“There is a lust for power in his writings, a hunger and thirst for justice, a gleam of the imagination, which is only sanctified by his own energies. His thoughts burn within him like a furnace with squabbling flames, or throwing up black smoke and mists, which hide the dawn of genius, or like a poisonous mineral, gnaw at the heart” (O’Neill 17). William Hazlitt writes this review of Christopher Marlowe as a playwright in his Lectures on the Dramatic Literature of the Elizabethan Age and honestly, he couldn't have said it better. Christopher Marlowe was a brilliant man who excelled at school. He was a gifted individual and through his studies he became a famous playwright in the 16th century. He was about two months older than William Shakespeare and has been identified as the most important of Shakespeare's predecessors. Christopher Marlowe was known by several different names throughout his records. The names varied from Marlow to Merling and, interestingly, there is no record of his name being spelled "Christopher Marlowe". After numerous searches, researchers found only one signature, that of Cristofer Marley. Christopher was baptized on 26 February 1564 in Canterbury and was born to John and Catherine Marlowe. He had one sister and three brothers who died in infancy, but he had four sisters who lived to grow up. Their names were Margaret, Joan, An and Daretye ​​​​[Dorothy]. All these girls married young merchants from Canterbury. “His family rank was modest, a fact which envious rivals sometimes pointed out to him at the time of his theatrical success in London a few years later; but the life of a master craftsman, though unpretentious, was not uncomfortable" (Bakeless... middle of paper ... that intelligence, not just money, can take you wherever you want in the life And although his life ended well before his time, he wrote four successful plays and many poems which brought him wealth and popularity. Works CitedBakeless, John Christopher Marlowe, Frederick S. Christopher Marlowe: a study. biographical and critical.Oxford: Clarendon, 1966. Print.Hotson, Leslie The Death of Christopher Marlowe New York: Haskell House, 1965. Print.Kocher, Paul Harold. Study of his thought, learning and character New York. : Russell & Russell, 1962. Print Marlowe, Christopher The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus Ed. NewYork: Gordian, 1966. Print, Judith, ed. Reviews of Marlowe: University of Miami, 1970. Print...