A Comparative Study of the Tragic Heroes of Macbeth, the Spanish Tragedy and Doctor Faustus
Christopher Marlowe, (1564 –1593)
Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.
Plays
Dido, Queen of Carthage (c.1586) (possibly co-written with Thomas Nashe) Tamburlaine, part 1 (c.1587) Tamburlaine, part 2 (c.1587-1588) The Jew of Malta (c.1589) Doctor Faustus (c.1589, or, c.1593) The passionate Edward II (c.1592) shepherd The Massacre at Paris (c.1593)
Poetry
An anonymous portrait in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge believed to show Christopher Marlowe.
Translation of Book One of Lucan's Pharsalia (date unknown) Translation of Ovid's Elegies (c. 1580s?) The Passionate Shepherd to His Love (pre-1593) Hero and Leander (c. 1593, unfinished; completed by George Chapman, 1598) Marlowe was born to a shoemaker in Canterbury named John Marlowe and his wife Catherine. His d.o.b. is not known, but he was baptised on 26 February 1564, two months before Shakespeare (whose d.o.b. is also not known), who was baptised on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. Marlowe attended The King's School, Canterbury (where a house is now named after him) and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge on a scholarship and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1584. In 1587 the university hesitated to award him his master's degree because of a rumour that he had converted to Roman Catholicism and intended to go to the English college at Rheims to prepare for the priesthood. However, his degree was awarded when the Privy Council intervened, commending him for his "faithful dealing" and "good service" to the Queen. The nature of Marlowe's service was not specified by the Council, but its letter to the Cambridge authorities has provoked much speculation, notably the theory that Marlowe was operating as a secret agent working for Sir Francis Walsingham's intelligence
Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.
Plays
Dido, Queen of Carthage (c.1586) (possibly co-written with Thomas Nashe) Tamburlaine, part 1 (c.1587) Tamburlaine, part 2 (c.1587-1588) The Jew of Malta (c.1589) Doctor Faustus (c.1589, or, c.1593) The passionate Edward II (c.1592) shepherd The Massacre at Paris (c.1593)
Poetry
An anonymous portrait in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge believed to show Christopher Marlowe.
Translation of Book One of Lucan's Pharsalia (date unknown) Translation of Ovid's Elegies (c. 1580s?) The Passionate Shepherd to His Love (pre-1593) Hero and Leander (c. 1593, unfinished; completed by George Chapman, 1598) Marlowe was born to a shoemaker in Canterbury named John Marlowe and his wife Catherine. His d.o.b. is not known, but he was baptised on 26 February 1564, two months before Shakespeare (whose d.o.b. is also not known), who was baptised on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. Marlowe attended The King's School, Canterbury (where a house is now named after him) and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge on a scholarship and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1584. In 1587 the university hesitated to award him his master's degree because of a rumour that he had converted to Roman Catholicism and intended to go to the English college at Rheims to prepare for the priesthood. However, his degree was awarded when the Privy Council intervened, commending him for his "faithful dealing" and "good service" to the Queen. The nature of Marlowe's service was not specified by the Council, but its letter to the Cambridge authorities has provoked much speculation, notably the theory that Marlowe was operating as a secret agent working for Sir Francis Walsingham's intelligence