In Christopher Marlowe's narrative poem Hero and Leander, a major obstacle confronts the reader in the form of an attempt to separate the narrative voice of the poet Marlowe from that of W. L. Godshalk calls "the sensibility of a dramatized narrator... who comes 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 narrative: the genuine Marlovian voice and the hidden voice of the narrator (Knoll 129). In light of these observations, the question arises how much concerns the means of distinguishing between the dual voices present in the poem, Godshalk asks "Is it Marlowe or the narrator who is so taken by Leander's physical beauty and Hero's feigned innocence even as she flirtatiously leads him on?" Hero and Leander, regarding the poet/narrator question, "construct their own mysteries and require 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 custom-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Before proceeding with the discussion of the dual voices in Hero and Leander, it would be to our advantage to examine the perspectives of the various critics who have contributed their opinions on the nature of this poetry since the mid-1960s. As Robert A. Logan argues, "Marlowe's poetry was (initially) seen as highly romantic, as if poetry engaged our senses and emotions but rarely spoke to our reason and judgment" (279). Robert E. Knoll sees Hero and Leander as a pure Elizabethan poem, as "there is not an obscene word or degenerate suggestion" in it (128). U. M. Ellis-Fermor notes that poetry "draws inspiration from the senses (and) expresses itself naturally in concrete images and in descriptions full of color and harmony of form and sound" (123). One could therefore say that Hero and Leander represents "erotic passion, libertine naturalism, and the most shameless celebration of sensuality...that we can find 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 detachment, is a masterpiece that takes on an ironic and anti-romantic posture" ( Godshalk 307). Christopher Marlowe, as a poet and as the "intrusive narrator" of Hero and Leander, used numerous narrative devices to achieve a distance from his characters and their actions, or as Godshalk argues, "through a representation of the effects of eroticism rather than of causes” through “intellectualized mythological details and images” (280). J.B. Steane builds on these devices by adding that "through comedy, generalizations, abstractions... and a shifting and shifting narrative perspective," the poet Marlowe wonderfully manages to separate himself from the text and the story 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 refinement, wit, and irony" (Steane 302). This detachment allows the reader to explore the perimeters of power through Marlowe's mental tenacity that consolidates that power. From Marlowe's perspective, detachment not only allows control over the text but also over the reader's responses. M. C. Bradbrook supports this view by noting that Hero and Leander "vary from one level of detachment to another, giving the poem an extraordinary air of maturity and balance" (Knoll 128). Regarding the literary content of Hero eLeander, we find a cosmology of ferocious energy and violence compounded by society's restrictions on sexual drive and sensuality. This informs the reader that “we are powerless to control the irrational desires we have to feel for another person” (Steane 305), especially in the nature of the characters presented in the poem. The opening lines of Hero and Leander feature a play of tones in the narrative voice, or as Maclure understands it "the tone". . . is funny and serious, because only Marlowe, 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 the Hellespont, guilty of true love blood, in sight and opposite stood two cities, borders of the sea, separated by the power of Neptune: the one Abydos, the other Sestos hight. In Sestos, Hero dwelt the fair, whom the young Apollo courted for her hair, and offered 'd as a dowry her fiery throne, where she sat that men might gaze upon her (I, lines 1-8 The first and third lines appear to be heroic and menacing 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 of how Apollo had wooed Hero for his hair which is "a mythological invention." by Marlowe, perhaps suggested by. the glorious locks attributed to Apollo" (Maclure 5). The narrator then describes Hero's outward attributes in a rather parodic style: The outside of his garments was of meadow, The lining of purple silk, with golden stars drawn; His wide 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 before her lies Her blue skirt, on which there were many stains, made with the blood of wretched lovers slain. Upon her head she wore a garland of myrtle, from where her veil reached to the ground below. Her veil was made of artificial flowers and leaves, the workmanship of which deceives both man and beast .(I, lines 9-20.) Hero's clothing description informs the reader that her white dress has green sleeves lined with purple silk and gold stars and is embroidered with mythological scenes; and the whole is covered with a veil woven with patterned flowers and leaves. This is a great example of the poet/narrator's voyeurism, as if he is observing Hero from the vantage point of Apollo's "fiery throne", where she sits while humanity observes her unattainable beauty. In particular passages in Hero and Leander, Marlowe ignores many of the Romantic ideals in pastoral literature that reflect his concern with power and its physical limitations. Logan states that this poetic detour "allows the reader to understand and appreciate the full artistic realization 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 smooth was his chest, and how white was his belly, and whose immortal fingers have impressed that celestial path with many strange marks, which runs along his back, but my rude pen can hardly emblazon the loves of men, much less than mighty Gods: suffice it that my indolent muse sings of Leander's eyes, those oriental cheeks and lips, surpassing his own, who leapt into the water for a kiss of his own shadow, and despising many, died before to be able to enjoy someone's love. (I, lines 65-76). Steane refers to this description as "an epigrammatic reference to the myth of Narcissus, a lightness in a guided tour, 1964.