Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe contributed greatly to English literature. He adapted blank verse to
the stage. His short life was violent and he had a rather violent temperment. However, he wrote
some of the most delicate pieces of literature. His writing expresses the representation of the
spirit of the Elizabethan literature in his attitude towards religion and his choice of writing style.
(31 Norman).
Christopher Marlowe was born on February 6, 1564 to a Canterbury to a shoemaker. He
was bapitzed at St. George's church on the 26th of February. He was the eldest son of John
Marlowe of the Shoemaker's Guild and Katherine Arthur, a Dover girl of yeoman stock
(Henderson 275). He attended school at King's School in Canterbury and Corpus Christi College
in Camberidge. His violent nature often got him in trouble with the law. Marlowe's parish was
St. George and it had about 208 communicants in 1569.
Title page of the earliest published text of Edwar...
English: Christopher Marlowe's memorial IN the Chu...
Marlowe-Dr-Faustus-A-1604This parish was dominated by
landmarks.
Christopher Marlowe ranks as one of Canterbury's most distinguished boy at birth, but
there were many others who were to be well known by letters or actions. (21 Henderson).
Marlowe was a scholar at King's School. He attended a small school, but the education
he received was remarkable. It seems he may have attended a private school before he attended
King's School, but it is not certain. (40 Urry). The reason it is not certain is because the fee to
attend a private school would have been too much for the Marlowes to afford. It is likely that a
charity or patronage may have paid the fee as it did for many of the Marlowes neighbords. (42
Urry). Scholars such as Marlowe were allowed a $4 allowance. By the time others students than
scholars received a payment, Marlowe had already left for Camberidge.