Christopher Marlowe as a Playwright

 

Christopher Marlowe: A Great Playwright

Christopher Marlowe is the greatest playwrights of Elizabethan period. He was a shining star among the University Wits. He is known in the entire world for establishing powerful dramatic blank verse. In a very short career of play writing, he achieved impressive place. Swinburne considered him ‘the first great English poet, the father of English tragedy and the creator of blank verse’.

Christopher Marlowe was the son of John Marlowe who was a shoemaker of Canterbury. His early years were spent in Canterbury. He received his school education at King’s School Canterbury. He went to Cambridge in 1581 and obtained his degree in 1583.

Christopher Marlowe was a versatile genius. His first play ‘Tamburlaine’ was published in 1590. This play was appreciated in entire England due to its impetuous force, its splendid command of blank verse and its sensitiveness to beauty.

Marlowe did not live long. He was killed in 1593. During the short span of his life, Marlowe appeared as the best representative of the Renaissance. His famous plays are Dr. Faustus, Tamburlaine, The Jew of Malta, Edward II, The Tragedy of Dido and The Massacre of Paris.

Marlow’s contribution is appreciable. He reoriented English drama by imparting to it a new mould, technique, conception and versification. His plays deal with heroic themes. He raised the subject matter of drama to a higher level. For the first time Marlowe imparted individuality and dignity to the tragic hero. He taught the art of designing tragedies on a grand scale. He made blank verse a suitable medium for dramatic expressions. Marlowe was first to divide the drama into Acts and Scenes.