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第二篇：
        Christopher Marlowe was an acclaimed English playwright during the Elizabethan era. He displayed talent since youth and was awarded a scholarship to University of Cambridge in the late 1500s. He began writing plays while studying in Cambridge and went on to become vastly influential in the literary world, inspiring another important writer immediately after him—William Shakespeare. Merely a few months older than Shakespeare, Marlowe paved the way for a whole new form of drama while Shakespeare brought the art to perfection. Many of the plots in Marlowe’s plays appeared later in Shakespeare’s.
        Marlowe’s plays often dealt with themes such as religion, royalty, and power. He often portrayed these themes in innovative ways, which attracted audiences from all social classes. In one of his plays, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Marlowe described a man who sold his soul to the devil so he could acquire power and wealth. This was a sensitive topic because the society had many different opinions on religion. Similarly, Marlowe discussed many topics in an ambiguous way so nobody knew what he really thought. Another feature of Marlowe’s plays is their lack of rhyme. A rhyme is when two words end in the same way of pronunciation, such as cat and that or lake and wake. By removing rhymes, the plays sound more natural and close to how people would talk in daily life. This made his plays widely successful among the working classes.
        Marlowe’s own personal life was as colourful as the plays he wrote. When he was in university, Marlowe often disappeared from school for long periods. Instead, he went to places that trained people to become Catholic priests. Since the national religion of the time was Protestant, Marlowe became a target of attention. In 1587, his university did not give him his master’s degree at first. However, the government later sent a letter to the university, declaring that he was working for the benefit of his country, and he received his degree on schedule. This led later researchers to believe that Marlowe was actually a spy for England. They claim that his absence from school and his identity as a Catholic were only covers for his real job. Surviving records also show that Marlowe spent generously on food and drink, which supported the idea that he had a second income. To this day, there is no strong evidence to prove the theory, and it continues to be a topic of debate.