Christopher Marlowe was also known as the “Father of English Drama”.He was born on 26th February 1564. He was a famous playwright, poet and a translator of the Elizabethan period. He was also known as the predecessor of William Shakespeare as Marlowe influenced him a lot. He was the son of a shoe maker John Marlowe. He graduated from the Cambridge University and in the year 1587 he produced his first play on stage that is Tamburlaine The Great which was about the conqueror Timur. It is among the plays in black verse for which Marlowe’s plays were known. After Tamburlaine it’s second part was introduced as Tamburlaine Part II, as Tamburlaine was a great success.
He found in a very chaotic state when he came to London as there were various forms of drama like comedies, tragedies, force, melodrama, interlude, chronicles and poetic plays which were being staged with more or less success. At that time, theatres were coming up and acting hard became one of the recognised professions. The mob itself was also classified into tastes and interests. From all this Chaos and danger Marlowe saved English Drama.
Marlowe’s way of work was different. Selection and exclusion of material available to him was the way he worked which brought him success and was the proof of his originality. He used black verse of classical drama which later became a suitable medium for his dramatic expression. He was the first to divide drama into acts and scenes.
He revolutionised the conception of tragedy as he made tragedy a matter of individual heroes, he even introduced superhuman figures who struggle withe the obstacles and disadvantages of human life and as a result they even suffer continuously. He introduced the inner conflicts and made character the base of tragic action. Some of his famous works were Tamburlaine Part I, Tamburlaine Part II, The Massacre of Paris, Edward II, Dr. Faustus, The passionate shepherd of his love etc.
He died on 30th May 1593 at the young age of 29. His contribution to the Elizabethan tragedy was too varied which cannot be summed up in a paragraph. Shakespeare wouldn’t have been himself without Marlowe.