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morning star.” His influence rests partly on, his position as a founder of English drama, and on the power, beauty, and dignity of, his blank verse—“Marlowe’s mighty line”, in the words of Ben Jonson. In pioneering, and perfecting this new form of dramatic, poesy, Marlowe in a very real sense paved, the way for one greater than himself—, William Shakespeare. And while Marlowe's, plays are often full of passion, violence, and, bloodshed, it is the transcendent poetic language and imagery of his plays that lifts, them to the level of high art., , Tamburlaine the Great, Marlowe’s first, play, was first performed in London ca., 1587. Comprised of two parts of five acts, each, it was an immediate and enduring, success with Elizabethan playgoers, who, applauded what Nash called the “swelling, bombast” of the play’s blank verse, and the, intensely imaginative form in which Marlowe clothed the dry bones of the story. Like, Marlowe’s other plays (The Jew of Malta,, Dr. Faustus, Edward II), the drama centers, on a strong central character, dominated by, an all-consuming passion. In the case of, Tamburlaine, that passion is for power. The, , play is based on an actual historical figure,