MARLOWE, CHRISTOPHER

Detail of a portrait thought to be of Christopher Marlowe, dated 1585, artist unknown; in the (baptized Feb. 26, 1564, Canterbury, Kent, Eng.d. May 30, 1593, Deptford, near London), Elizabethan poet and Shakespeare's most important predecessor in English drama, who is noted especially for his establishment of dramatic blank verse. Additional reading Biographies include Frederick S. Boas, Christopher Marlowe: A Biographical and Critical Study (1940, reprinted 1966); J. Leslie Hotson, The Death of Christopher Marlowe (1925, reprinted 1967); Calvin Hoffman, The Murder of the Man Who Was Shakespeare (also published as The Man Who Was Shakespeare, 1955); Philip Henderson, Christopher Marlowe, 2nd ed. (1974); and Gerald Pinciss, Christopher Marlowe (1975, reissued 1984). Charles Nicholl, The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe (1992), postulates a conspiracy resulting in government complicity in Marlowe's murder. Works of criticism include Paul H. Kocher, Christopher Marlowe: A Study of His Thought, Learning, and Character (1946, reissued 1974); Harry Levin, The Overreacher: A Study of Christopher Marlowe (1952, reissued 1974); F.P. Wilson, Marlowe and the Early Shakespeare (1953, reissued 1973); J.B. Steane, Marlowe: A Critical Study (1964, reprinted 1974); Clifford Leech, Christopher Marlowe: Poet for the Stage (1986); Roger Sales, Christopher Marlowe (1991); and Douglas Cole, Christopher Marlowe and the Renaissance of Tragedy (1995). Anthologies of critical essays include Clifford Leech (ed.), Marlowe: A Collection of Critical Essays (1964); Judith O'Neill (comp.), Critics on Marlowe (1969); and Kenneth Friedenreich, Roma Gill, and Constance B. Kuriyama (eds.), A Poet and a Filthy Play-Maker (1987).