Christopher Marlowe
Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564–30 May 1593) was a major dramatist, poet, and translator of English Renaissance drama. Swinburne has written that: "Marlowe is a Father of English Tragedy and the creator of English blank verse and therefore also the teacher and guide of Shakespeare."[1] He was born the same year as Shakespeare, or at least baptised, but lived only to the age of 29, when he was murdered in a brawl.[2]
Christopher Marlowe | |
|---|---|
 A painting in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge that is believed to be Christopher Marlowe. | |
| Born | baptised 26 February 1564 Canterbury, Kent, England |
| Died | May 30, 1593 (aged 29) Deptford, Kent, England |
| Occupation | Playwright, poet |
| Nationality | English |
| Period | circa 1586–1593 |
| Literary movement | English Renaissance drama |
Marlowe was the son of a shoemaker in Canterbury. His intelligence won him scholarships, to King's School in Canterbury at age 15, and two years later to the University of Cambridge. Marlowe was well-educated; he earned a bachelor's degree in 1584 and a master's degree in 1587.
Marlowe's plays were both popular and controversial, in his own era and later. His plays deal with disturbing subjects like devil worship (Doctor Faustus), homosexuality (Edward II), and anti-Semitism (The Jew of Malta). Marlowe is generally regarded as master of blank verse.[3]
In addition to seven plays, Marlowe wrote one long poem, Hero and Leander, and one famous shorter poem, "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love."
Marlowe's death was also highly controversial. He was killed in a tavern brawl, stabbed in the head. Marlowe was, or sometimes claimed to be, an atheist, at a time when atheism was a crime that could be punished by death. Some people have wondered if his death were connected with these other issues.
Uncertainty about Marlowe's death has led some people to believe that Marlowe faked his death and continued to write plays using the name "William Shakespeare." This is called the "Marlovian theory." In modern times, the changes were attempted to rename the theory in "Derogation of the king."
Plays
Other possible works
- The Contention of York and Lancaster (or The First Part of the Contention betwixt the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster) is an annoymous work that some people think may have been written by Marlowe. It was the basis for Shakespeare's play Henry VI, Part 2.[4]
Christopher Marlowe Media
Marlowe was christened at St George's Church, Canterbury. The tower, shown here, is all that survived destruction during the Baedeker air raids of 1942.
The corner of Old Court of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where Marlowe stayed while a Cambridge student and, possibly, during the time he was recruited as a spy
Portrait of alleged "spymaster" Sir Francis Walsingham c. 1585; attributed to John de Critz
Sir Walter Raleigh, shown here in 1588, was the alleged centre of the "School of Atheism" c. 1592.
Portrait often claimed to be Thomas Harriot (1602), which hangs in Trinity College, Oxford
Title page to 1598 edition of Marlowe's Hero and Leander
Title page to the 1598 edition of Palladis Tamia by Francis Meres, which contains one of the earliest descriptions of Marlowe's death
Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, Lord High Admiral, shown here c. 1601 in a procession for Elizabeth I of England, was patron of the Admiral's Men during Marlowe's lifetime.
Title page of the 1594 first edition of Dido, Queen of Carthage
References
- ↑ "About Christopher Marlowe Free Essay Example". StudyMoose. 2016-03-21. Archived from the original on 2021-02-06. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
- ↑ Wilson, Richard (1999). "Introduction". In Wilson, Richard (ed). Christopher Marlowe. London, New York: Routledge, p3.
- ↑ Compare T.S. Eliot, Notes on the Blank Verse of Christopher Marlowe.
- ↑ Logan, Robert A. (2007). Shakespeare's Marlowe: the influence of Christopher Marlowe on Shakespeare's artistry. Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate. pp. 4–5, 21. ISBN 978-0754657637