Comparisons are odious, was once said by Christopher Marlowe in Lusts Dominion, Act iii scene4. Christopher Marlowe has been identified as the most important Shakespeares predecessors. He was born in Canterbury, England, on February 6, 1564 and then baptized at St. Georges Church, Canterbury, on February 25, 1564. Marlowe was the eldest son of John Marlowe, a shoemaker and Katherine Arthur, a Dover girl of yeoman stock. Christophers intermediate family and extended family had a reputation of getting in trouble with the law.
His sister was known for being a selfish person seeking he unjust vexation of her neighbors, while his father was always continually engaged in lawsuits containing debts. Christopher Marlowe entered the Kings School at Canterbury in 1579. There he held a scholarship requiring him to study Ministry. The school was a canter of theatrical interests. It contained a large library filled with a number of volumes which have been claimed as sources for Marlowes plays. In 1584, Marlowe received a Bachelors of Arts Degree. Following that, in 1587, he had received a Master of Arts Degree.
Shortly after eceiving his Masters degree, Marlowe went to London. There he was part of a circle of young men which were: Rawley, Nashe, and Kyel. By 1587, his first play was Tamburlaine the Great, had been performed on stage. As a result of his first play, Marlowe has started getting known as a dramatist. In September, 1589, Marlowe was imprisoned in Newgate for being suspected in the murder of William Bradley. Marlowe had been accused several times of being an atheist and a blasphemer. One of his friends, named Watson, had once had actually killed a man with a sword.
These charges were then led to Marlowes arrest in 1593, but then released on October 1, on the bail of 40 pounds. Three years later, in 1592, Marlowe became involved in court action as he was called to court for assaulting two constables in the Shoreditch district. The officers had said that they had feared for their lives because of Marlowes threats. He was then fined and then released. Once again, in 1593, Marlowe had found himself in trouble. While residing at the home of his employer, Thomas Walsingbam, Christopher Marlowe was arrested and charged with atheism, a rime of capital offenses and punishable by death.
Oddly, he had once again been granted a bail on the condition that he reports to court daily. Twelve days later, Marlowe had been found mysteriously dead in a tavern in Deptford. On the day of Marlowes death, he had accepted an invitation from Igram Frizer to feast at the tavern with several other young men. After supper, Marlowe and Frizer had gotten into an argument over the taverns bill. When Marlowe had struck Frizer in the head with a dagger, somehow, Frizer twisted it around, struck the dagger ack at Marlowe, striking him on the forehead and then killing him.
Marlowes violent death was not something that was exceptional among writers. In 1599, John Day killed Henry Porter, and Ben Jonson killed Gabriel Spencer in a duel. Despite the unusual wealth of detail that surrounded his death, Marlowes career was being cited by contemporary moralists as a classic illustration of the workings of divine retribution against a blasphemous atheist. Thus, Marlowe was recognized as a remarkable dramatic genius who would have rivaled Ben Jonson and Shakespeare, if he had only lived longer.
