Thomas Kyd & Christopher Marlowe: A Life Summary
- Thomas Kyd
Very little is known about Kyd's existence. Born in 1558, son of a London scrivener, he was educated at the Merchant Taylor's School of London. He seemed to have been a close friend to Marlowe and shared his subversive views. In 1583 Kyd was accused of distributing seditious libels and arrested; his admissions seemed to have helped his friend Marlowe's downfall. The author died in poverty in 1594.
- Christopher Marlowe
Marlowe, the son of a well-to-do shoemaker, was born in 1564 in Canterbury; he was educated at Cambridge, where he graduated as Master of Arts. Once his education was completed, Marlowe was soon attracted to the London stage: he joined the Lord Admiral's Company and became an actor and a playwright. Marlowe had other more dangerous interests: he was a secret agent in the government service and he never concealed his political views or his atheism. In May 1593 the arrest of Thomas Kyd caused a warrant of arrest against him too. The circumstances of his death are mysterious: in the same month he was stabbed in a tavern after a quarrel. The murder may have resulted from a definite plot, due, as some scholars believe, to Marlowe's activities as a government agent.