Christopher Marlowe Life and works

1564 – he was born two months before William Shakespeare ; 1580 – 1586 he studied at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge; 1587 – he was in London writing plays; 1592 – he started work as a diplomat and entered the Court circle of free thinkers with Sir Walter Raleigh( an English explorer, a pirate and a poet and one of Queen Elizabeth I’s favourites) for whom he worked as a secret agent; Marlowe also met other dramatists and actors of the time, including William Shakespeare. He was a feisty character, often involved in fights and duels; He was imprisoned at least twice, accused of murder and later of atheism – he was stabbed and killed while gambling at an inn in a suburb of London.

Marlowe’s works Marlowe’s great tragedies Tamburlaine 1587 The Jew of Malta 1589 Doctor Faustus c.1592 Edward II 1593

The play recounts the brutal rise to power and the mysterious end of the bloody 14th-century Mongol conqueror of Central Asia and India, Timur, or Tamburlaine. The prototype of the warrior-king who goes almost mad for his thirst of power and glory; Marlowe’s gifts are displayed: – in the verbal virtuosity of his poetry – in his ability to view his tragic hero from several angles, revealing both the brutality and the grandeur of the character. Tamburlaine

The Jew of Malta In order to raise tribute demanded by the Turks, the Christian governor of Malta seizes half the property of all Jews living on Malta. When Barabas, a wealthy Jewish merchant, protests, his entire estate is confiscated. Barabas seeks revenge on his enemies so he plots their destruction, but …. in the end, he is betrayed and dies the death he had planned for his enemies.

Doctor Faustus – Doctor Faustus is a German scholar and magician dissatisfied with his studies of philosophy, medicine law and theology, as he thinks he has learned everything he can possibly know. – He turns to black magic and manages to evoke the devil’s intermediary “(Mephistopheles) and make a pact with him. – He decides to sell his soul in exchange for 24 years of knowledge and power. Mephistopheles will be his servant during this period. – In the end, the devils come and carry Faustus to hell, where he will be eternally damned.

Edward II Edward the Second is an English history play about the deposition of King Edward II by his barons and the Queen, who resent the undue influence the king's favourites have in court and state affairs. Unlike the heroes of other plays, the protagonist of this historical play, Edward II, is not aggressive but weak and, because of his weaknesses and indecisions, becomes victim of ambitious and cruel people. In the end, Edward is imprisoned and cruelly murdered. The five acts of Marlowe's play cover twenty-three years of English history, from the accession to the throne of Edward II in 1307 until the events of 1330 when Mortimer's treachery was discovered.