Christopher Marlowe

3 7.2

An English poet and playwright from the 1500s who first used blank verse in plays

proper noun

Literature

: Christopher Marlowe

Many scholars debate whether Christopher Marlowe's works had an impact on William Shakespeare's writing.

Examples

Christopher Marlowe was a pioneering figure in Elizabethan drama, influencing generations of playwrights.
The mysterious death of Christopher Marlowe has been the subject of much speculation.
The famous playwright Christopher Marlowe was born in 1564.
Did Christopher Marlowe write 'Doctor Faustus'?
Christopher Marlowe was a pioneering figure in Elizabethan drama, influencing generations of playwrights.
Many scholars debate whether Christopher Marlowe's works had an impact on William Shakespeare's writing.
The mysterious death of Christopher Marlowe has been the subject of much speculation.

Synonyms

Marlowe

vsChristopher Marlowe

Literature

10 8.5

An English poet and playwright from the late 1500s

keeps the same facts but adds a famous play as an example

Surface Forms

Christopher Marlowe main

Morphology

Christopher + Marlowe

This is a proper name referring to a specific historical person; the meanings of the constituent tokens 'Christopher' and 'Marlowe' do not compose to yield the information 'an English poet and playwright.' Proper names are arbitrary referents that require prior world-knowledge or exposure, so a B1 learner who only knows the individual name parts would not be able to infer the referent or biographical meaning.

Etymology

Christopher Marlowe was an English poet and playwright from the late 1500s who wrote daring plays like 'Doctor Faustus'. He helped bring a new style of poetry to the stage, using lines without rhyme, so people remember him as an important early writer who influenced later playwrights such as Shakespeare.