University Wits and Christopher Marlowe Study Cards

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing Elizabethan literature, including the Spenserian sonnet, the University Wits, Christopher Marlowe's life and works, and key dramatic concepts.

Spenserian Sonnet

A variation of the English sonnet created by Edmund Spenser featuring interlocked quatrains and the rhyme scheme $abab\,bcbc\,cdcd\,ee$.

University Wits

A group of prominent secular, humanistically educated intellectuals in the 1580s who transformed didactic interludes and chronicle histories into complex commercial plays.

Thomas Kyd

A 1580s dramatist associated with the University Wits who wrote in their style despite not attending Oxford or Cambridge.

George Saintsbury

The literary historian who first used the term 'University Wits' to describe the prominent 1580s university-educated playwrights.

The Oxford School

A group of University Wits who attended the University of Oxford, comprising John Lyly, George Peele, Thomas Lodge, and sometimes Thomas Middleton.

The Cambridge School

A group of University Wits who attended the University of Cambridge, comprising Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, and Christopher Marlowe.

Lyly's Comedies

A collection of comedies—including Campaspe, Endimion, and The Woman in the Moon—that provided rare humor among the predominantly tragic works of the University Wits.

Christopher Marlowe

An Elizabethan playwright (1564–1593) born in Canterbury, educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, who perfected dramatic blank verse and served as William Shakespeare's primary predecessor.

Portrait supposedly of Christopher Marlowe (1585)

A 1585 portrait depicting a 21-year-old man with the Latin motto 'QVOD ME NVTRIT ME DESTRVIT', believed by many to depict Christopher Marlowe.

School of Night

A circle of free-thinkers associated with Sir Walter Raleigh, to which Christopher Marlowe reportedly belonged amid allegations of atheism.

Marlowe's Mighty Line

A phrase attributed to Marlowe by Ben Jonson in his prefatory poem to Shakespeare's First Folio, describing Marlowe's groundbreaking and expressive use of dramatic blank verse.

Edward Alleyn

The leading Elizabethan actor who played the central role in Tamburlaine the Great and portrayed most of Marlowe's hero figures.

Tamburlaine the Great

Marlowe's two-part play (perf. c.1587) about a Scythian shepherd turned bandit who overthrows kings and conquers empires, establishing the Renaissance humanist ideal of immense human potential.

The Jew of Malta

Marlowe's c.1589 tragedy featuring Barabas and a prologue by Machiavel, centered on religious conflict and political intrigue, which influenced Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

Barabas

The protagonist of Marlowe's The Jew of Malta, described as the first Machiavellian villain in English theater, who engages in destructive revenge after his wealth is confiscated.

Doctor Faustus

Marlowe's 1604 tragedy combining Morality play elements with Renaissance ideals, in which a scholar exchanges his soul for 24 years of magical power through Mephistophilis.

Rembrandt's Faust

A 1650–1654 etching/painting by Rembrandt depicting the scholar Faust gazing at a glowing magical anagram in his study.

Richard Burton in Doctor Faustus (1957)

An image showing actor Richard Burton portraying the title character Faustus in the 1957 film adaptation.

Seven Deadly Sins (Doctor Faustus)

The personified vices shown to Faustus by Lucifer, consisting of Pride, Covetousness, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth, and Lechery.

Marlovian Hero

A prominent tragic anti-hero character type marked by humble beginnings, monomania, overwhelming ambition, hubris, and an inevitable fall.

Gorboduc

An early Elizabethan play that utilized blank verse prior to Marlowe, though its poetic delivery was considered stiff and formal.