Christopher Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe (1564 – 1593) was a major Elizabethan poet, translator and playwright and an exact contemporary of Shakespeare. He was a pioneer of blank verse which became the standard form for verse drama in the Elizabethan era. One of his most successful works was the play Tamburlaine which was widely imitated and in which the lead was played by the actor Edward Alleyn for whom Marlowe wrote several parts.