During the Renaissance era, Christopher Marlowe influenced and inspired many of his fellow playwrights during his short life. With the success of his plays and poems, including Tamburlaine the Great and Hero and Leander, came praise for Marlowe's contemporaries. According to Peter Farey, there were few contemporary playwrights who had anything negative to say about Marlowe, although he received much criticism regarding his personal life. His relatively clean reputation declined after his first arrest in 1593 and rumors of suspected corruption. Numerous scholars believe that Marlowe was a remarkably controversial individual in the eyes of onlookers during the 16th century. After all, many suspected he was a government spy, a homosexual male, and an atheist (The Marlowe Society). Marlowe's life ended abruptly in the year 1593 at the age of 29, however there is no clear explanation regarding his death. There are various theories about Marlowe's death, including the belief that he was murdered and the assumption that he never actually died but faked his death and continued his life by posing as William Shakespeare - according to the International Marlowe-Shakespeare Society -. Poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe influenced many writers during the Renaissance period through his acclaimed plays and poems, making a name for himself before his life ended suddenly in the year 1593. Christopher Marlowe grew up in a relatively middle-class family and he thought it was being a pretty intelligent individual. The first known public record of the writer is of his baptism in Canterbury at St. George's Church on 26 February 1564, the same year as William... half of the paper... topher Marlowe. " Foundation for Poetry. Np, nd Web. April 19, 2014 Farey, Peter. «Marlowe Page.» Marlowe Page by Peter Farey., ndWeb. 11 April 2014Marlowe, Christopher. Tamburlaine the Great, parts one and two. CreatSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. Print. Shakespeare's art (review)." Project MUSE - Shakespeare's Marlowe: Christopher Marlowe's influence on Shakespeare's art (review). Np, nd Web. May 20, 2014. Shmoop editorial team. "Context of Hero and Leander" . Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., November 11, 2008. Web. May 20, 2014. Society, Marlowe. "The Marlowe Society." Christopher Marlowe's hero and leader: summary and quiz." Education Portal 2014.