Atheist, sodomite, smoker - the image of Christopher Marlowe persisting to the present day is attributable in part to the poet himself, who apparently cultivated an anti-establishment persona for professional ends. The Prologue to the first part of Tamburlaine declares that the audience should expect something different from the second-rate 'conceits' to which lesser writers have accustomed them, and whatever the mix of artistry and commerce that governed his work, Marlowe's iconoclastic themes and eloquent speakers certainly had the effect of selling theatre tickets and, later, books. However, the scurrilous personal reputation that attracts many in our day has not always appealed, certainly not (for example) to most arbiters of Georgian and Victorian culture: we find no evidence that any play by Marlowe was performed between 1663 and 1818, when Edmund Kean revived The Jew of Malta. The twentieth century, however, rediscovered his plays and poems, re-evaluated his persona, forgave him his putative sins, and took the poet and his works to its heart. One major benefit of this resuscitation has been an increased appreciation for Marlowe's foundational role in the development of English poetry and drama.