Christopher Marlowe



"Come, let us march against the powers of heaven, And set black streamers in the firmament, To signify the slaughter of the gods."

- Tamburlaine the Great

Christopher Marlowe (1564 - 1593) was an English poet, dramatist, and translator. He is probably best known for The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, The Jew of Malta, and Tamburlaine. He was one of the first to write English drama in blank verse.

He was regarded highly, at least in terms of his writing, by his literary contemporaries, including William Shakespeare (who was beginning his own rise to fame when Marlowe died, and whose works contain many Shout Outs to Marlowe). Said, respectable people, however, regarded him as a contentious brawler and a dangerous rebel against society.

As a Historical Domain Character, his appearances in fiction almost invariably feature one or both of (a) his acquaintance with Shakespeare; (b) his death. (Which was somewhat suspicious, and has prompted theories that it was a set-up by the English secret service, either to keep him from spilling some secret or, more creatively, to allow him to adopt a new identity and go into hiding. People who promote the creative version are generally advocates of the theory that Marlowe was the true author of Shakespeare's plays, even the ones written after 1593, or else historical fiction writers who don't care whether it's true because it makes a good story.)


 * Doctor Faustus


 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: Zenocrete in Tamburlaine.
 * Ambition Is Evil: The Jew of Malta, Tamburlaine. The only way to get anywhere in the world is to murder your way to the top.
 * Arcadia: "The Passionate Shepherd to his Love"
 * Ass Shove:
 * The Beard: Isabella from Edward II
 * Black and Gray Morality: The Jew of Malta
 * Break the Haughty: The Villain Protagonist by the third act of any Christopher Marlowe play. (Tamburlaine, The Jew of Malta, Doctor Faustus, etc.)
 * Byronic Hero: Doctor Faustus, Tamburlaine
 * Bury Your Gays:
 * The Caligula: Tamburlaine as the story progresses.
 * Camp Gay: Edward II, also King Mycetes in Tamburlaine.
 * Come to Gawk: happens to in Tamburlaine
 * Cruel and Unusual Death: Edward II
 * Deadly Decadent Court: in Edward II
 * The Determinator: Tamburlaine
 * Do Not Do This Cool Thing: The Jew of Malta has the flashy Magnificent Bastard Villain Protagonist that is the coolest character in the show and wins at absolutely everything, but then gets  in the last five minutes as if to say see "we aren't supposed to root for them."
 * Driven to Suicide: in Tamburlaine
 * Dude, Where's My Respect?: Edward II. Yes he's gay but he's still the King, dammit! That flies about as well as you might imagine in medieval Europe.
 * The Epic: Tamburlaine
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: "Tamburlaine? He's just a sheep herder..."
 * Greedy Jew: The Jew of Malta
 * Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Because of Values Dissonance and he's very entertaining in his evil schemes the audience may end up rooting for The Jew of Malta.
 * Doctor Faustus can likewise be cruel and funny.
 * Historical Domain Character: Niccolo Machiavelli delivers the prologue to The Jew of Malta. It is as awesome as it sounds.
 * Although it wasn't intended to be awesome. Given the opinion of the time period about Machiavelli, invoking him is basically waving a big red flag saying "This story's about an evil guy!"
 * The Killer Becomes the Killed:
 * Leave No Survivors: When one kingdom sends in their maidens pleading that Tamburlaine have mercy on them his response is essentially 'you should have surrendered when I gave you the chance.'
 * Lover and Beloved: Zeus and Ganymede in Dido, Queen of Carthage.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Lightborne from Edward II.
 * Parental Relationship Veto: Edward II As soon as his dad is dead he gets together with Gaveston.
 * Pride Before a Fall: The Villain Protagonist by the third act of any Christopher Marlowe play. (Tamburlaine, The Jew of Malta, Doctor Faustus, etc.)
 * Professional Killer: Lightborne in Edward II
 * Puppet King: in Edward II the other members of the Deadly Decadent Court fear Gaveston's influence on the king.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The Jew of Malta
 * Royal Brat: Edward II
 * Self-Made Man: Tamburlaine. Sheep-herder turned world conqueror.
 * Stockholm Syndrome: Zenocrete in Tamburlaine.
 * Take Over the World: Tamburlaine
 * Then Let Me Be Evil: In The Jew of Malta the protagonist gets cheated out of his fortune by those in power who hold the attitde that Jews are greedy and evil, oh and by the way make more money so we can cheat you out of it again. This is his Start of Darkness because he decides if he's going to be considered wicked no matter what he does he might as well show them true villainy.
 * Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Edward II and Tamburlaine
 * Villain Protagonist: The Jew of Malta, Tamburlaine
 * Yaoi Fanboy: He shipped Jesus and John. Someone quoted, or paraphrased, him as saying that "John the baptist was bedfellow to Christ, and leaned alwaies in his bosom, and used him as the sinners of Sodoma." (He is also supposed to have said that "Christ was a bastard and his mother dishonest [unchaste]" and that "the Angel Gabriel was bawd [pimp] to the Holy Ghost".)
 * He also opened one play, Dido, Queen of Carthage, with a love scene between Zeus and Ganymede, though that was already shipped for him.
 * Yaoi Guys: Edward II with Gaveston
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In Tamburlaine  Also   in Edward II.
 * You Killed My Father: Tamburlaine
 * Young Conqueror: Tamburlaine
 * Young Conqueror: Tamburlaine