In Christopher Marlowe's narrative poem, Hero and Leander, a major obstacle confronts the reader: he attempts to separate the poet Marlowe's narrative voice from that of by WL Godshalk. calls "the sensitivity of a dramatized narrator... who stands between us and the lovers" (307). David Farkas, in his “Problems of Interpretation in Marlowe's Hero and Leander,” points out that he hears “two voices in the story: the true Marlovian voice and that of the hidden narrator (Knoll 129). In light of these observations, the question arises as to the means of distinguishing the double voices present in the poem, Godshalk asks: "Is it Marlowe or the narrator who is so fascinated by Leander's physical beauty and supposed innocence of Hero even as she flirtatiously leads him on? » (308). Thus, Hero and Leander, with regard to the poet/narrator question, "constructs its own mysteries and demands a variety of answers" which are "compounded by the fact that we see (the characters) through the eyes of Marlowe, the poet, and through those of an intrusive narrator” (Levin 140). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Before moving on to discuss the double voices in Hero and Leander, it would be to our advantage to examine the perspectives of various critics who have contributed their views on the nature of this poem since the mid 1960s. As Robert A. Logan argues, "Marlowe's poem was (initially) considered strongly romantic, as if the poem appealed to our senses and emotions but rarely spoke to our reason and judgment" ( 279). Robert E. Knoll considers Hero and Leander a pure Elizabethan poem, because "it contains no obscene words or degenerate suggestions" (128). UM Ellis-Fermor notes that the poem "draws its inspiration from the senses (and) expresses itself naturally in concrete images and in descriptions full of color and harmony of form and sound" (123). Thus, Hero and Leander could be said to represent "erotic passion, libertine naturalism, and the most unabashed celebration of sensuality...to be found in English literature" (Logan 279). However, since the mid-1960s, these perspectives have changed dramatically and created an agreement among critics that the poem "through comedy and narrative distance, is a masterpiece that assumes an ironic and anti -romantic” (Godshalk 307). Christopher Marlowe, as poet and "intrusive narrator" of Hero and Leander, used numerous narrative devices to distance himself from his characters and their actions, or as Godshalk argues, "through a representation of the effects of eroticism rather than its causes. via “intellectualized mythological details and images” (280). JB Steane builds on these devices by adding that "through comedy, generalizations, abstractions...and a shifting and shifting narrative perspective", Marlowe the poet succeeds magnificently in separating himself from the text and the narrative of his two tragic lovers (304). There is also an element of detachment in Hero and Leander that is “an essential component of the poem, based on sophistication, wit, and irony” (Steane 302). This detachment allows the reader to explore the perimeters of power via Marlowe's tenacity of spirit which consolidates this power. From Marlowe's point of view, detachment allows control not only of the text but also of the reader's responses. MC Bradbrook supports this view by observing that Hero and Leander "varies from one level of detachment to another, giving the poem an extraordinary air of maturity and balance» (Knoll 128). Turning to the literary content of Hero and Leander, we discover a cosmology of fierce energy and violence compounded by society's restrictions on the sexual drive and sensuality. This informs the reader that “we are powerless to control the irrational desires we have to feel about another person” (Steane 305), particularly in the nature of the characters presented in the poem. The opening lines of Hero and Leander present a counterplay of tones in the narrative voice, or as Maclure understands it “the tone.” . . is amusing and serious, for Marlowe alone, of all the poets working in this genre, is interested in his characters as human beings" (xxvii), with the exception of course of William Shakespeare, Marlowe's contemporary: On Hellespont, guilty of the true love of blood, in sight and opposite stood two cities, bordering the sea, separated by the power of Neptune: one Abydos, the other high Sestos. In Sestos lived Hero the fair, whom young Apollo courted for her hair, and offered to him; 'd like a dowry her burning throne, where she sat so that men could gaze upon her. (I, lines 1-8). The first and third lines seem heroic and ominous while the second is geographically factual in these first lines. , the reader hears the epic poet tell a story that prophesies doom. The fifth line introduces us to the female character of Hero and the sixth line tells how Apollo had courted Hero for her hair, which is "Marlowe's own mythological invention, perhaps suggested by the glorious locks attributed to Apollo" (Maclure 5) . The narrator then describes the Hero's external attributes in a rather parodic style: The exterior of his clothes was made of grass, The lining of purple silk, with golden stars drawn; Her broad green sleeves, and bordered by a grove, where Venus in her naked glory strove to please the careless and disdainful eyes of the proud Adonis who rests before her. Her blue skirt, on which there were many stains, made with the blood of the miserable slain lovers. on her head she wore a crown of myrtle, from which her veil reached to the ground below. Her veil was made of artificial flowers and leaves, the making of which deceives both man and beast. (I, lines 9-20). This description of the Hero's clothing informs the reader that his white robe has green sleeves trimmed with purple silk and gold stars and is embroidered with mythological scenes; her blue skirt is spotted with red and the whole is covered with a veil intertwined with flowers and shaped leaves. This is a great example of the poet/narrator's voyeurism, as if looking at Hero from the perspective of Apollo's "burning throne" where she sits while humanity gazes upon her unattainable beauty. In the particular passages of Hero and Leander, Marlowe bypasses many passages. the romantic ideals of pastoral literature which reflect its concern with power and its physical limits. Logan states that this poetic detour "allows the reader to understand and appreciate the full artistic achievement of the poem and the freedom and power of the speaker" (284). This occurs in the following passage where Marlowe describes Leander's physical attributes: . . I could tell you how soft her breast was and how white her belly was, and whose immortal fingers printed this celestial path with so many curious details, which runs along her back, but my coarse pen can barely emblazon the loves of men, and even less of powerful Gods: it is enough that my relaxed muse sings the eyes of Leander, Those who direct the cheeks and the lips, surpassing his own, Who jump into the water for a kiss Of his own shadow , And, 1964.