Christopher Marlowe
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- Date Submitted: 06/09/2011 05:13 AM
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Christopher Marlowe
Born in the same year as Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) was his greatest rival. In spite of his talent and the clearness of his ultimate vision, Marlowe’s plays were not as successful as Shakespeare’s at the time they were publishing their work. As Ellis-Fermor noted, in reality, Marlowe speaks of things no less profound and no less universal than Shakespeare. Wherever men are preoccupied with the 'why?' rather than the 'how?' in whatever periods of history thought turns back to question the nature of man's being and the part he plays in the universe, there the thought of Marlowe will be found to be at the heart of man's most vital experience.[1]
Born in the family of a shoemaker, in 1579, Christopher Marlowe went to King's School, Canterbury, on a scholarship, from which we judge that the arts of reading and writing and elementary Latin must then have been familiar to him. Like most young Elizabethan boys, he had probably attended an 'elementarie' school - these were kept in many cases by the parish clerk-where the rudiments were given to children whose parents were not of a position to have private tutors.[2] At that time, King's School enjoyed a brilliant reputation, and it was a centre of theatrical interests. The school contained a large library filled with a number of volumes which have been claimed as sources for Marlowe's plays. In December 1580, Marlowe moved to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he studied for the next six years. He received a scholarship founded by Mathew Parker, master of the college from 1544 to 1553 and later archbishop of Canterbury. The scholarship was for six years and was granted to those who were supposed to join the clergy after graduation. Marlowe's academic career was uneventful, except for mysterious and increasingly long absences after his second year. It is now assumed that Marlowe was absent from college for weeks, even months at a time due to the fact that he was involved...
Born in the same year as Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) was his greatest rival. In spite of his talent and the clearness of his ultimate vision, Marlowe’s plays were not as successful as Shakespeare’s at the time they were publishing their work. As Ellis-Fermor noted, in reality, Marlowe speaks of things no less profound and no less universal than Shakespeare. Wherever men are preoccupied with the 'why?' rather than the 'how?' in whatever periods of history thought turns back to question the nature of man's being and the part he plays in the universe, there the thought of Marlowe will be found to be at the heart of man's most vital experience.[1]
Born in the family of a shoemaker, in 1579, Christopher Marlowe went to King's School, Canterbury, on a scholarship, from which we judge that the arts of reading and writing and elementary Latin must then have been familiar to him. Like most young Elizabethan boys, he had probably attended an 'elementarie' school - these were kept in many cases by the parish clerk-where the rudiments were given to children whose parents were not of a position to have private tutors.[2] At that time, King's School enjoyed a brilliant reputation, and it was a centre of theatrical interests. The school contained a large library filled with a number of volumes which have been claimed as sources for Marlowe's plays. In December 1580, Marlowe moved to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he studied for the next six years. He received a scholarship founded by Mathew Parker, master of the college from 1544 to 1553 and later archbishop of Canterbury. The scholarship was for six years and was granted to those who were supposed to join the clergy after graduation. Marlowe's academic career was uneventful, except for mysterious and increasingly long absences after his second year. It is now assumed that Marlowe was absent from college for weeks, even months at a time due to the fact that he was involved...