Someone who’s famous for something they never actually did – Shakespeare Versus Christopher Marlowe

It was in the year 1564 that Christopher Marlowe was born and two months thereafter in the same year was the date of birth of Shaksper who is now famously known as Shakespeare. It is said Shakespeare was a money lender who was residing in Great Britain. Marlowe was from Canterbury.

It is said that Christopher Marlowe had to die in order to live. This in other words means Kit Marlowe as he was called required a front for all his works. So to put it in clearer terms the works of Shakespeare are really that of Marlowe. A lot of researches are already afoot in this direction. Can you beat it; there is a Marlovian school which has a great following. It is supported by a trust that is willing to award those who can prove the works of Shakespeare are not his but is that of Marlowe. Competitions are held in the Kings School in Canterbury each year and the winner are awarded for essay that have any semblance of proof that the works of Shakespeare are really that of Marlowe.

It is also being drawn out that the 156 sonnets of Shakespeare are nothing but the autobiography of Marlowe.

The authorship of the works that are known to be of Shakespeare are questioned on the one hand and the authorship of the works that is believed to be of Shakespeare have many claimants. It ranges from people like Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlow, De Vere and so on. It has also been a subject that is dealt with, discussed and debated on various platforms, numerous forums and formal as well as informal talks.

The fact that Christopher Marlowe is elder to Shakespeare by two months as well as there being no instances to demonstrate that Christopher had anything to learn from Shakespeare and on the other hand we can find examples, citations and passages, lines and versus that tempts almost to the point of convincing that they are ideas and stuff borrowed from Christopher Marlowe.

There a lines found by researchers which goes on like “Will of Will is sufficient proof to show that Will was not qualified enough to be William Shakespeare”.

The fact also that Christopher Marlowe knew five to six languages like French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Greek, Hebrew etc., when compared to Shakespeare who knew none of them.

There are also historical evidences which goes on to substantiate the claim that the works supposed is to be that of Shakespeare is in fact of Christopher Marlowe. The plays like Jew of Malta of Christopher Marlowe which dates prior to the Shakespeare’s play Merchant of Venice have lines and descriptions having great resemblance to Marlowe.

The Timeline also bears evidence to this fact. For instance, the works of Marlowe dates from 1580 onwards upto 1593 when he is believed to have been killed in a brawl in an Inn by Ingram Frizer due to a fatal knife injury to which Marlowe succumbed. Shakespeare’s plays all dates only after the year 1593 which is after the death of Christopher Marlowe. There are theories which say that only a few days before this incident Christopher Marlowe was sentenced to Capital Punishment for blasphemy. It is also a known fact those were the times when hostilities were rife between the Catholics and Anglican Church.

It is also a true fact that Christopher Marlowe was a brilliant student from Kings School, Canterbury from where he earned himself a scholarship to pursue his advance studies at Corpus Christe college of Cambridge University, London. As a Corpus Christe college student he completed his graduation and continued his study of Post-graduation but had to leave for Rheims without the Post-graduation degree on an assignment from Queen Elizabeth. The Privy Council at a later date conferred him with the Post-graduation degree. Christopher Marlowe was the page of Sir Philip Sydney and was in the good books of the close aides of Queen Elizabeth namely Francis Walsingham the spy master and Lord Burgley. Christopher Marlowe accompanied Sir Philip Sydney to France and where eye witness to the Bartholomew massacre and that appears to be the source of Christopher Marlowe’s play “Massacre in Paris”.

On the one hand it becomes a great tragedy to visualize that such a great personality like Christopher had to be sacrificed to such petty incident but on the other hand it provides a great relief to hear that Christopher Marlowe was exiled by Queen Elizabeth to save him from Capital Punishment because he was a close confidant of the Queen and her close associates. This lead to Christopher Marlowe to remain dead in order to live and Shakespeare became a front to be hired for the works of Christopher Marlowe which he was discreetly sending and publishing under the name and seal of Shakespeare, from various countries he seems to have been visiting under different names and identities and that experiences also surfaces in many of the plays of Shakespeare, especially the places which have names alien to that of United Kingdom and episodes which occur in the medieval times at countries Christopher Marlowe visited and are also part of the legends, myths and folklores. In addition many of the costumes and terms related to the ammunitions and instruments of warfare find mention in the plays of Shakespeare.

Shakespeare himself appears to have said that he was immensely influenced by Christopher Marlowe especially the use of blank verse of which Christopher Marlowe was the pioneer and exponent. The Mighty lines of Christopher Marlowe, Whoever that loved, loved not at first sight; Is this the face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Illium; I will not listen to music, I will hear him speak; his single gaze shall be, my library; are from Christopher Marlowe’s different plays like Tamburlane, Dido, Queen of Carthage, Jew of Malta, Massacre in Paris, Edward II etc. Christopher Marlowe’s poem Hero and Leander as well as The Passionate Shepherd to his love also find similarities with Shakespeares verses.