Marlowe, Christopher

English dramatist and poet, precursor of Shakespeare; son of a shoemaker at Canterbury; besides a love poem entitled "Hero and Leander," he was the author of seven plays, "Tamburlaine," in two parts, "Doctor Faustus," "The Jew of Malta," "Edward the Second," "The Ma acre of Paris," and "Dido," the first four being romantic plays, the fifth a chronicle play, and the last two offering no particular talent; he dealt solely in tragedy, and was too devoid of humour to attempt comedy; "In Marlowe," says Prof. Saints bury, "two things never fail him long—a strange, not by any means impotent, reach after the infinite, and the command of magnificent verse"; his life was a short one (1564-1593).