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The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, commonly referred to simply as Doctor Faustus, is an Elizabethan tragedy by Christopher Marlowe, based on German stories about the title character Faust. It was written sometime between 1589 and 1592, and might have been performed between 1592 and Marlowe's death in 1593. Two different versions of the play were published in the Jacobean era, several years later. The powerful effect of early productions of the play is indicated by the legends that quickly accrued around them--that actual devils once appeared on the stage during a performance, to the great amazement of both the actors and spectators , a sight that was said to have driven some spectators mad. The play may have been entered into the Stationers' Register on 18 December 1592, though the records are confused and appear to indicate a conflict over the rights to the play. A subsequent Stationers' Register entry, dated 7 January 1601, assigns the play to the bookseller Thomas Bushnell, the publisher of the 1604 first edition. Bushnell transferred his rights to the play to John Wright on 13 September 1610. The two versions Two versions of the play exist: The 1604 quarto, printed by Valentine Simmes for Thomas Law; this is usually called the A text. The title page attributes the play to Ch. Marl. . A second edition (A2) of first version was printed by George Eld for John Wright in 1609. It is merely a direct reprint of the 1604 text. The text is short for an English Renaissance play, only 1485 lines long. The 1616 quarto, published by John Wright, the enlarged and altered text; usually called the B text. This second text was reprinted in 1619, 1620, 1624, 1631, and as late as 1663. Additions and alterations were made by the minor playwright and actor Samuel Rowley and by William Borne (or Birde), and possibly by Marlowe himself. The 1604 version was once believed to be closer to the play as originally performed in Marlowe's lifetime, simply because it was older. By the 1940s, after influential studies by Leo Kirschbaum and W. W. Greg, the 1604 version came to be regarded as an abbreviation and the 1616 version as Marlowe's original fuller version. Kirschbaum and Greg considered the A-text a bad quarto , and thought that the B-text was linked to Marlowe himself. Since then scholarship has swung the other way, most scholars now considering the A-text more authoritative, even if abbreviated and corrupt , according to Charles Nicholl. The 1616 version omits 36 lines but adds 676 new lines, making it roughly one third longer than the 1604 version. Among the lines shared by both versions, there are some small but significant changes in wording; for example, Never too late, if Faustus can repent in the 1604 text becomes Never too late, if Faustus will repent in the 1616 text, a change that offers a very different possibility for Faustus's hope and repentance.

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Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (/ m rlo /; baptised 26 February 1564 - 30 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era.[1] Marlowe was the foremost Elizabethan tragedian of his day.[2] He greatly influenced William Shakespeare, who was born in the same year as Marlowe and who rose to become the pre-eminent Elizabethan playwright after Marlowe's mysterious early death. Marlowe's plays are known for the use of blank verse and their overreaching protagonists. Some scholars believe that a warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May 1593.[3] No reason was given for it, though it was thought to be connected to allegations of blasphemy-a manuscript believed to have been written by Marlowe was said to contain vile heretical conceipts. On 20 May, he was brought to the court to attend on the Privy Council for questioning. There is no record of their having met that day and his being commanded to attend on them each day thereafter, until licensed to the contrary. Ten days later, he was stabbed to death by Ingram Frizer. Whether or not the stabbing was connected to his arrest remains unknown Marlowe was born in Canterbury to shoemaker John Marlowe and his wife Catherine. His date of birth is not known but he was baptised on 26 February 1564 and is likely to have been born a few days before, making him two months older than William Shakespeare, who was baptised on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. Marlowe attended The King's School in Canterbury (where a house is named after him) and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he studied on a scholarship and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1584.[5] In 1587, the university hesitated to award him his Master of Arts degree because of a rumour that he intended to go to the English college at Rheims, presumably to prepare for ordination as a Roman Catholic priest. His degree was awarded on schedule when the Privy Council intervened on his behalf, commending him for his faithful dealing and good service to the Queen.[6] The nature of Marlowe's service was not specified by the Council, but its letter to the Cambridge authorities has provoked much speculation, notably the theory that Marlowe was operating as a secret agent working for Sir Francis Walsingham.[7] No direct evidence supports this theory, although the Council's letter itself is an evidence that Marlowe had served the government in some secret capacity

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