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{{short description|16th-century English dramatist, poet, and translator}}
{{about|the English dramatist|the American sportscaster|Chris Marlowe}}
{{use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
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{{Infobox person
| name               = Christopher Marlowe
| image              = Christopher Marlowe.jpg
| caption            = [[Marlowe portrait|Anonymous portrait]], possibly of Marlowe,<br />at [[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]]
| birth_place        = [[Canterbury]], Kent, England
| baptised           = 26 February 1564
| death_date         = 30 May 1593 (aged 29)
| death_place        = [[Deptford]], Kent, England
| resting_place      = [[St Nicholas Church, Deptford|Churchyard of St. Nicholas]], Deptford; unmarked; memorial plaques inside and outside church
| alma_mater         = [[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]]
| occupation         = {{cslist|Playwright|poet}}
| era                = {{unbulleted list|[[Elizabethan era|Elizabethan]]}}
| yearsactive        = {{circa}} mid-1580s – 1593
| movement           = [[English Renaissance]]
| notable_works      = {{cslist|''[[Hero and Leander (poem)|Hero and Leander]]''|''[[Tamburlaine the Great]]''|''[[Edward II (play)|Edward the Second]]''|''[[Doctor Faustus (play)|The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus]]''|''[[Dido, Queen of Carthage (play)|Dido, Queen of Carthage]]''}}
| signature          = Christopher Marlowe Signature.svg
}}
'''Christopher Marlowe''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɑr|l|oʊ}} {{respell|MAR|loh}}; [[Baptism|baptised]] 26 February 1564{{spaced ndash}}30 May 1593), also known as '''Kit Marlowe''', was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the [[Elizabethan era]].{{efn|"Christopher Marlowe was [[Baptism|baptised]] as 'Marlow,' but he spelled his name 'Marley' in his one known surviving signature."<ref name="Kathman 2">{{cite web |last1=Kathman |first1=David |title=The Spelling and Pronunciation of Shakespeare's Name: Pronunciation |url=http://shakespeareauthorship.com/name1.html#3 |website=shakespeareauthorship.com |access-date=14 June 2020 |archive-date=27 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127020121/https://shakespeareauthorship.com/name1.html#3 |url-status=live }}</ref>}} Marlowe is among the most famous of the [[English Renaissance theatre|Elizabethan playwrights]]. Based upon the "many imitations" of his play ''[[Tamburlaine]]'', modern scholars consider him to have been the foremost dramatist in London in the years just before his mysterious early death.{{efn|"During Marlowe's lifetime, the popularity of his plays, Robert Greene's unintentionally elevating remarks about him as a dramatist in ''A Groatsworth of Wit'', including the designation 'famous', and the many imitations of ''Tamburlaine'' suggest that he was for a brief time considered England's foremost dramatist." Logan also suggests consulting the business diary of Philip Henslowe, which is traditionally used by theatre historians to determine the popularity of Marlowe's plays.{{sfnp|Logan|2007|pp=4–5, 21}}}} Some scholars also believe that he greatly influenced [[William Shakespeare]], who was baptised in the same year as Marlowe and later succeeded him as the preeminent Elizabethan playwright.{{efn|No birth records, only baptismal records, have been found for Marlowe and Shakespeare, therefore any reference to a birthdate for either man probably refers to the date of their baptism.{{sfnp|Logan|2007|pp=3, 231–235}}}} Marlowe was the first to achieve critical reputation for his use of [[blank verse]], which became the standard for the era. His plays are distinguished by their overreaching protagonists. Themes found within Marlowe's literary works have been noted as [[humanistic]] with realistic emotions, which some scholars find difficult to reconcile with Marlowe's "[[anti-intellectualism]]" and his catering to the prurient tastes of his Elizabethan audiences for generous displays of extreme physical violence, cruelty, and bloodshed.{{sfnp|Wilson|1999|p=3}}

Events in Marlowe's life were sometimes as extreme as those found in his plays.{{efn|"...as one of the most influential current critics, Stephen Greenblatt frets, Marlowe's 'cruel, aggressive plays' seem to reflect a life also lived on the edge: 'a courting of disaster as reckless as any that he depicted on stage'."{{sfnp|Wilson|1999|p=4}}}} Differing sensational reports of Marlowe's death in 1593 abounded after the event and are contested by scholars today owing to a lack of good documentation. There have been many conjectures as to the nature and reason for his death, including a vicious bar-room fight, [[blasphemous libel]] against the church, homosexual intrigue, betrayal by another playwright, and espionage from the highest level: the [[Privy Council of England|Privy Council]] of [[Elizabeth I]]. An official coroner's account of Marlowe's death was discovered only in 1925,<ref name="rey.myzen.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/inquis~2.htm|title=Peter Farey's Marlowe page|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622090306/http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/inquis~2.htm |archive-date=22 June 2015|access-date=30 April 2015}}</ref> and it did little to persuade all scholars that it told the whole story, nor did it eliminate the uncertainties present in his biography.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Erne|first=Lukas|date=August 2005|title=Biography, Mythography, and Criticism: The Life and Works of Christopher Marlowe|journal=Modern Philology|volume=103|number=1|publisher=University of Chicago Press|pages=28–50|doi=10.1086/499177|s2cid=170152766|url=https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:14485|access-date=1 January 2023|archive-date=3 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603033354/https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:14485|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:Canterbury - Turm der St. George's Church, in der Marlowe getauft wurde.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Marlowe was christened at St George's Church, [[Canterbury]]. The tower, shown here, is all that survived destruction during the [[Baedeker Blitz|Baedeker air raids]] of 1942.]]
Christopher Marlowe, the second of nine children, and oldest child after the death of his sister Mary in 1568, was born to [[Canterbury]] shoemaker John Marlowe and his wife Katherine, daughter of William Arthur of [[Dover]].<ref name="Nicholl">{{cite ODNB |last1=Nicholl |first1=Charles |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=2004 |edition=January 2008 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18079 |access-date=10 June 2020 |chapter=Marlowe [Marley], Christopher|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/18079 }}</ref> He was baptised at St George's Church, Canterbury, on 26 February 1564 (1563 in the [[Old Style and New Style dates|old style dates]] in use at the time, which placed the new year on 25 March).<ref name="St. George's">{{cite book |editor1-last=Cowper |editor1-first=Joseph Meadows |title=The register booke of the parish of St. George the Martyr, within the citie of Canterburie, of christenings, marriages and burials. 1538–1800 |date=1891 |publisher=Cross & Jackman |location=Canterbury |page=10 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008685594 |access-date=16 June 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728144929/https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008685594 |url-status=live }}</ref> Marlowe's birth was likely to have been a few days before,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hopkins |first1=L. |title=A Christopher Marlowe Chronology |date=2005 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-50304-5 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fSh-DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 |language=en |access-date=14 July 2021 |archive-date=4 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904211115/https://books.google.com/books?id=fSh-DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Rackham2014">{{Cite journal |last=Rackham |first=Oliver |date=2014 |issue=93 |title=The Pseudo-Marlowe Portrait: a wish fulfilled? |authorlink=Oliver Rackham |url=https://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/images/Development%20Office/The%20letter/Corpus_Letter_93_2014%20-%20Copy%201.pdf |journal=Corpus Letter |publisher=[[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]] |pages=32 |access-date=7 June 2021 |archive-date=23 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023162726/https://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/images/Development%20Office/The%20letter/Corpus_Letter_93_2014%20-%20Copy%201.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hilton |first1=Della |title=Who was Kit Marlowe? : The story of the poet and playwright |date=1977 |publisher=New York : Taplinger Pub. Co. |isbn=978-0-8008-8291-4 |page=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/whowaskitmarlowe00hilt/page/n15/mode/2up}}</ref> making him about two months older than [[William Shakespeare]], who was baptised on 26 April 1564 in [[Stratford-upon-Avon]].<ref name="Holland">{{cite ODNB |last1=Holland |first1=Peter |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=2004 |edition=January 2013 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25200 |access-date=27 May 2020 |chapter=Shakespeare, William |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/25200 |archive-date=24 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024235508/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25200 |url-status=live }}</ref>

By age 14, Marlowe was a pupil at [[The King's School, Canterbury|The King's School]], Canterbury on a scholarship{{efn|The earliest record of Marlowe at The King's School is their payment for his scholarship of 1578/79, but Nicholl notes this was "unusually late" to start as a student and proposes he could have begun school earlier as a "fee-paying pupil".<ref name="Nicholl"/>}} and two years later a student at [[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]], where he also studied through a scholarship with expectation that he would become an Anglican clergyman.<ref name="Marlowe Guy-Bray Wiggins Lindsey 2014 p. 8">{{cite book | last1=Marlowe | first1=C. | last2=Guy-Bray | first2=S. | last3=Wiggins | first3=M. | last4=Lindsey | first4=R. | title=Edward II Revised | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-4725-7540-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vm17AwAAQBAJ&pg=PR8 | access-date=19 January 2023 | page=8}}</ref> Instead, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1584.<ref name="Nicholl"/><ref>{{acad|id=MRLW580C|name=Marlowe, Christopher}}</ref> Marlowe mastered [[Latin language|Latin]] during his schooling, reading and translating the works of [[Ovid]]. In 1587, the university hesitated to award his Master of Arts degree because of a rumour that he intended to go to the [[English College, Douai|English seminary]] at [[Rheims]] in northern [[France]], presumably to prepare for ordination as a [[Roman Catholic]] [[Seminary priest|priest]].<ref name="Nicholl"/> If true, such an action on his part would have been a direct violation of royal edict issued by [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]] in 1585 criminalising any attempt by an English citizen to be ordained in the Roman Catholic Church.<ref name="Collinson">{{cite ODNB |last1=Collinson |first1=Patrick |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=2004 |edition=January 2012 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8636 |access-date=27 May 2020 |chapter=Elizabeth I |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/8636 |archive-date=19 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819042621/https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-8636;jsessionid=4B33E8F1E68F70E307BFE7BBF6367B30 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.hanover.edu/texts/ENGref/er85.html |title=Act Against Jesuits and Seminarists (1585), 27 Elizabeth, Cap. 2, ''Documents Illustrative of English Church History'' |publisher=Macmillan (1896) |access-date=27 May 2020 |archive-date=20 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920173546/https://history.hanover.edu/texts/ENGref/er85.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[St. Bartholomew's Day massacre|Large-scale violence]] between [[Protestants]] and [[Catholics]] on the European continent has been cited by scholars as the impetus for the [[Elizabeth I|Protestant English Queen]]'s defensive [[Elizabethan Religious Settlement|anti-Catholic laws]] issued from 1581 until her death in 1603.<ref name="Collinson"/> Despite the dire implications for Marlowe, his degree was awarded on schedule when the [[Privy Council of England|Privy Council]] intervened on his behalf, commending him for his "faithful dealing" and "good service" to [[Elizabeth I|the Queen]].<ref>For a full transcript, see [http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/pc_cert.htm Peter Farey's Marlowe page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223144200/http://rey.myzen.co.uk/pc_cert.htm |date=23 December 2016 }} (Retrieved 30 April 2015).</ref> The nature of Marlowe's service was not specified by the council, but its letter to the Cambridge authorities has provoked much speculation by modern scholars, notably the theory that Marlowe was operating as a secret agent for Privy Council member Sir [[Francis Walsingham]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hutchinson |first=Robert |title=Elizabeth's Spy Master: Francis Walsingham and the Secret War that Saved England |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |year=2006 |location=London |page=111 |isbn =978-0-297-84613-0}}</ref> The only surviving evidence of the Privy Council's correspondence is found in their minutes, the letter being lost. There is no mention of [[espionage]] in the minutes, but its summation of the lost Privy Council letter is vague in meaning, stating that "it was not Her Majesties pleasure" that persons employed as Marlowe had been "in matters touching the benefit of his country should be defamed by those who are ignorant in th'affaires he went about." Scholars agree the vague wording was typically used to protect government agents, but they continue to debate what the "matters touching the benefit of his country" actually were in Marlowe's case and how they affected the 23-year-old writer as he began his literary career in 1587.<ref name="Nicholl"/>

==Adult life and legend==
Little is known about Marlowe's adult life. All available evidence, other than what can be deduced from his literary works, is found in legal records and other official documents. Writers of fiction and non-fiction have speculated about his professional activities, private life, and character. Marlowe has been described as a spy, a brawler, and a heretic, as well as a "magician", "duellist", "tobacco-user", "counterfeiter" and "[[Rake (character)|rakehell]]". While J. A. Downie and Constance Kuriyama have argued against the more lurid speculations, [[J. B. Steane]] remarked, "it seems absurd to dismiss all of these Elizabethan rumours and accusations as 'the Marlowe myth{{'"}}.{{sfnp|Kuriyama|2002|p={{page needed|date=February 2022}}}}{{sfnp|Downie|Parnell|2000|p={{page needed|date=February 2022}}}}<ref name="steane"/> Much has been written on his brief adult life, including speculation of: his involvement in royally sanctioned espionage; his vocal declaration of [[atheism]]; his (possibly same-sex) sexual interests; and the puzzling circumstances surrounding his death.

===Spying===
[[File:Old Court, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.jpg|thumb|left|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]]
Marlowe is alleged to have been a government spy.{{sfnp|Honan|2005|p={{page needed|date=February 2022}}}} [[Park Honan]] and [[Charles Nicholl (author)|Charles Nicholl]] speculate that this was the case and suggest that Marlowe's recruitment took place when he was at Cambridge.{{sfnp|Honan|2005|p={{page needed|date=February 2022}}}}{{sfnp|Nicholl|1992|loc="12"}} In 1587, when the Privy Council ordered the University of Cambridge to award Marlowe his degree as Master of Arts, it denied rumours that he intended to go to the English Catholic college in [[Rheims]], saying instead that he had been engaged in unspecified "affaires" on "matters touching the benefit of his country".<ref>This is from a document dated 29 June 1587, from the National Archives – ''Acts of Privy Council''.</ref> Surviving college records from the period also indicate that, in the academic year 1584–1585, Marlowe had a series of unusually lengthy absences from the university which violated university regulations. Surviving college [[Buttery (shop)|buttery]] accounts, which record student purchases for personal provisions, show that Marlowe began spending lavishly on food and drink during the periods he was in attendance; the amount was more than he could have afforded on his known scholarship income.{{sfnp|Nicholl|1992|p={{page needed|date=February 2022}}}}{{efn|It is known that some poorer students worked as labourers on the Corpus Christi College chapel, then under construction, and were paid by the college with extra food. It has been suggested this may be the reason for the sums noted in Marlowe's entry in the buttery accounts.<ref name="Riggs2004">{{cite book|first=David|last=Riggs|title=The World of Christopher Marlowe|page=65|year=2004a|publisher=Faber|isbn=978-0-571-22159-2}}</ref>}}

[[File:Sir Francis Walsingham by John De Critz the Elder.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Portrait of alleged "spymaster" Sir [[Francis Walsingham]] c. 1585; attributed to [[John de Critz]]]]
It has been speculated that Marlowe was the "Morley" who was tutor to [[Arbella Stuart]] in 1589.{{efn|He was described by Arbella's guardian, the Countess of Shrewsbury, as having hoped for an annuity of some £40 from Arbella, his being "so much damnified (i.e. having lost this much) by leaving the University."<ref>British Library [[Lansdowne MS.]] 71, f.3.</ref>{{sfnp|Nicholl|1992|pp=340–342}}}} This possibility was first raised in a ''[[Times Literary Supplement]]'' letter by E. St John Brooks in 1937; in a letter to ''[[Notes and Queries]]'', John Baker has added that only Marlowe could have been Arbella's tutor owing to the absence of any other known "Morley" from the period with an MA and not otherwise occupied.<ref>John Baker, letter to ''Notes and Queries'' 44.3 (1997), pp. 367–368</ref> If Marlowe was Arbella's tutor, it might indicate that he was there as a spy, since Arbella, niece of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], and cousin of James VI of Scotland, later [[James I of England]], was at the time a strong candidate for the [[succession to Elizabeth's throne]].{{sfnp|Kuriyama|2002|p=89}}{{sfnp|Nicholl|1992|p=342}}<ref name="Handover">{{cite book |last1=Handover |first1=P. M. |title=Arbella Stuart, royal lady of Hardwick and cousin to King James |date=1957 |publisher=Eyre & Spottiswoode |location=London}}</ref><ref>[http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Elizabeth/index.html Elizabeth I and James VI and I] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214113207/http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Elizabeth/index.html |date=14 December 2006 }}, [http://www.history.ac.uk/ History in Focus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908034533/http://www.history.ac.uk/ |date=8 September 2011 }}.</ref> [[Frederick S. Boas]] dismisses the possibility of this identification, based on surviving legal records which document Marlowe's "residence in London between September and December 1589". Marlowe had been party to a fatal quarrel involving his neighbours and the poet [[Thomas Watson (poet)|Thomas Watson]] in [[Norton Folgate]] and was held in [[Newgate Prison]] for a fortnight.{{sfnp|Boas|1953|pp=101ff}} In fact, the quarrel and his arrest occurred on 18 September, he was released on bail on 1 October and he had to attend court, where he was acquitted on 3 December, but there is no record of where he was for the intervening two months.{{sfnp|Kuriyama|2002|p=xvi}}

In 1592 Marlowe was arrested in the English [[Cautionary Towns|garrison town]] of [[Flushing, Netherlands|Flushing]] (Vlissingen) in the Netherlands, for alleged involvement in the [[Counterfeit money|counterfeiting]] of coins, presumably related to the activities of seditious Catholics. He was sent to the Lord Treasurer ([[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|Burghley]]), but no charge or imprisonment resulted.<ref>For a full transcript, see [http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/flushing.htm Peter Farey's Marlowe page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031527/http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/flushing.htm |date=4 March 2016 }} (Retrieved 30 April 2015).</ref> This arrest may have disrupted another of Marlowe's spying missions, perhaps by giving the resulting coinage to the Catholic cause. He was to infiltrate the followers of the active Catholic plotter [[William Stanley (Elizabethan)|William Stanley]] and report back to Burghley.{{sfnp|Nicholl|1992|pp=246–248}}

===Philosophy===
[[File:Sir Walter Ralegh by 'H' monogrammist.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Sir [[Walter Raleigh]], shown here in 1588, was the alleged centre of the "[[The School of Night|School of Atheism]]" c. 1592.]]
Marlowe was reputed to be an atheist, which held the dangerous implication of being an enemy of God and, by association, the state.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stanley|first=Thomas|author-link=Thomas Stanley (author)|title=The History of Philosophy 1655–61|publisher=quoted in [[Oxford English Dictionary]]|year=1687}}</ref> With the rise of public fears concerning [[The School of Night]], or "School of Atheism" in the late 16th century, accusations of atheism were closely associated with disloyalty to the Protestant monarchy of England.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Riggs|first1=David|title=The World of Christopher Marlowe|date=2005|publisher=Henry Holt and Co.|isbn=978-0805077551|edition=1st American|page=294|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hYhWAgAAQBAJ&q=atheism&pg=PP2|access-date=3 November 2015|archive-date=28 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228193647/https://books.google.com/books?id=hYhWAgAAQBAJ&q=atheism&pg=PP2|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some modern historians consider that Marlowe's professed atheism, as with his supposed Catholicism, may have been no more than a sham to further his work as a government spy.{{sfnp|Riggs|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani00chen_319/page/n56 38]}} Contemporary evidence comes from Marlowe's accuser in [[Flushing, Netherlands|Flushing]], an informer called [[Richard Baines]]. The governor of Flushing had reported that each of the men had "of malice" accused the other of instigating the counterfeiting and of intending to go over to the Catholic "enemy"; such an action was considered atheistic by the [[Church of England]]. Following Marlowe's arrest in 1593, Baines submitted to the authorities a "note containing the opinion of one Christopher Marly concerning his damnable judgment of religion, and scorn of God's word".<ref>For a full transcript, see [http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/baines1.htm Peter Farey's Marlowe page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024355/http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/baines1.htm |date=4 March 2016 }} (Retrieved 30 April 2012).</ref> Baines attributes to Marlowe a total of eighteen items which "scoff at the pretensions of the [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]]" such as, "Christ was a bastard and his mother dishonest [unchaste]", "the woman of Samaria and her sister were whores and that Christ knew them dishonestly", "St [[John the Evangelist]] was bedfellow to Christ and leaned always in his bosom" (cf. John 13:23–25) and "that he used him as the sinners of [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Sodom]]".<ref name="steane">{{cite book|last=Steane|first=J. B.|title=Introduction to Christopher Marlowe: The Complete Plays|publisher=Penguin|year=1969 |location=Aylesbury, UK|isbn=978-0-14-043037-0|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/completeplays0000marl}}</ref> He also implied that Marlowe had Catholic sympathies. Other passages are merely sceptical in tone: "he persuades men to atheism, willing them not to be afraid of [[bugbear]]s and [[hobgoblins]]". The final paragraph of Baines's document reads:

[[File:ThomasHarriot.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.9|Portrait often claimed to be [[Thomas Harriot]] (1602), which hangs in [[Trinity College, Oxford]]]]
{{Blockquote|These thinges, with many other shall by good & honest witnes be approved to be his opinions and Comon Speeches, and that this Marlowe doth not only hould them himself, but almost into every Company he Cometh he persuades men to Atheism willing them not to be afeard of bugbeares and hobgoblins, and vtterly scorning both god and his ministers as I Richard Baines will Justify & approue both by mine oth and the testimony of many honest men, and almost al men with whome he hath Conversed any time will testify the same, and as I think all men in Cristianity ought to indevor that the mouth of so dangerous a member may be stopped, he saith likewise that he hath quoted a number of Contrarieties oute of the Scripture which he hath giuen to some great men who in Convenient time shalbe named. When these thinges shalbe Called in question the witnes shalbe produced.<ref name="bainesnote">{{cite web|title=The 'Baines Note'|url=http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/baines1.htm|access-date=30 April 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024355/http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/baines1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Similar examples of Marlowe's statements were given by [[Thomas Kyd]] after his imprisonment and possible torture (see above); Kyd and Baines connect Marlowe with mathematician [[Thomas Harriot]]'s and Sir [[Walter Raleigh]]'s circle.<ref name="Peter Farey's Marlowe page"/> Another document claimed about that time that "one Marlowe is able to show more sound reasons for Atheism than any divine in England is able to give to prove divinity, and that ... he hath read the Atheist lecture to Sir Walter Raleigh and others".<ref name="steane"/>{{efn|The so-called 'Remembrances' against Richard Cholmeley.<ref>For a full transcript, see [http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/chumley1.htm Peter Farey's Marlowe page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125220642/http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/chumley1.htm |date=25 January 2016 }}. (Retrieved 30 April 2015)</ref>}}

Some critics believe that Marlowe sought to disseminate these views in his work and that he identified with his rebellious and iconoclastic protagonists.<ref>Waith, Eugene. ''The Herculean Hero in Marlowe, Chapman, Shakespeare, and Dryden''. Chatto and Windus, London, 1962. The idea is commonplace, though by no means universally accepted.</ref> Plays had to be approved by the [[Master of the Revels]] before they could be performed and the censorship of publications was under the control of the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. Presumably these authorities did not consider any of Marlowe's works to be unacceptable other than the ''Amores''.

===Sexuality===
[[File:Hero-und-Leander.jpg|right|thumb|upright=0.8|Title page to 1598 edition of Marlowe's ''[[Hero and Leander (poem)|Hero and Leander]]'']]
It has been claimed that Marlowe was homosexual. Some scholars argue that the identification of an Elizabethan as such in the modern sense is "[[Anachronism|anachronistic]]," saying that for the Elizabethans the terms were more likely to have been applied to homoerotic affections or sexual acts rather than to what we currently understand as a settled sexual orientation or personal role identity.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Bruce R.|title=Homosexual desire in Shakespeare's England|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|date= 1995|page=74|isbn=978-0-226-76366-8}}</ref> Other scholars argue that the evidence is inconclusive and that the reports of Marlowe's homosexuality may be rumours produced after his death. Richard Baines reported Marlowe as saying: "all they that love not Tobacco & Boies were fools". [[David Bevington]] and [[Eric C. Rasmussen]] describe Baines's evidence as "unreliable testimony" and "[t]hese and other testimonials need to be discounted for their exaggeration and for their having been produced under legal circumstances we would now regard as a witch-hunt".<ref>Bevington, David, and Eric Rasmussen, eds. ''Doctor Faustus and Other Plays''. Oxford English Drama. Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. viii–ix. {{ISBN|0-19-283445-2}}</ref>

Literary scholar [[J. B. Steane]] considered there to be "no evidence for Marlowe's homosexuality at all".<ref name="steane"/> Other scholars point to the frequency with which Marlowe explores homosexual themes in his writing: in ''[[Hero and Leander (poem)|Hero and Leander]]'', Marlowe writes of the male youth Leander: "in his looks were all that men desire..."<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=White |editor-first=Paul Whitfield |title=Marlowe, History and Sexuality: New Critical Essays on Christopher Marlowe |publisher=AMS Press |location=New York |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-404-62335-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Christopher Marlowe |chapter=Hero and Leander |title=The works of Christopher Marlowe |editor=A. H. Bullen |year=1885 |volume=3 |place=London |publisher=John C. Nimmo |pages=88, 157–193 |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21262/21262-h/21262-h.htm |via=[[Project Gutenberg]] |access-date=21 May 2009 |archive-date=21 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921083327/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21262/21262-h/21262-h.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Edward II (play)|Edward the Second]]'' contains the following passage enumerating homosexual relationships:
{{blockquote|<poem>
The mightiest kings have had their minions;
Great [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] loved [[Hephaestion]],
The conquering [[Hercules]] for [[Hylas]] wept;
And for [[Patroclus]], stern [[Achilles]] drooped.
And not kings only, but the wisest men:
The Roman [[Cicero|Tully]] loved [[Augustus|Octavius]],
Grave [[Socrates]], wild [[Alcibiades]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eGvavCqLW2AC&pg=PA128 |title=The Routledge Anthology of Renaissance Drama |author=Simon Barker, Hilary Hinds |publisher=Routledge |date=2003 |access-date=9 February 2013 |isbn=9780415187343 |archive-date=29 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229075917/https://books.google.com/books?id=eGvavCqLW2AC&pg=PA128 |url-status=live }}</ref>
</poem>
}}

Marlowe wrote the only [[Edward II (play)|play]] about the life of [[Edward II]] up to his time, taking the [[Renaissance humanism|humanist]] literary discussion of male sexuality much further than his contemporaries. The play was extremely bold, dealing with a star-crossed love story between Edward II and [[Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall|Piers Gaveston]]. Though it was a common practice at the time to reveal characters as homosexual to give audiences reason to suspect them as culprits in a crime, Christopher Marlowe's Edward II is portrayed as a sympathetic character.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Edward the Second|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=axTzkFP9IHoC|publisher = Manchester University Press|date = 1995|isbn = 9780719030895|first1 = Christopher|last1 = Marlowe|first2 = Charles R.|last2 = Forker|access-date = 4 November 2015|archive-date = 21 May 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160521190848/https://books.google.com/books?id=axTzkFP9IHoC|url-status = live}}</ref> The decision to start the play ''[[Dido, Queen of Carthage (play)|Dido, Queen of Carthage]]'' with a homoerotic scene between [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] and [[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]] that bears no connection to the subsequent plot has long puzzled scholars.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Williams|first=Deanne|date=2006|title=Dido, Queen of England|journal=ELH|volume=73|issue=1|pages=31–59|doi=10.1353/elh.2006.0010|jstor=30030002|s2cid=153554373}}</ref>

===Arrest and death===
[[File:marlowe.jpg|thumb|Marlowe was buried in an unmarked grave in the churchyard of St Nicholas, [[Deptford]]. This modern plaque is on the east wall of the churchyard.]]
In early May 1593, several bills were posted about London threatening the Protestant refugees from France and the Netherlands who had settled in the city. One of these, the "Dutch church libel", written in rhymed [[iambic pentameter]], contained allusions to several of Marlowe's plays and was signed, "[[Tamburlaine]]".<ref>For a full transcript, see [http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/libell.htm Peter Farey's Marlowe page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622092454/http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/libell.htm |date=22 June 2015 }} (Retrieved 31 March 2012).</ref> On 11 May 1593 the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] ordered the arrest of those responsible for the libels. The next day, Marlowe's colleague [[Thomas Kyd]] was arrested and when his lodgings were searched, a three-page fragment of a [[heresy|heretical]] tract was found. On being charged with atheism and tortured, Kyd declared the document to be Marlowe's, and to have been shuffled together with his own papers when they were writing together in the same chamber two years previously.<ref>The document was identified in the 20th century as transcripts from the historian [[John Proctor (historian)|John Proctor]]'s book ''The Fal of the Late Arrian'' (1549). See George T. Buckley, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2911627 "Who was 'the Late Arrian'?"], ''Modern Language Notes'' v. 49, no. 8 (Dec. 1934), p. 500-503.</ref><ref name="Peter Farey's Marlowe page">[[Thomas Kyd]], letter to Sir [[John Puckering]], undated, held by the British Library, Harley MS. 6849, folio 218r-v. The letter was published in F.S. Boas, ''Works of Kyd'', p. cx–cxiii. For a full transcript, see [http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/kyd2.htm Peter Farey's Marlowe page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622085958/http://www.rey.myzen.co.uk/kyd2.htm |date=22 June 2015 }} (Retrieved 8 February 2025).</ref> In a second letter, Kyd said they had both been working for an aristocratic patron (probably [[Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby|Ferdinando Stanley]]), and he described Marlowe as blasphemous, disorderly, holding treasonous opinions, being an irreligious reprobate and "intemperate & of a cruel hart".<ref name=ODNB>Mulryne, J. R. [https://www.oxforddnb.com/search?q=Thomas+Kyd&searchBtn=Search&isQuickSearch=true "Thomas Kyd."]''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]''. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]], 2004.{{subscription required}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904211123/https://www.oxforddnb.com/search?q=Thomas+Kyd&searchBtn=Search&isQuickSearch=true |date=4 September 2022 }}</ref> 
A warrant for Marlowe's arrest was issued on 18 May 1593, when the Privy Council apparently knew that he might be found staying with [[Thomas Walsingham (literary patron)|Thomas Walsingham]], whose father was a first cousin of the late Sir [[Francis Walsingham]], Elizabeth's [[Secretary of State (England)|principal secretary]] in the 1580s and a man more deeply involved in state espionage than any other member of the Privy Council.<ref>Haynes, Alan. ''The Elizabethan Secret Service''. London: Sutton, 2005.</ref> Marlowe duly presented himself on 20 May 1593 but there apparently being no Privy Council meeting on that day, was instructed to "give his daily attendance on their Lordships, until he shall be licensed to the contrary".<ref>National Archives, ''Acts of the Privy Council''. Meetings of the Privy Council, including details of those attending, are recorded and minuted for 16, 23, 25, 29 and the morning of 31 May 1593 , all of them taking place in the Star Chamber at Westminster. There is no record of any meeting on either 18 or 20 May 1593, however, just a note of the warrant being issued on 18 May 1593 and the fact that Marlowe "entered his appearance for his indemnity therein" on the 20th.</ref> On Wednesday, 30 May 1593, Marlowe was killed.

[[File:Palladis Tamia 1598.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Title page to the 1598 edition of ''[[Palladis Tamia]]'' by [[Francis Meres]], which contains one of the earliest descriptions of Marlowe's death]]
Various accounts of Marlowe's death were current over the next few years. In his ''[[Palladis Tamia]]'', published in 1598, [[Francis Meres]] says Marlowe was "stabbed to death by a bawdy serving-man, a rival of his in his lewd love" as punishment for his "[[Epicureanism|epicurism]] and atheism".<ref>''Palladis Tamia''. London, 1598: 286v–287r.</ref> In 1917, in the ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]'', Sir [[Sidney Lee]] wrote, on slender evidence, that Marlowe was killed in a drunken fight. His claim was not much at variance with the official account, which came to light only in 1925, when the scholar [[Leslie Hotson]] discovered the [[coroner]]'s report of the inquest on Marlowe's death, held two days later on Friday 1 June 1593, by the [[Coroner of the Queen's Household]], [[William Danby (coroner)|William Danby]].<ref name="rey.myzen.co.uk"/> Marlowe had spent all day in a house in [[Deptford, London|Deptford]], owned by the widow [[Eleanor Bull]], with three men: [[Ingram Frizer]], [[Nicholas Skeres]] and [[Robert Poley]]. All three had been employed by one or other of the Walsinghams. Skeres and Poley had helped snare the conspirators in the [[Babington plot]], and Frizer was a servant{{sfnmp|Kuriyama|2002|1pp=102–103, 135, 156|Honan|2005|2p=355}} to Thomas Walsingham, probably acting as a financial or business agent, as he was for Walsingham's wife [[Audrey Walsingham|Audrey]] a few years later.{{sfnp|Hotson|1925|p=65}}{{sfnp|Honan|2005|p=325}} These witnesses testified that Frizer and Marlowe had argued over payment of the bill (now famously known as the "Reckoning"), exchanging "divers malicious words", while Frizer was sitting at a table between the other two and Marlowe was lying behind him on a couch. Marlowe snatched Frizer's dagger and wounded him on the head. According to the coroner's report, in the ensuing struggle Marlowe was stabbed above the right eye, killing him instantly. The jury concluded that Frizer acted in self-defence and within a month he was pardoned. Marlowe was buried in an unmarked grave in the churchyard of St. Nicholas, Deptford, immediately after the inquest, on 1 June 1593.<ref>Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 30125). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.</ref>

The complete text of the inquest report was published by Leslie Hotson in his book, ''The Death of Christopher Marlowe'',{{sfn|Hotson|1925}} in the introduction to which Professor [[George Lyman Kittredge]] wrote: "The mystery of Marlowe's death, heretofore involved in a cloud of contradictory gossip and irresponsible guess-work, is now cleared up for good and all on the authority of public records of complete authenticity and gratifying fullness". However, this confidence proved to be fairly short-lived. Hotson had considered the possibility that the witnesses had "concocted a lying account of Marlowe's behaviour, to which they swore at the inquest, and with which they deceived the jury", but decided against that scenario.{{sfnp|Hotson|1925|pp=39–40}} Others began to suspect that this theory was indeed the case. Writing to the ''Times Literary Supplement'' shortly after the book's publication, Eugénie de Kalb disputed that the struggle and outcome as described were even possible, and [[Samuel A. Tannenbaum]] insisted the following year that such a wound could not have possibly resulted in instant death, as had been claimed.<ref name="de Kalb">de Kalb, Eugénie (May 1925). "The Death of Marlowe", in ''The Times Literary Supplement''</ref>{{sfnp|Tannenbaum|1926|pp=41–42}} Even Marlowe's biographer John Bakeless acknowledged that "some scholars have been inclined to question the truthfulness of the coroner's report. There is something queer about the whole episode", and said that Hotson's discovery "raises almost as many questions as it answers".<ref>Bakeless, John (1942). ''The Tragicall History of Christopher Marlowe'', p. 182</ref> It has also been discovered more recently that the apparent absence of a local county coroner to accompany the Coroner of the Queen's Household would, if noticed, have made the inquest null and void.{{sfnp|Honan|2005|p=354}}

One of the main reasons for doubting the truth of the inquest concerns the reliability of Marlowe's companions as witnesses.<ref>Nicholl, Charles (2004). "Marlowe [Marley], Christopher", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18079 online edn], January 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2013. "The authenticity of the inquest is not in doubt, but whether it tells the full truth is another matter. The nature of Marlowe's companions raises questions about their reliability as witnesses."</ref> As an ''agent provocateur'' for the late Sir Francis Walsingham, Robert Poley was a consummate liar, the "very genius of the Elizabethan underworld", and was on record as saying "I will swear and forswear myself, rather than I will accuse myself to do me any harm".{{sfnp|Boas|1953|p=293}}{{sfnp|Nicholl|2002|p=38}} The other witness, Nicholas Skeres, had for many years acted as a [[confidence trickster]], drawing young men into the clutches of people involved in the [[loanshark|money-lending]] racket, including Marlowe's apparent killer, Ingram Frizer, with whom he was engaged in such a swindle.{{sfnp|Nicholl|2002 |pp=29–30}} Despite their being referred to as ''generosi'' (gentlemen) in the inquest report, the witnesses were professional liars. Some biographers, such as Kuriyama and Downie, take the inquest to be a true account of what occurred, but in trying to explain what really happened if the account was not true, others have come up with a variety of murder theories:{{sfnp|Kuriyama|2002|p=136}}<ref>{{harvc|last=Downie |first=J. A. |c=Marlowe, facts and fictions |in1=Downie |in2=Parnell |year=2000 |pages=26–27}}</ref>
* Jealous of her husband Thomas's relationship with Marlowe, Audrey Walsingham arranged for the playwright to be murdered.<ref name="de Kalb"/>
* Sir Walter Raleigh arranged the murder, fearing that under torture Marlowe might incriminate him.{{sfnp|Tannenbaum|1926|p={{page needed|date=February 2022}}}}
* With Skeres the main player, the murder resulted from attempts by the [[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex|Earl of Essex]] to use Marlowe to incriminate Sir Walter Raleigh.{{sfnp|Nicholl|2002|p=415}}
* He was killed on the orders of father and son Lord Burghley and [[Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury|Sir Robert Cecil]], who thought that his plays contained Catholic propaganda.<ref>Breight, Curtis C. (1996). '' Surveillance, Militarism and Drama in the Elizabethan Era'', p. 114</ref>
* He was accidentally killed while Frizer and Skeres were pressuring him to pay back money he owed them.<ref>Hammer, Paul E. J. (1996) "A Reckoning Reframed: the 'Murder' of Christopher Marlowe Revisited", in ''English Literary Renaissance'', pp. 225–242</ref>
* Marlowe was murdered at the behest of several members of the Privy Council, who feared that he might reveal them to be atheists.<ref>Trow, M. J. (2001). ''Who Killed Kit Marlowe? A contract to murder in Elizabethan England'', p. 250</ref>
* The Queen ordered his assassination because of his subversive atheistic behaviour.<ref>{{cite book|last=Riggs|first=David|year=2004a|title=The World of Christopher Marlowe|pages=334–337|publisher=Faber|isbn=978-0-571-22159-2}}</ref>
* Frizer murdered him because he envied Marlowe's close relationship with his master Thomas Walsingham and feared the effect that Marlowe's behaviour might have on Walsingham's reputation.{{sfnp|Honan|2005|p=348}}
* Marlowe's [[Marlovian theory of Shakespeare authorship|death was faked]] to save him from trial and execution for subversive atheism.{{efn|"Useful research has been stimulated by the infinitesimally thin possibility that Marlowe did not die when we think he did. ... History holds its doors open."{{sfnp|Honan|2005|p=355}}}}

Since there are only written documents on which to base any conclusions, and since it is probable that the most crucial information about his death was never committed to paper, it is unlikely that the full circumstances of Marlowe's death will ever be known.

==Reputation among contemporary writers==
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2021}}
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For his contemporaries in the literary world, Marlowe was above all an admired and influential artist. Within weeks of his death, [[George Peele]] remembered him as "Marley, the Muses' darling"; [[Michael Drayton]] noted that he "Had in him those brave translunary things / That the first poets had" and [[Ben Jonson]] even wrote of "Marlowe's mighty line".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nicholl |first=Charles |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |chapter=Marlowe [Marley], Christopher (bap. 1564, . 1593), playwright and poet}}</ref> [[Thomas Nashe]] wrote warmly of his friend, "poor deceased Kit Marlowe," as did the publisher Edward Blount in his dedication of ''Hero and Leander'' to Sir Thomas Walsingham. Among the few contemporary dramatists to say anything negative about Marlowe was the anonymous author of the Cambridge University play ''[[Parnassus plays|The Return from Parnassus]]'' (1598) who wrote, "Pity it is that wit so ill should dwell, / Wit lent from heaven, but vices sent from hell".

The most famous tribute to Marlowe was paid by [[Shakespeare]] in ''[[As You Like It]]'', where he not only quotes a line from ''[[Hero and Leander (poem)|Hero and Leander]]'' ("Dead Shepherd, now I find thy saw of might, 'Who ever lov'd that lov'd not at first sight?{{'"}}) but also gives to the clown [[Touchstone (As You Like It)|Touchstone]] the words "When a man's verses cannot be understood, nor a man's good wit seconded with the forward child, understanding, it strikes a man more dead than a great reckoning in a little room."<ref>Peter Alexander ed., ''William Shakespeare: The Complete Works'' (London 1962) p. 273</ref> This appears to be a reference to Marlowe's murder which involved a fight over the "reckoning," the bill, as well as to a line in Marlowe's ''[[Jew of Malta]]'', "Infinite riches in a little room."

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Shakespeare was much influenced by Marlowe in his work, as can be seen in the use of Marlovian themes in ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]'', ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'', ''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]'' and ''[[Macbeth]]'' (''Dido'', ''Jew of Malta'', ''Edward II'' and ''Doctor Faustus'', respectively). In ''[[Hamlet]]'', after meeting with the travelling actors, Hamlet requests the Player perform a speech about the Trojan War, which at 2.2.429–432 has an echo of Marlowe's ''[[Dido, Queen of Carthage (play)|Dido, Queen of Carthage]]''. In ''[[Love's Labour's Lost]]'' Shakespeare brings on a character "Marcade" (three syllables) in conscious acknowledgement of Marlowe's character "Mercury", also attending the King of Navarre, in ''Massacre at Paris''. The significance, to those of Shakespeare's audience who were familiar with ''Hero and Leander'', was Marlowe's identification of himself with the god [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]].<ref name="Jean-Christophe Mayer2008">{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Wilson (scholar)|editor=Mayer, Jean-Christophe |title=Representing France and the French in early modern English drama|year=2008|publisher=University of Delaware Press|location=Newark|isbn=978-0-87413-000-3|pages=95–97|chapter=Worthies away: the scene begins to cloud in Shakespeare's Navarre}}</ref>

==Shakespeare authorship theory==
{{Main|Marlovian theory of Shakespeare authorship|Shakespeare authorship question}}
A [[fringe theory]] has arisen about the notion that Marlowe faked his death and then continued to write under the assumed name of William Shakespeare. Academic consensus rejects alternative candidates for authorship of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, including Marlowe.<ref>Kathman, David (2003), "The Question of Authorship", in Wells, Stanley; Orlin, Lena C., ''Shakespeare: an Oxford Guide'', Oxford University Press, pp. 620–632, {{ISBN|978-0-19-924522-2}}</ref>

==Literary career==
{{more citations needed section|date=May 2017}}

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===Plays===
Six dramas have been attributed to the authorship of Christopher Marlowe either alone or in collaboration with other writers, with varying degrees of evidence. The writing sequence or chronology of these plays is mostly unknown and is offered here with any dates and evidence known. Among the little available information, ''Dido'' is believed to be the first Marlowe play performed, while ''Tamburlaine'' was first to be performed on a regular commercial stage in London in 1587. Believed by many scholars to be Marlowe's greatest success, ''Tamburlaine'' was the first English play written in [[blank verse]] and, with [[Thomas Kyd]]'s ''[[The Spanish Tragedy]]'', is generally considered the beginning of the mature phase of the [[Elizabethan theatre]].<ref name=":N">{{cite web|title=The Sixteenth Century: Topics |url=http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/16century/topic_1/welcome.htm |postscript=. See especially the middle section in which the author shows how another Cambridge graduate, Thomas Preston makes his title character express his love in a popular play written around 1560 and compares that "clumsy" line with ''Doctor Faustus'' addressing Helen of Troy |work=The Norton Anthology of English Literature |publisher=W.W. Norton and Company |access-date=10 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010193423/http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/16century/topic_1/welcome.htm |archive-date=10 October 2011 |url-status=deviated}}</ref>

The play ''[[Lust's Dominion]]'' was attributed to Marlowe upon its initial publication in 1657, though scholars and critics have almost unanimously rejected the attribution. He may also have written or co-written ''[[Arden of Faversham]]''.

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===Poetry and translations===
Publication and responses to the poetry and translations credited to Marlowe primarily occurred posthumously, including:
* ''[[Amores (Ovid)|Amores]]'', first book of Latin [[elegiac couplet]]s by Ovid with translation by Marlowe (''c''. 1580s); copies publicly burned as offensive in 1599.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Steinhoff |first=Eirik |date=2010 |title=On Christopher Marlowe's 'All Ovids Elegies' |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23065705 |journal=Chicago Review |volume=55 |issue=3/4 |pages=239–241 |jstor=23065705 |access-date=13 November 2022 |archive-date=13 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221113211928/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23065705 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''[[The Passionate Shepherd to His Love]]'', by Marlowe. (c. 1587–1588);{{sfnp|Cheney|2004a|p=xvi}} a popular lyric of the time.
* ''[[Hero and Leander (poem)|Hero and Leander]]'', by Marlowe (c. 1593, unfinished; completed by [[George Chapman]], 1598; printed 1598).{{sfnp|Cheney|2004a|pp=xviii, xix}}
* ''[[Pharsalia]]'', Book One, by [[Lucan]] with translation by Marlowe. (c. 1593; printed 1600){{sfnp|Cheney|2004a|pp=xviii, xix}}

===Collaborations===
Modern scholars still look for evidence of collaborations between Marlowe and other writers. In 2016, one publisher was the first to endorse the scholarly claim of a collaboration between Marlowe and the playwright William Shakespeare:
* ''[[Henry VI, Part 1|Henry VI]]'' by William Shakespeare is now credited as a collaboration with Marlowe in the [[The Oxford Shakespeare|New Oxford Shakespeare]] series, published in 2016. Marlowe appears as co-author of the three ''Henry VI'' plays, though some scholars doubt any actual collaboration.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Freebury-Jones |first=Darren |title=Shakespeare's Borrowed Feathers: How Early Modern Playwrights Shaped the World's Greatest Writer |date=2024 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-1-5261-7732-2 |edition=1st |location=Manchester}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Shea|first1=Christopher D.|title=New Oxford Shakespeare Edition Credits Christopher Marlowe as a Co-author|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/books/shakespeare-christopher-marlowe-henry-vi.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/books/shakespeare-christopher-marlowe-henry-vi.html |archive-date=1 January 2022 |url-access=limited|access-date=24 October 2016|work=The New York Times|date=24 October 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="cowrite">{{cite news|title=Christopher Marlowe credited as Shakespeare's co-writer|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37750558|access-date=24 October 2016|publisher=BBC|date=24 October 2016|archive-date=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025055153/http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37750558|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Freebury-Jones|first=Darren|date=|title=Augean Stables; Or, the State of Modern Authorship Attribution Studies|url=https://www.archivdigital.info/ce/augean-stables-or-the-state-of-modern-authorship-attribution-studies/detail.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723141523/https://www.archivdigital.info/ce/augean-stables-or-the-state-of-modern-authorship-attribution-studies/detail.html |archive-date=23 July 2020 |access-date=23 January 2021|website=www.archivdigital.info}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Freebury-Jones|first=Darren|date=3 July 2017|title=Did Shakespeare Really Co-Write 2 Henry VI with Marlowe?|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/0895769X.2017.1295360|journal=ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews|volume=30|issue=3|pages=137–141|doi=10.1080/0895769X.2017.1295360|s2cid=164545629|issn=0895-769X|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

[[File:Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham Procession Portrait detail.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|[[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.]]

===Contemporary reception===
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2021}}
Marlowe's plays were enormously successful, possibly because of the imposing stage presence of his lead actor, [[Edward Alleyn]]. Alleyn was unusually tall for the time and the haughty roles of Tamburlaine, Faustus and Barabas were probably written for him. Marlowe's plays were the foundation of the repertoire of Alleyn's company, the [[Admiral's Men]], throughout the 1590s. One of Marlowe's poetry translations did not fare as well. In 1599, Marlowe's translation of [[Ovid]] was banned and copies were publicly burned as part of [[John Whitgift|Archbishop Whitgift]]'s crackdown on offensive material.

==Chronology of dramatic works==

(Patrick Cheney's 2004 ''Cambridge Companion to Christopher Marlowe'' presents an alternative timeline based upon printing dates.){{sfnp|Cheney|2004b|p=5}}

===[[Dido, Queen of Carthage (play)|''Dido, Queen of Carthage'']] ({{circa|1585}}–1587)===
[[File:Dido1594titlepage.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.70|Title page of the 1594 first edition of ''[[Dido, Queen of Carthage (play)|Dido, Queen of Carthage]]'']]

'''First official record''' 1594

'''First published''' 1594; posthumously

'''First recorded performance''' between 1587 and 1593 by the [[Children of the Chapel]], a company of boy actors in London.<ref>Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. ''The Predecessors of Shakespeare: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama.'' Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1973.</ref>

'''Significance''' This play is believed by many scholars to be the first play by Christopher Marlowe to be performed.

'''Attribution''' The title page attributes the play to Marlowe and [[Thomas Nashe]], yet some scholars question how much of a contribution Nashe made to the play.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Freebury-Jones|first1=Darren|last2=Dahl|first2=Marcus|date=1 June 2020|title=Searching for Thomas Nashe in Dido, Queen of Carthage|url=https://academic.oup.com/dsh/article/35/2/296/5370652|journal=Digital Scholarship in the Humanities|language=en|volume=35|issue=2|pages=296–306|doi=10.1093/llc/fqz008|issn=2055-7671|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=29 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729115606/https://academic.oup.com/dsh/article/35/2/296/5370652|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lunney|first1=Ruth|last2=Craig|first2=Hugh|date=16 September 2020|title=Who Wrote Dido, Queen of Carthage?|url=https://journals.shu.ac.uk/index.php/Marlstud/article/view/92|journal=Journal of Marlowe Studies|language=en|volume=1|pages=1–31–1–31|doi=10.7190/jms.v1i0.92|issn=2516-421X|doi-access=free|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=22 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122151411/https://journals.shu.ac.uk/index.php/Marlstud/article/view/92|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''Evidence''' No manuscripts by Marlowe exist for this play.<ref name="Maguire">{{cite book |last1=Maguire |first1=Laurie E. |editor1-last=Cheney |editor1-first=Patrick |title=The Cambridge Champion of Christopher Marlowe |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780511999055 |page=44 |chapter=Marlovian texts and authorship}}</ref>

=== [[Tamburlaine|''Tamburlaine, Part I'']] ({{circa|1587}}); ''Part II'' ({{circa|1587}}–1588) ===

[[File:Tamburlaine title page.jpg|thumb|upright=0.70|Title page of the earliest published edition of ''[[Tamburlaine]]'' (1590)]]

'''First official record''' 1587, Part I

'''First published''' 1590, Parts I and II in one [[octavo]], London. No author named.<ref name="Chambers Vol. 3">{{cite book |last1=Chambers |first1=E. K. |title=The Elizabethan Stage. Vol. 3 |date=1923 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |page=421}}</ref>

'''First recorded performance''' 1587, Part I, by the [[Admiral's Men]], London.{{efn|Performing company is listed on the title page of the 1590 octavo. Henslowe's diary first lists ''Tamburlaine'' performances in 1593, so the original playhouse is unknown.<ref name="Brooke Tamburlaine">{{cite book |last1=Brooke |first1=C.F. Tucker |editor1-last=Brooke |editor1-first=C.F. Tucker |title=The Works of Christopher Marlowe |date=1910 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |pages=1–5 |edition=1964 Reprint |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015067093248&view=1up&seq=9 |access-date=27 May 2020 |chapter=Tamburlaine |archive-date=4 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904211125/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015067093248&view=1up&seq=9 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

'''Significance''' ''[[Tamburlaine]]'' is the first example of [[blank verse]] used in the [[drama|dramatic literature]] of the [[English renaissance theatre|Early Modern English theatre]].

'''Attribution''' Author name is missing from first printing in 1590. Attribution of this work by scholars to Marlowe is based upon comparison to his other verified works. Passages and character development in ''Tamburlane'' are similar to many other Marlowe works.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marlowe |first=Christopher |year=1971 |title=Tamburlaine |publisher=Ernst Benn Limited |location=London |editor=J.W. Harper}}</ref>

'''Evidence''' No manuscripts by Marlowe exist for this play.{{sfnp|Maguire|2004|p=44}} Parts I and II were entered into the Stationers' Register on 14 August 1590. The two parts were published together by the London printer, Richard Jones, in 1590; a second edition in 1592, and a third in 1597. The 1597 edition of the two parts were published separately in quarto by Edward White; part I in 1605, and part II in 1606.<ref name=":N"/><ref name="Chambers Vol. 3"/>

=== ''[[The Jew of Malta]]'' ({{circa|1589}}–1590) ===

[[File:Marlowe-jew-of-malta-titlepage 2.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.70|''[[The Jew of Malta]]'' title page from 1633 [[quarto]]]]

'''First official record''' 1592

'''First published''' 1592; earliest extant edition, 1633

'''First recorded performance''' 26 February 1592, by Lord Strange's acting company.{{sfnp|Cheney|2004b|p=11}}

'''Significance''' The performances of the play were a success and it remained popular for the next fifty years. This play helps to establish the strong theme of "anti-authoritarianism" that is found throughout Marlowe's works.

'''Evidence''' No manuscripts by Marlowe exist for this play.{{sfnp|Maguire|2004|p=44}} The play was entered in the [[Stationers' Register]] on 17 May 1594 but the earliest surviving printed edition is from 1633.

===[[Doctor Faustus (play)|''Doctor Faustus'']] ({{circa|1588}}–1592)===

[[File:Marlowes-Doctor-Faustus-Frontispiece 1631.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.70|[[Book frontispiece|Frontispiece]] to a 1631 printing of ''[[Doctor Faustus (play)|Doctor Faustus]]'' showing Faustus conjuring Mephistophilis]]

'''First official record''' 1594–1597{{sfnp|Healy|2004|p=179}}

'''First published''' 1601, no [[extant literature|extant copy]]; first [[extant literature|extant copy]], 1604 (A text) [[quarto]]; 1616 (B text) [[quarto]].{{sfnp|Healy|2004|pp=xix, 179}}

'''First recorded performance''' 1594–1597; 24 revival performances occurred between these years by the [[Admiral's Men|Lord Admiral's Company]], [[The Rose (theatre)|Rose Theatre]], London; earlier performances probably occurred around 1589 by the same company.{{sfnp|Healy|2004|p=179}}

'''Significance''' This is the first dramatised version of the [[Faust]] legend of a scholar's dealing with the devil. Marlowe deviates from earlier versions of [[Deal with the Devil|"The Devil's Pact"]] significantly: Marlowe's protagonist is unable to "burn his books" or repent to a merciful God to have his contract annulled at the end of the play; he is carried off by demons; and, in the 1616 [[quarto]], his mangled corpse is found by the scholar characters.

'''Attribution''' The 'B text' was highly edited and censored, owing in part to the shifting theatre laws regarding religious words onstage during the seventeenth-century. Because it contains several additional scenes believed to be the additions of other playwrights, particularly [[Samuel Rowley]] and William Bird (''alias'' Borne), a recent edition attributes the authorship of both versions to "Christopher Marlowe and his collaborator and revisers." This recent edition has tried to establish that the 'A text' was assembled from Marlowe's work and another writer, with the 'B text' as a later revision.{{sfnp|Healy|2004|p=179}}<ref>"The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus" ('A' Text) and ('B' Text) in David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (eds.), Christopher Marlowe, ''Doctor Faustus and Other Plays, World's Classics'' (Oxford University Press, 1995).</ref>

'''Evidence''' No manuscripts by Marlowe exist for this play.{{sfnp|Maguire|2004|p=44}} The two earliest-printed [[extant literature|extant versions]] of the play, A and B, form a textual problem for scholars. Both were published after Marlowe's death and scholars disagree which text is more representative of Marlowe's original. Some editions are based on a combination of the two texts. Late-twentieth-century scholarly consensus identifies 'A text' as more representative because it contains irregular character names and [[idiosyncratic]] spelling, which are believed to reflect the author's handwritten manuscript or "[[foul papers]]". In comparison, 'B text' is highly edited with several additional scenes possibly written by other playwrights.{{sfnp|Healy|2004|pp=xix, 179}}

===[[Edward_II_(play)|''Edward the Second'']] ({{circa|1592}})===

[[File:Edward2a.jpg|thumb|upright=0.70|Title page of the earliest published text of ''[[Edward II (play)|Edward II]]'' (1594)]]

'''First official record''' 1593{{sfnp|Cheney|2004a|p=xix}}

'''First published''' 1590; earliest extant edition 1594 [[octavo]]{{sfnp|Cheney|2004a|p=xix}}

'''First recorded performance''' 1592, performed by the Earl of Pembroke's Men.{{sfnp|Cheney|2004a|p=xix}}

'''Significance''' Considered by recent scholars as Marlowe's "most modern play" because of its probing treatment of the private life of a king and unflattering depiction of the power politics of the time.{{sfnp|Cartelli|2004|pp=158–159}} The 1594 editions of ''Edward II'' and of ''Dido'' are the first published plays with Marlowe's name appearing as the author.{{sfnp|Cheney|2004a|p=xix}}

'''Attribution''' Earliest extant edition of 1594.{{sfnp|Cheney|2004a|p=xix}}

'''Evidence''' The play was entered into the [[Stationers' Register]] on 6 July 1593, five weeks after Marlowe's death.{{sfnp|Cheney|2004a|p=xix}}

===''[[The Massacre at Paris]]'' ({{circa|1589}}–1593)===

{{multiple image |total_width=300 |align=right |direction=horizontal
|image1= Massacre-at-paris-marlowe.jpg |caption1=Title page to a rare extant printed copy of ''[[The Massacre at Paris]]'' by Christopher Marlowe; undated.
|image2= Handwriting-Marlowe-Massacre-1.JPG |caption2= Alleged [[Foul papers|foul sheet]] from Marlowe's writing of ''[[The Massacre at Paris]]'' (1593). Reproduced from [[Folger Shakespeare Library]] Ms.J.b.8. Recent scholars consider this manuscript part of a "reconstruction" by another hand.
}}

'''First official record '''{{circa|1593}}, alleged [[Foul papers|foul sheet]] by Marlowe of "Scene 19"; although authorship by Marlowe is contested by recent scholars, the manuscript is believed written while the play was first performed and with an unknown purpose.

'''First published''' undated, {{circa|1594}} or later, [[octavo]], London;<ref name="Brooke">{{cite book |last1=Brooke |first1=C.F. Tucker |editor1-last=Brooke |editor1-first=C.F. Tucker |title=The Works of Christopher Marlowe |date=1910 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |page=440 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015067093248&view=1up&seq=9 |chapter=The Massacre at Paris |access-date=11 June 2020 |archive-date=4 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904211125/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015067093248&view=1up&seq=9 |url-status=live }}</ref> while this is the most complete surviving text, it is near half the length of Marlowe's other works and possibly a reconstruction.{{sfnp|Maguire|2004|p=44}} The printer and publisher credit, "E.A. for Edward White," also appears on the 1605/06 printing of Marlowe's ''[[Tamburlaine]]''.<ref name="Brooke"/>

'''First recorded performance''' 26 January 1593, by [[Lord Strange's Men]], at Henslowe's [[The Rose (theatre)|Rose Theatre]], London, under the title ''The Tragedy of the Guise'';<ref name="Brooke"/> 1594, in the repertory of the [[Admiral's Men]].{{sfnp|Maguire|2004|p=44}}

'''Significance''' ''The Massacre at Paris'' is considered Marlowe's most dangerous play, as agitators in London seized on its theme to advocate the murders of refugees from the [[Spanish Netherlands|low countries]] of the [[Spanish Netherlands]], and it warns [[Elizabeth I]] of this possibility in its last scene.{{sfnp|Nicholl|1992|p=[https://archive.org/details/reckoningmurdero0000nich/page/41 41]|loc="Libels and Heresies"}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Hoenselaars|first=A. J. |title=Images of Englishmen and Foreigners in the Drama of Shakespeare and His Contemporaries |publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press |location=Madison, New Jersey |year=1992 |pages=78–79 |chapter=Englishmen abroad 1558–1603 |isbn=978-0-8386-3431-8}}</ref> It features the silent "English Agent", whom tradition has identified with Marlowe and his connexions to the secret service.{{sfnp|Wilson|2004|p=207}} Highest grossing play for [[Lord Strange's Men]] in 1593.<ref>From Henslowe's Diary. ''Cambridge Companion'', 2004, p. 199.</ref>

'''Attribution''' A 1593 loose manuscript sheet of the play, called a [[Foul papers|foul sheet]], is alleged to be by Marlowe and has been claimed by some scholars as the only extant play manuscript by the author. It could also provide an approximate date of composition for the play. When compared with the extant printed text and his other work, other scholars reject the attribution to Marlowe. The only surviving printed text of this play is possibly a [[Memorial reconstruction|reconstruction from memory]] of Marlowe's original performance text. Current scholarship notes that there are only 1147 lines in the play, half the amount of a typical play of the 1590s. Other evidence that the extant published text is not Marlowe's original is the uneven style throughout, with two-dimensional characterisations, deteriorating verbal quality and repetitions of content.{{sfnp|Maguire|2004|pp=44–45}}

'''Evidence''' Never appeared in the Stationer's Register.{{sfnp|Deats|2004|p=199}}

==Memorials==
{{CSS image crop
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|bSize = 200
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''[[Marlowe Memorial|The Muse of Poetry]]'', a [[bronze sculpture]]  by [[Edward Onslow Ford]] references Marlowe and his work. It was erected on Buttermarket, Canterbury in 1891, and now stands outside the [[Marlowe Theatre]] in the city.<ref name="Rogers">{{cite book|title=Labour, Life and Literature|date=1913|first=Frederick|last=Rogers|publisher=Smith, Elder & Co|location=London|pages=160–167|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4wEPAAAAQAAJ|access-date=25 August 2017|archive-date=30 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230225139/https://books.google.com/books?id=4wEPAAAAQAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Marlowe" />

In July 2002, a memorial window to Marlowe was unveiled by the Marlowe Society at [[Poets' Corner]] in [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref>[http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/christopher-marlowe Christopher Marlowe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621234108/http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/christopher-marlowe |date=21 June 2013 }} – Westminster Abbey</ref> Controversially, a question mark was added to his generally accepted date of death.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Nigel Reynolds|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1401010/Marlowe-tribute-puts-question-mark-over-Shakespeare.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1401010/Marlowe-tribute-puts-question-mark-over-Shakespeare.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Marlowe tribute puts question mark over Shakespeare|journal=The Telegraph|date=11 July 2002}}{{cbignore}}</ref> On 25 October 2011 a letter from Paul Edmondson and [[Stanley Wells]] was published by ''[[The Times]]'' newspaper, in which they called on the Dean and Chapter to remove the question mark on the grounds that it "flew in the face of a mass of unimpugnable evidence". In 2012, they renewed this call in their e-book ''Shakespeare Bites Back'', adding that it "denies history" and again the following year in their book ''Shakespeare Beyond Doubt''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Edmondson |first1=Paul |last2=Wells |first2=Stanley |year=2011 |title=Shakespeare Bites Back |pages=21, 22 & 38 |url=https://bloggingshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Shakespeare_Bites_Back_Book.pdf |access-date=15 February 2022 |via=Blogging Shakespeare |archive-date=15 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215172840/https://bloggingshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Shakespeare_Bites_Back_Book.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Edmondson |first1=Paul |last2=Wells |first2=Stanley |year=2013 |title=Shakespeare beyond doubt: evidence, argument, controversy |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107017597 |pages=234, 278}}</ref>

The [[Marlowe Theatre]] in [[Canterbury]], [[Kent]], UK, was named for Marlowe in 1949.<ref name="The Marlowe">{{cite web |title=The Marlowe |url=https://marlowetheatre.com/about/ |website=marlowetheatre.com |access-date=10 June 2020 |archive-date=14 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614203604/https://marlowetheatre.com/about/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Marlowe in fiction==
{{Main|Christopher Marlowe in fiction}}

Marlowe has been used as a character in books, theatre, film, television and radio.

==Modern compendia==
Modern scholarly collected works of Marlowe include:
* ''The Complete Works of Christopher Marlowe'' (edited by [[Roma Gill]] in 1986; Clarendon Press published in partnership with Oxford University Press)
* ''The Complete Plays of Christopher Marlowe'' (edited by [[J. B. Steane]] in 1969; edited by Frank Romany and Robert Lindsey, Revised Edition, 2004, Penguin)

==Works of Marlowe in performance==
[[File:Faustus-FTP-Poster.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Poster for the 1937, New York [[Works Progress Administration|WPA]] [[Federal Theatre Project]] production of ''Doctor Faustus'']]

===Radio===
* [[BBC Radio]] broadcast adaptations of Marlowe's six plays from May to October 1993.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=277}}

===Royal Shakespeare Company===

[[Royal Shakespeare Company]]
* ''Dido, Queen of Carthage'', directed by Kimberly Sykes, with [[Chipo Chung]] as Dido. [[Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon|Swan Theatre]], 2017.<ref name="RSC Dido">{{cite web |title=Dido, Queen of Carthage |url=https://www.rsc.org.uk/dido-queen-of-carthage |website=rsc.org.uk |publisher=Royal Shakespeare Company |access-date=10 June 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728134908/https://www.rsc.org.uk/dido-queen-of-carthage |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''Tamburlaine the Great'', directed by [[Terry Hands]], with [[Anthony Sher]] as Tamburlaine. Swan Theatre, 1992; [[Barbican Theatre]], 1993.<ref name="Warwick Tamburlaine">{{cite web |title=Tamburlaine-Professional Productions |url=https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/ren/researchcurrent/elizabethan_jacobean_drama/christopher_marlowe/tamburlaine_stage_history/professional/ |website=Centre for the Study of the Renaissance |publisher=University of Warwick |access-date=10 June 2020 |archive-date=15 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615185756/https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/ren/researchcurrent/elizabethan_jacobean_drama/christopher_marlowe/tamburlaine_stage_history/professional/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Guardian Sher">{{cite web |last1=Sher |first1=Anthony |title=Antony Sher: I never saw myself as a classical actor; Monologue: actors on acting Royal Shakespeare Company |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/oct/07/antony-sher-rsc-henry-iv-theatre-acting |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=14 June 2020 |date=7 October 2014 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728132543/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/oct/07/antony-sher-rsc-henry-iv-theatre-acting |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''Tamburlaine the Great''  directed by [[Michael Boyd (theatre director)|Michael Boyd]], with Jude Owusu as Tamburlaine. Swan Theatre, 2018.<ref name="Guardian Tamburlaine">{{cite web |last1=Clapp |first1=Susannah |author-link=Susannah Clapp |title=The week in theatre: Tamburlaine; Pericles – reviews |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/sep/02/tamburlaine-swan-stratford-upon-avon-pericles-olivier-national-reviews |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=10 June 2020 |date=2 September 2018 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728164232/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/sep/02/tamburlaine-swan-stratford-upon-avon-pericles-olivier-national-reviews |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''The Jew of Malta'', directed by [[Barry Kyle]], with [[Jasper Britton]] as Barabas. Swan Theatre, 1987; [[People's Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne|People's Theatre]], and Barbican Theatre, 1988.<ref name="Warwick Jew of Malta">{{cite web |title=The Jew of Malta – Professional Productions |url=https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/ren/researchcurrent/elizabethan_jacobean_drama/christopher_marlowe/christopher_marlowe/stage_history/professional |website=warwick.ac.uk |publisher=Centre for the Study of the Renaissance, University of Warwick |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-date=15 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615185757/https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/ren/researchcurrent/elizabethan_jacobean_drama/christopher_marlowe/christopher_marlowe/stage_history/professional |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Godwin">{{cite journal |last1=Godwin |first1=Laura Grace |title=Merchant and Jew at the Royal Shakespeare Company |journal=Shakespeare Bulletin |date=Fall 2016 |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=511–520 |url=https://www.proquest.com/ |access-date=14 June 2020 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |doi=10.1353/shb.2016.0043 |s2cid=193444360 |archive-date=16 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216145707/http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* ''The Jew of Malta'', directed by Justin Audibert, with Jasper Britton as Barabas. Swan Theatre, 2015.<ref name="Clapp Jew of Malta">{{cite web |last1=Clapp |first1=Susannah |title=The Jew of Malta review – prescient, reverberating, immediate |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/apr/05/jew-of-malta-review-rsc-stratford |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=14 June 2020 |date=5 April 2015 |archive-date=15 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615201509/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/apr/05/jew-of-malta-review-rsc-stratford |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''Edward II'', directed by [[Gerard Murphy (Irish actor)|Gerard Murphy]], with [[Simon Russell Beale]] as Edward. Swan Theatre, 1990.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=273}}
* ''Edward II'', directed by Daniel Raggett, with [[Daniel_Evans_(actor)|Daniel Evans]] as Edward. Swan Theatre, 2025.<ref>{{cite web |title=Edward II |url=https://www.rsc.org.uk/edward-ii/ |website=Royal Shakespeare Company |access-date=26 March 2025}}</ref>
* ''Doctor Faustus'', directed by [[John Barton (director)|John Barton]], with [[Ian McKellen]] as Faustus. [[Nottingham Playhouse]] and [[Aldwych Theatre]], 1974, and [[Royal Shakespeare Theatre]], 1975.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=265}}<ref name="Warwick Faustus">{{cite web |title=Doctor Faustus – Professional Productions |url=https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/ren/researchcurrent/elizabethan_jacobean_drama/christopher_marlowe/dr_faustus/stage_history/professional |website=warwick.ac.uk |publisher=Centre for the Study of the Renaissance, University of Warwick |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728132336/https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/ren/researchcurrent/elizabethan_jacobean_drama/christopher_marlowe/dr_faustus/stage_history/professional |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''Doctor Faustus'' directed by [[Barry Kyle]] with Gerard Murphy as Faustus, Swan Theatre and [[Barbican Centre|Pit Theatre]], 1989.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=273}}<ref name="Warwick Faustus"/>
* ''Doctor Faustus'' directed by Maria Aberg, with Sandy Grierson and Oliver Ryan sharing the roles of Faustus and Mephistophilis. Swan Theatre and Barbican Theatre, 2016.<ref name="Guardian Wiegand">{{cite web |last1=Wiegand |first1=Chris |title=Your own personal demon: Maria Aberg on her Doctor Faustus double act |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/feb/12/maria-aberg-rsc-stratford-doctor-faustus-sandy-grierson-oliver-ryan-christopher-marlowe |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=15 June 2020 |date=12 February 2016 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728141903/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/feb/12/maria-aberg-rsc-stratford-doctor-faustus-sandy-grierson-oliver-ryan-christopher-marlowe |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Royal National Theatre===

[[Royal National Theatre]]
* ''Tamburlaine'', directed by [[Peter Hall (director)|Peter Hall]], with [[Albert Finney]] as Tamburlaine. [[Olivier Theatre]], 1976.<ref name="Warwick Tamburlaine"/>
* ''Dido, Queen of Carthage'', directed by James McDonald with [[Anastasia Hille]] as Dido. [[Royal National Theatre|Cottesloe Theatre]], 2009.<ref name="Billington Dido">{{cite web |last1=Billington |first1=Michael |title=Dido, Queen of Carthage; Christopher Marlowe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/mar/25/dido-queen-of-carthage-cottlesloe-london |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=15 June 2020 |date=25 March 2009 |archive-date=16 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616145059/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/mar/25/dido-queen-of-carthage-cottlesloe-london |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Lunney">{{cite book |last1=Lunney |first1=Ruth |editor1-last=Logan |editor1-first=Robert A. |editor2-last=Deats |editor2-first=Sara Munson |title=Christopher Marlowe at 450 |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=9781315571959 |page=41 |edition=1st |chapter=Dido, Queen of Carthage}}</ref>
* ''Edward II'', directed by [[Joe Hill-Gibbins]], with [[John Heffernan (British actor)|John Heffernan]] as Edward. Olivier Theatre, 2013.<ref name="Guardian Edward">{{cite web |last1=Billington |first1=Michael |title=Edward II – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/sep/05/edward-ii-review |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=15 June 2020 |date=5 September 2013 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728131721/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/sep/05/edward-ii-review |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Shakespeare's Globe===

[[Shakespeare's Globe]]
* ''Dido, Queen of Carthage'', directed by Tim Carroll, with [[Rakie Ayola]] as Dido, 2003.<ref name="Billington Dido Globe">{{cite web |last1=Billington |first1=Michael |title=Dido, Queen of Carthage; Shakespeare's Globe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/jun/23/theatre.artsfeatures1 |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=15 June 2020 |date=22 June 2003 |archive-date=16 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616153748/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/jun/23/theatre.artsfeatures1 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''Edward II'', directed by Timothy Walker, with Liam Brennan as Edward, 2003.<ref name="Mahoney">{{cite web |last1=Mahoney |first1=Elizabeth |title=Edward II; Shakespeare's Globe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/aug/19/theatre |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=15 June 2020 |date=18 August 2003 |archive-date=16 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616155405/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/aug/19/theatre |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''Doctor Faustus'', directed by Matthew Dunster, with Paul Hilton as Doctor Faustus and
Arthur Darvill as Mephistopheles:, 2011.<ref name="Mahoney">{{cite web |last1=Mahoney |first1=Elizabeth |title=Edward II; Shakespeare's Globe |url=https://player.shakespearesglobe.com/productions/doctor-faustus-2011/ |website=[[Shakespeare's Globe]] |access-date=20 December 2025 |url-status=live }}</ref>


===Malthouse Theatre===
The Marlowe Sessions<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dramaandtheatre.co.uk/features/article/golden-boy-christopher-marlowe|title=Golden boy: Christopher Marlowe|website=Drama And Theatre|date=September 2022 |access-date=8 November 2022|archive-date=8 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108110747/https://www.dramaandtheatre.co.uk/features/article/golden-boy-christopher-marlowe|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cenemagazine.co.uk/news/2021/6/4/the-marlowe-sessions-malthouse-theatre|title=The Marlowe Sessions immersive audio experience comes to Canterbury|website='cene Magazine|access-date=8 November 2022|archive-date=8 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108110746/https://cenemagazine.co.uk/news/2021/6/4/the-marlowe-sessions-malthouse-theatre|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''Dido, Queen of Carthage'', Directed/Produced by [[Ray Mia]], Performance direction by [[Stephen Unwin]], with [[Thalissa Teixeira]] as Dido, 2022.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://oughttobeclowns.com/2022/05/news-stars-announced-for-the-marlowe-sessions.html/|title=Stars Announced For The Marlowe Sessions|date=17 May 2022|access-date=8 November 2022|archive-date=8 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108110746/https://oughttobeclowns.com/2022/05/news-stars-announced-for-the-marlowe-sessions.html/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''Tamburlaine The Great, Part 1'', Directed/Produced by [[Ray Mia]], Performance direction by Phillip Breen, with [[Alan Cox (actor)|Alan Cox]] as Tamburlaine, 2022.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://northwestend.com/spotlight-on-actor-alan-cox-and-the-marlowe-sessions-at-the-malthouse-theatre-canterbury/|title=Spotlight on actor Alan Cox and the Marlowe Sessions|date=13 June 2022|access-date=8 November 2022|archive-date=8 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108110748/https://northwestend.com/spotlight-on-actor-alan-cox-and-the-marlowe-sessions-at-the-malthouse-theatre-canterbury/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''The Jew of Malta'', Directed/Produced by [[Ray Mia]], Performance direction by [[Stephen Unwin]], with [[Adrian Schiller]] as Barrabus, 2022.
* ''Tamburlaine the Great, Part 2'', Directed/Produced by Ray Mia, Performance direction by Phillip Breen, with [[Alan Cox (actor)|Alan Cox]] as Tamburlaine, 2022.
* ''Edward the Second'', Directed/Produced by [[Ray Mia]], Performance direction by [[Abigail Rokison]], with [[Jack Holden (actor)|Jack Holden]] as Edward II, 2022.
* ''The Massacre at Paris'', Directed/Produced by [[Ray Mia]], Performance direction by [[Abigail Rokison]], with [[Michael Maloney]] as Guise, 2022.
* ''Dr Faustus'', Directed/Produced by [[Ray Mia]], Performance direction by Phillip Breen, with [[Dominic West]] as Faustus and [[Talulah Riley]] as Mephistopheles, 2022.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/a-listers-star-in-play-at-new-kent-theatre-269257/|title=Review: The Wire star Dominic West plays Doctor Faustus|date=24 June 2022|access-date=8 November 2022|archive-date=8 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108110746/https://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/a-listers-star-in-play-at-new-kent-theatre-269257/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''The Poetry of Christopher Marlowe'', Directed/Produced by [[Ray Mia]], Performance direction by [[Philip Bird]], read by [[Jack Holden (actor)|Jack Holden]], [[Fisayo Akinade]] and [[Philip Bird]], 2022.

===Other stage===
* ''Tamburlaine''. [[Yale University]], 1919.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|pp=262–281}}
* ''Tamburlaine'', directed by [[Tyrone Guthrie]], with [[Donald Wolfit]] as Tamburlaine. [[The Old Vic]], 1951.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|pp=262–281}}
* ''Doctor Faustus'', co-directed by [[Orson Welles]] and [[John Houseman]], with Welles as Faustus and [[Jack Carter (stage actor)|Jack Carter]] as [[Mephistopheles]]. [[Maxine Elliott's Theatre]], 1937.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|pp=262–281}}
* ''Doctor Faustus'', directed by [[Adrian Noble]]. [[Royal Exchange, Manchester|Royal Exchange]], 1981.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|pp=262–281}}
* ''Edward II'', directed by [[Toby Robertson]], with [[John Barton (director)|John Barton]] as Edward. [[Cambridge]], 1951.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=273}}
* ''Edward II'', directed by Toby Robertson, with [[Derek Jacobi]] as Edward. Cambridge, 1958.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=273}}
* ''Edward II'', directed by Toby Robertson, with [[Ian McKellen]] as Edward. [[Assembly Rooms (Edinburgh)|Assembly Rooms]], 1969.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=273}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Edward II, Comments and Reviews |url=https://mckellen.com/stage/edward/index.htm |website=Ian McKellen |publisher=Sir Ian McKellen |access-date=10 June 2020 |archive-date=10 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610182219/https://mckellen.com/stage/edward/index.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''Edward II'', directed by Jim Stone, Washington Stage Company, 1993;{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=275}}
* ''Edward II'', directed by Jozsef Ruszt. Budapest, 1998;{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=275}}
* ''Edward II'', directed by [[Michael Grandage]], with [[Joseph Fiennes]] as Edward. [[Crucible Theatre]], 2001.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|pp=262–281}}
* ''The Massacre in Paris'', directed by [[Patrice Chéreau]]. France, 1972.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=276}}

===Stage adaptations===
* ''Edward II'', Phoenix Society, London, 1923.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=272}}
* ''Leben Eduards des Zweiten von England'', by [[Bertolt Brecht]] (the first play he directed). [[Munich]] Chamber Theatre, Germany, 1924.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=272}}
* ''The Life of Edward II of England'', by Marlowe and Bertold Brecht, directed by [[Frank Dunlop (director)|Frank Dunlop]]. [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]], 1968.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|p=272}}
* ''[[Edward II (ballet)|Edward II]]''[[Edward II (ballet)|, adapted as a ballet]], choreographed by [[David Bintley]]. [[Stuttgart Ballet]], 1995.{{Sfnp|Potter|2004|p=276}}
* ''Doctor Faustus'', additional text by [[Colin Teevan]], directed by [[Jamie Lloyd (director)|Jamie Lloyd]], with [[Kit Harington]] as Faustus. [[Duke of York's Theatre]], 2016.<ref name="Timeout Faustus">{{cite web |last1=Lukowski |first1=Andrzej |title=Doctor Faustus |url=https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/doctor-faustus-6 |website=timeout.com |publisher=Time Out |access-date=15 June 2020 |date=26 April 2016 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728150517/https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/doctor-faustus-6 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="thisistheatre Faustus">{{cite web |title=Doctor Faustus |url=http://www.thisistheatre.com/londonshows/doctorfaustus.html |website=thisistheatre.com |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728131400/http://www.thisistheatre.com/londonshows/doctorfaustus.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''Faustus, That Damned Woman'' by [[Chris Bush (playwright)|Chris Bush]], directed by Caroline Byrne. [[Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith)|Lyric Theatre]], 2020.<ref name="Touchstone 2020">{{cite web |title=March 2020 Onwards; Shakespeare in Performance; Current and Forthcoming Renaissance Drama Productions in the UK |url=http://www.touchstone.bham.ac.uk/performance/renaissance%20productions.html |website=touchstone.bham.ac.uk |publisher=Touchstone: Co-operation and Partnership Among UK Shakespeare Collections; University of Birmingham |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728145723/http://www.touchstone.bham.ac.uk/performance/renaissance%20productions.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Film===
* ''[[Doctor Faustus (1967 film)|Doctor Faustus]]'', based on [[Nevill Coghill]]'s 1965 production, adapted for [[Richard Burton]] and [[Elizabeth Taylor]], 1967.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|pp=262–281}}
* ''[[Edward II (film)|Edward II]]'', directed by [[Derek Jarman]], 1991.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|pp=262–281}}
* ''Faust'', with some Marlowe dialogue, directed by [[Jan Švankmajer]], 1994.{{sfnp|Potter|2004|pp=262–281}}

==Notes==
{{notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
'''Sources'''
* {{cite book |last=Boas |first=Frederick S. |title=Christopher Marlowe: A biographical and critical study |place=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1953}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Cheney|editor-first=Patrick |title=The Cambridge Companion to Christopher Marlowe |place=Cambridge, UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-82034-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hnFyPSdfqQgC|via=Google Books}}
** {{harvc |last1=Cheney |first1=Patrick |anchor-year=2004a |c=Chronology |in=Cheney |year=2004}}
** {{harvc |last1=Cheney |first1=Patrick |anchor-year=2004b |c=Introduction: Marlowe in the twenty-first century |in=Cheney |year=2004}}
** {{harvc |last=Deats|first=Sarah Munson |c='Dido Queen of Carthage' and 'The Massacre at Paris' |in=Cheney |year=2004}}
** {{harvc |last=Cartelli |first=Thomas |c=Edward II |in=Cheney |year=2004}}
** {{harvc |last=Healy |first=Thomas |c=Doctor Faustus |in=Cheney |year=2004}}
** {{harvc |last=Potter |first=Lois |c=Marlowe in theatre and film |in=Cheney |year=2004}}
** {{harvc |last=Riggs |first=David |c=Marlowe's life |in=Cheney |year=2004}}
** {{harvc |last=Wilson |first=Richard |c=Tragedy, Patronage and Power |in=Cheney |year=2004}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Downie|editor-first1=J. A. |editor-last2=Parnell|editor-first2=J. T. |year=2000 |title=Constructing Christopher Marlowe |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-57255-X}}
* {{cite book |last1=Dyce |first1=Alexander |editor1-last=Dyce |editor1-first=Alexander |year=1850 |title=The works of Christopher Marlowe, with notes and some account of his life and writings by the Rev. Alexander Dyce |publisher=William Pickering |location=London |edition=1st}}
* {{cite book |last1=Honan |first1=Park |title=Christopher Marlowe: Poet and Spy |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, New York |isbn=0198186959}}
* {{cite book |last=Hotson|first=Leslie|year=1925|title=The Death of Christopher Marlowe}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kuriyama |first1=Constance |title=Christopher Marlowe: A Renaissance Life |year=2002 |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca |isbn=0801439787}}
* {{cite book |last1=Logan |first1=Robert A. |title=Shakespeare's Marlowe: the influence of Christopher Marlowe on Shakespeare's artistry |year=2007 |publisher=Ashgate |location=Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT |isbn=978-0754657637}}
* {{cite book|last=Nicholl|first=Charles|title=The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe |publisher=Jonathan Cape |location=London|year=1992|chapter=|isbn=978-0-224-03100-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/reckoningmurdero0000nich}}
* {{cite book |last=Nicholl |first=Charles |title=The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe |publisher=Vintage |year=2002 |edition=revised |isbn=0-09-943747-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Tannenbaum |first=Samuel |year=1926 |title=The Assassination of Christopher Marlowe |place=New York}}
* {{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Richard |title=Christopher Marlowe |editor=Wilson, Richard |year=1999 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London, New York |chapter=Introduction}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* Bevington, David, and Eric Rasmussen, eds. ''Doctor Faustus and Other Plays''. Oxford English Drama. Oxford University Press, 1998. {{ISBN|0-19-283445-2}}
* Conrad, B. ''Der wahre Shakespeare: Christopher Marlowe''. (German non-Fiction book) 5th Edition, 2016. {{ISBN|978-3957800022}}
* Cornelius R. M. ''Christopher Marlowe's Use of the Bible''. New York: P. Lang, 1984.
* Marlowe, Christopher. ''Complete Works''. Vol. 3: ''Edward II.'', ed. R. Rowland. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. (pp. xxii–xxiii)
* Oz, Avraham, ed. ''Marlowe''. New Casebooks. Houndmills, Basingstoke and London: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2003. {{ISBN|033362498X}}
* Parker, John. ''The Aesthetics of Antichrist: From Christian Drama to Christopher Marlowe''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-8014-4519-4}}
* Shepard, Alan. ''Marlowe's Soldiers: Rhetorics of Masculinity in the Age of the Armada'', Ashgate, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7546-0229-X}}
* Sim, James H. ''Dramatic Uses of Biblical Allusions in Marlowe and Shakespeare'', Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1966.
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Marlowe, Christopher |volume= XV | |last= Swinburne |first= Algernon Charles  |author-link= Algernon Charles Swinburne | pages=556–558 |short= 1}}
* Wraight A. D.; Stern, Virginia F. ''In Search of Christopher Marlowe: A Pictorial Biography'', London: Macdonald, 1965.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|auto=1|d=y|author=y|commonscat=y}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/christopher-marlowe}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=410}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Christopher Marlowe}}
* {{Librivox author |id=291}}
* [http://www.marlowe-society.org/ The Marlowe Society]
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/searchresults?q=Christopher+Marlowe&target=en&collections=Perseus%3Acollection%3AMarlowe The works of Marlowe at Perseus Project]
* [http://www.rey.prestel.co.uk/ The complete works] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015023804/http://www.rey.prestel.co.uk/ |date=15 October 2020 }}, with modernised spelling, on Peter Farey's Marlowe page.
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003k9d6 BBC audio file]. ''[[In Our Time (BBC Radio 4)|In Our Time]]'' Radio 4 discussion programme on Marlowe and his work
* The [https://web.archive.org/web/20121011222157/http://www.marlowebibliography.org/ Marlowe Bibliography Online] is an initiative of the [http://www.marlowesmightyline.org/ Marlowe Society of America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426112419/https://www.marlowesmightyline.org/ |date=26 April 2023 }} and the [http://www.culture-communication.unimelb.edu.au/study/english University of Melbourne]. Its purpose is to facilitate scholarship on the works of Christopher Marlowe by providing a searchable annotated bibliography of relevant scholarship
* {{UK National Archives ID}}

{{Christopher Marlowe}}
{{Edward II}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marlowe, Christopher}}
[[Category:Christopher Marlowe| ]]
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