The most important dramatist among The University Wits is, doubtlessly, Christopher Marlowe. He is really the greatest figure in pre-Shakespearean drama. He has left behind him four powerful tragedies:

(1) Tamburlaine in two parts, (2) Dr. Faustus, (3) The Jew of Malta, and (4) Edward II. Each one of these tragedies revolves round one central personality who is consumed by the lust for power, beauty or knowledge. Marlowe’s tragedies are all one-man tragedies in which the tragic hero dominates the rest of the characters and dwarfs them by his towering personality.