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Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (/ ˈ m ɑːr l oʊ /; baptised 26 February 1564 – 30 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. [a] Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights.
- 1564–1593
- English Renaissance
- Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
- Churchyard of St. Nicholas, Deptford; unmarked; memorial plaques inside and outside church
- 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
Aug 16, 2023 · Christopher Marlowe was a 16th-century poet and playwright who wrote The Tragicall History of Doctor Faustus, a play about a scholar who sells his soul to the devil. Learn about his life, his other plays, his possible secret service to England, and his legacy.
A biography of the 16th-century poet and dramatist Christopher Marlowe, who was a leader of the Elizabethan Renaissance and a rival of Shakespeare. Learn about his life, works, controversies, and legacy from this comprehensive overview of his poetry and drama.
Works. of Christopher Marlowe. In the earliest of Marlowe’s plays, the two-part Tamburlaine the Great ( c. 1587; published 1590), Marlowe’s characteristic “mighty line” (as Ben Jonson called it) established blank verse as the staple medium for later Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatic writing.
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Learn about the life and achievements of Christopher Marlowe, a renowned Elizabethan playwright, poet, and translator. Explore his controversial themes, his influence on Shakespeare, and his mysterious death.
Christopher ("Kit") Marlowe (baptized February 26, 1564 – May 30, 1593) was an English dramatist, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is considered to be the only playwright of the Elizabethan period whose talents were equal to those of William Shakespeare.
