The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. The foremost Elizabethan tragedian next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his magnificent blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his own mysterious and untimely death. His first drama was Dido, Queen of Carthage. His first play performed on the London stage was Tamburlaine about the conqueror Timur, who rises from shepherd to warrior. It is among the first English plays in blank verse. Tamburlaine was a success, and was followed with Tamburlaine Part II. The two parts were published in 1590; however all of Marlowe's other works were published posthumously. They include: The Jew of Malta, - about a Maltese Jew's barbarous revenge against the city authorities, which has a prologue delivered by a character representing Machiavelli - Edward the Second, The Massacre at Paris and The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, based on the German Faustbuch, the first dramatised version of the Faust legend of a scholar's dealing with the devil. Marlowe also wrote poetry, including a, possibly, unfinished minor epic, Hero and Leander and the popular lyric The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.