- the thirst for power, which can be reached through political greatness, or unlimited knowledge or immense wealth;

- the aspiration to surpass all human limitations, so as to reach the condition of a superman;

- the rebellion against restrictive institutions;

- unlimited ambition, unrestricted by any sense of morality;

- the final sense of solitude, which overcomes the tragic hero when he realizes that unlimited power is unattainable;

- the ideal of beauty.

The main features of Marlowe's works can be grouped as follows:

- his characters are seen from one facet only; in their proud rebellion against human limits, they show fierce and passionate exaltation. In Edward II, however, we see a deeper study in human character, a more skilful construction with more stage action. Had Marlowe lived longer, he might have developed his art further in this direction;

- he improved blank verse, which he had found made up of lines each standing by itself, ending with an accented monosyllable. He avoided the previous monotony by varying the stresses, breaking up the lines with rhythmic pauses and suiting the verse to the subject;

- he gave form and unity to the drama, following a logical trend, from the initial search for power, to the climax of ambition and the ultimate destruction; not isolated scenes any more, but the whole parabola of a man's life;

- he appreciated the effects of colour and, like a painter, described the brilliance of precious stones, the crimson of silk, the glitter of gold;

- he was a passionate man and his language is sometimes turgid, rich in hyperboles and too luxuriant, though always guided by a deep artistic instinct. Marlowe's reputation rests above all on two great plays, concerned with particular human passions and revolving around one great character only.

Tamburlaine is divided into two parts. The first, describing Tamburlaine's rise from poor Scythian shepherd to conqueror by force of character, but also by massacres and cruelties of various kinds, ends in triumph for him. The second, written in response to popular demand after the success of the first, shows other excesses and horrors, especially after the death of Tamburlaine's beloved wife Zenocrate. In the end, after burning the Koran and challenging Mahomet to come down and avenge himself. Tamburlaine feels suddenly distempered and he dies regretting what still remains in the world to be discovered and conquered.

Doctor Faustus

Whereas Tamburlaine dealt with physical and political power, Faustus deals with power through knowledge. The plot was not invented by Marlowe, but taken from the real history of a Georg or Johannes Faustus, a supposed German magician, who lived at the beginning of the 16th century, and whose biography was first published in 1587 and later translated into English, with the title of The Historie of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus.

Marlowe was certainly impressed by this story, but decided to turn Faustus from a necromancer into a distinguished scholar and theologian, and present him at a critical point of his life. He is in fact tired of the science of his time, which no longer answers his intellectual needs, and lacking the means to dominate nature rationally, he turns to magic. To obtain full power, he sells his soul to the devil in return for twenty-four years of supernatural knowledge. But, as time passes, he becomes more and more aware of the emptiness of his bargain: in spite of all, he is still merely a man bound to die, and the only reality is now damnation; the moment has come when he has to pay the price of his contract to the devil.

Doctor Faustus's aspiration is limitless knowledge, and this makes him the symbol of the story of the Fall of Man through eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge. But Faustus is also the forerunner of modern man, who rejects traditional values but is defeated by the impossibility of replacing them. This play has splendid poetry, and the final scene, in which Faustus is waiting for the hour of his damnation, is full of emotional tension, and is one of Marlowe's superior achievements. The play possesses the driving force of the character's aspirations, and this is the factor which gives it artistic unity.