Scholars give Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe all kinds of labels. Some call him the “father of English drama.” Others prefer the phrase “morning star” of English drama. Certainly Marlowe marked a turning point in the drama of his country as he introduced several major innovations in the realm of tragedy.

First, Marlowe chose to write in blank verse, poetic lines with rhythm but no rhyme. Following classical drama, he enriched blank verse and made it operate in new and creative ways. He introduced dramatic pauses, the flow of ideas and rhythms across poetic lines, and a meter designed to accommodate the subject matter rather than the other way around. Indeed, when Ben Jonson refers to Marlowe's “mighty lines,” he is emphasizing Marlowe's command of blank verse and its updated application to tragedy.

Marlowe also updated and deepened the subject matter of tragedy. He focuses on the deep struggles within human beings as they wrestle with the central issues of life and death as well as the limits of humanity. In Doctor Faustus, for instance, Marlowe comes right to the heart of what it means to be human as his title character chooses knowledge and power over humanity.

Indeed, Marlowe's characters present a depth often lacking in earlier English drama. They struggle within themselves with a major flaw that leads to their demise. Tamburlaine's desire for power brings him down. The Jew of Malta gives way to his greed. Faustus loses his soul for his longing for knowledge. The tragedy turns inward in Marlowe's plays as events arise directly from the character's conflicts and failures.

Marlowe, then, changed the direction of English drama and paved the way for Shakespeare to appear on the scene, assume Marlowe's innovations, and apply his own genius to them.