The Massacre at Paris

The Massacre at Paris is the most topical of Marlowe's plays. As Paul Kocher has carefully demonstrated, Marlowe often relies on current sources - anti-Catholic pamphlets and histories designed to arouse the indignation ofEnglish Protestants. 1 We might expect that because his play encourages this indignation, it would be less ironic than The Jew of Malta or Doctor Faustus, dark satires which betray the follies of the audience as well as those of the mocking heroes. Yet irony pervades The Massacre at Paris, an irony dependent less upon 'hard' allusions, more upon dramatic structure and implicit ideas.