Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) [chapter 1 pp. 88] is also referred to as Kit Marlowe, who was an amazing English playwright and poet in the Elizabethen era alongside Shakespeare, Marlowe's work being one of the main inspirations behind Shakespear's work. Shakespear later trumped Marlowe's work and became more widely known for his work. Marlowe's work is based in sensibility, and is heavy with realistic emotions. Marlowe spoke into the rise of science intelects by being proudly anti-intellectualism. His works also held a lot of violence, something that was quite popular and appreciated within the Elizabethan era. Little is known about Marlowe’s life, but what is known is that he was a bold atheist and was assumed to be a homosexual. Marlowe was killed 1593, something that has been argued over for years. The coroner's report states that he was killed in a drunken bar fight, however some believe he was murdered by Ingram Frizer. 

Within Virginia Woolf's Orlando, the narrator refers to Marlowe while Orlando is still a man. This is relevant due to the contrast between Orlando's own male ego and struggle to feel contempt in his own literature journey, as where it is so publicly known that Shakespeare achieved what Marlowe did and more at that. The line in chapter 1 says, "Shakespear, he admitted, had written some scenes that were well enough but had chiefly from Marlowe. Marlowe was a likely boy, but what could you say of a lad who died before her was thirty?" (Wolf 88). This line pulls the reader into the social politics of the time, as where these authors were writing at the time Orlando is living in. (275)