars moriendi. Near the end of both Hamlet (1600) and King Hear (1605), characters contemplate the destruction that surrounds them as Denmark's prince proclaims, "The readiness is all" (5.2.160), while Edgar similarly instructs his blind and broken father, "Men must endure / Their going hence, even as their coming hither; / Ripeness is all." (5.2.9-11).2 Death is inevitable, yet Hamlet and Edgar find solace in meeting the end with careful preparation. Along these lines, Malcolm describes the traitorous Thane of Cawdor's final earthly moments in Macbeth (1606): "Nothing in his life / Became him like the leaving it. He died / As one that had been studied in his death" (1.4.7-9). Despite having betrayed king and country, Cawdor's "studied" passing is admirable, a moment of careful, thoughtful control in an otherwise tempestuous sequence of events.
Similarly, Marlowe recognized the theatrical potential in the craft of dying and returned to it often and with great dramatic effect throughout the course of his career. In both parts of Tamburlaine the Great., for instance, a whole cast of characters meet a variety of creative ends, some embracing death stoically, like Olympia who fools the love-struck Theridamas into slitting her throat, while others such as Bajazeth and Zabina despair and ££brain" themselves on their cages. In Doctor Faustus, often noted for its relationship with the medieval world, Marlowe makes substantial use of the ars moriendi. While it has been suggested that the play is structured around this material, it is likely the playwright's familiarity with the tradition infiltrates the work in a more organic manner.3 Indeed, Faustus's awareness of the art of dying, especially in the fifth act, is undeniable. When Marlowe turns his attention to The Jens of Malta, however, he makes a significant change in...
