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Since there are only written documents on which to base any conclusions and since it is probable that the most crucial information about his death was never committed to paper, it is unlikely that the full circumstances of Marlowe's death will ever be known.
May 30, 2016 · Did the playwright die in a bar fight or was he assassinated by the Queen? Learn about the mysterious circumstances of his death and the theories behind it.
- Stacy Conradt
- Overview
- Early years
- Last years and literary career.
Christopher Marlowe was an Elizabethan poet and William Shakespeare’s most important predecessor in English drama. He is noted especially for his establishment of dramatic blank verse. In a playwriting career that spanned little more than six years, Marlowe’s achievements were diverse and splendid.
Where was Christopher Marlowe educated?
On January 14, 1579, Christopher Marlowe entered the King’s School, Canterbury, as a scholar. A year later he went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Marlowe obtained both a bachelor’s degree (1584) and a master’s degree (1587) at Cambridge. During this time he is also thought to have been employed in Elizabeth I’s secret service.
What did Christopher Marlowe write?
Christopher Marlowe’s most famous play is The Tragicall History of D. Faustus. His other plays are Tamburlaine the Great; Dido, Queen of Carthage; Edward II; The Massacre at Paris; and The Jew of Malta. Marlowe translated Ovid’s Amores (The Loves) and Book I of Lucan’s Pharsalia from Latin and wrote the poem Hero and Leander.
How did Christopher Marlowe die?
Marlowe was the second child and eldest son of John Marlowe, a Canterbury shoemaker. Nothing is known of his first schooling, but on Jan. 14, 1579, he entered the King’s School, Canterbury, as a scholar. A year later he went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Obtaining his bachelor of arts degree in 1584, he continued in residence at Cambridge—w...
After 1587 Marlowe was in London, writing for the theatres, occasionally getting into trouble with the authorities because of his violent and disreputable behaviour, and probably also engaging himself from time to time in government service. Marlowe won a dangerous reputation for “atheism,” but this could, in Elizabeth I’s time, indicate merely unorthodox religious opinions. In Robert Greene’s deathbed tract, Greenes groats-worth of witte, Marlowe is referred to as a “famous gracer of Tragedians” and is reproved for having said, like Greene himself, “There is no god” and for having studied “pestilent Machiuilian pollicie.” There is further evidence of his unorthodoxy, notably in the denunciation of him written by the spy Richard Baines and in the letter of Thomas Kyd to the lord keeper in 1593 after Marlowe’s death. Kyd alleged that certain papers “denying the deity of Jesus Christ” that were found in his room belonged to Marlowe, who had shared the room two years before. Both Baines and Kyd suggested on Marlowe’s part atheism in the stricter sense and a persistent delight in blasphemy. Whatever the case may be, on May 18, 1593, the Privy Council issued an order for Marlowe’s arrest; two days later the poet was ordered to give daily attendance on their lordships “until he shall be licensed to the contrary.” On May 30, however, Marlowe was killed by Ingram Frizer, in the dubious company of Nicholas Skeres and Robert Poley, at a lodging house in Deptford, where they had spent most of the day and where, it was alleged, a fight broke out between them over the bill.
In a playwriting career that spanned little more than six years, Marlowe’s achievements were diverse and splendid. Perhaps before leaving Cambridge he had already written Tamburlaine the Great (in two parts, both performed by the end of 1587; published 1590). Almost certainly during his later Cambridge years, Marlowe had translated Ovid’s Amores (The Loves) and the first book of Lucan’s Pharsalia from the Latin. About this time he also wrote the play Dido, Queen of Carthage (published in 1594 as the joint work of Marlowe and Thomas Nashe). With the production of Tamburlaine he received recognition and acclaim, and playwriting became his major concern in the few years that lay ahead. Both parts of Tamburlaine were published anonymously in 1590, and the publisher omitted certain passages that he found incongruous with the play’s serious concern with history; even so, the extant Tamburlaine text can be regarded as substantially Marlowe’s. No other of his plays or poems or translations was published during his life. His unfinished but splendid poem Hero and Leander—which is almost certainly the finest nondramatic Elizabethan poem apart from those produced by Edmund Spenser—appeared in 1598.
Britannica Quiz
The Literary World
- Clifford Leech
Nov 13, 2009 · Learn about the life and death of the playwright Christopher Marlowe, who wrote Tamburlaine, The Jew of Malta and Dr. Faustus. He was stabbed to death in 1593 after being arrested for treason and involved in a fight over a tavern bill.
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How did Christopher Marlowe die in 1593? The official coroner's report reveals the suspects, the motives and the circumstances of his murder at Dame Eleanor Bull's house in Deptford.
Aug 16, 2023 · Learn about the life and works of Christopher Marlowe, a poet and playwright who influenced Shakespeare and wrote The Jew of Malta, Doctor Faustus and Edward the Second. Find out how he died in 1593 under mysterious circumstances.
Feb 19, 2022 · Explore the mysterious circumstances of the playwright's death in 1593, involving four government agents and a dagger. Learn about the theories of his involvement in espionage, heresy, and homosexuality, and the possibility of a fake death.
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