It is considered the beginning of the mature phase of the Elizabethan theater and was the last of Marlowe's plays to be published before his untimely death. This was Marlowe's first play to be performed on the regular stage in London and is among the first English plays in blank verse. Marlowe's second play was the two-part Tamburlaine the Great (c. According to records, the play was performed by the Children of the Chapel, a company of boy actors, between 15. What is thought to be his first play, Dido, Queen of Carthage, was not published until 1594, but it is generally thought to have been written while he was still a student at Cambridge.

Early Writing CareerĪfter 1587, Marlowe was in London, writing for the theater and probably also engaging himself occasionally in government service. Spy or not, after attaining his master's degree, Marlowe moved to London and took up writing full-time. Both of these could point to a secondary source of income, such as secret government work.īut with scant hard evidence and rampant speculation, the mystery surrounding Marlowe's service to the queen is likely to remain active. And extant dining room accounts indicate that he spent lavishly on food and drink while there, greater amounts than he could have afforded on his known scholarship income. Surviving Cambridge records from the period show that Marlowe had several lengthy absences from the university, much longer than allowed by the school's regulations. No direct evidence supports this theory, but the council's letter clearly suggests that Marlowe was serving the government in some secret capacity. The nature of Marlowe's service to England was not specified by the council, but the letter sent to Cambridge has provoked abundant speculation, notably the theory that Marlowe had become a secret agent working for Sir Francis Walsingham's intelligence service. Its doubts (perhaps arising from his frequent absences, or speculation that he had converted to Roman Catholicism and would soon attend college elsewhere) were set to rest, or at least dismissed, when the Privy Council sent a letter declaring that he was now working 'on matters touching the benefit of his country,' and he was awarded his master's degree on schedule. Marlowe earned his bachelor of arts degree in 1584, but in 1587 the university hesitated in granting him his master's degree.

He went to King's School and was awarded a scholarship that enabled him to study at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, from late 1580 until 1587. Early YearsĬhristopher Marlowe was born in Canterbury around Febru(this was the day on which he was baptized).

While Christopher Marlowe's literary career lasted less than six years, and his life only 29 years, his achievements, most notably the play The Tragicall History of Doctor Faustus, ensured his lasting legacy.

Doctor faustus play