Christopher Marlowe
The first great English dramatist, Marlowe pioneered blank verse tragedy and created the archetype of the overreaching hero. His short career produced plays of stunning ambition that directly influenced Shakespeare. He died violently at 29 in circumstances that remain mysterious.
Works
- Hero and LeanderNarrative poem of tragic love between a mortal woman and the god Leander
- The Passionate Shepherd to His LoveLyric poem inviting a lover to pastoral pleasures with carpe diem theme
- TamburlaineDramatic tragedy of ambitious conqueror's rise and fall across Asian empires
- Doctor FaustusTragedy of a scholar who sells his soul to the devil for knowledge and power
- Tamburlaine the GreatDramatic tragedy of ambitious conqueror's rise and fall across Asian empires
- Edward IIRenaissance tragedy depicting the fall of an English king caught between love and politics
- The Jew of MaltaTragedy of a Jewish merchant's schemes for wealth and power in Malta