Separated into two parts, Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great follows the conquests of an outlaw who slowly rises to power through extreme displays of aggression. When Mycetes, the king of Persia, complains to his brother, Cosroe, about a group of outlaws that were causing trouble, Cosroe claimed that Mycetes was weak, and that a king shouldn't have such a problem. In response, Mycetes sends out a powerful soldier to kill the leader of the outlaws, Tamburlaine. Though the soldier's army was twice the size of ...
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Separated into two parts, Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great follows the conquests of an outlaw who slowly rises to power through extreme displays of aggression. When Mycetes, the king of Persia, complains to his brother, Cosroe, about a group of outlaws that were causing trouble, Cosroe claimed that Mycetes was weak, and that a king shouldn't have such a problem. In response, Mycetes sends out a powerful soldier to kill the leader of the outlaws, Tamburlaine. Though the soldier's army was twice the size of Tamburlaine's, the outlaw was hardly discouraged. Using his wit and charm, Tamburlaine attempts to convince the soldier to convert to his side, merging the two armies. As Tamburlaine grows stronger, he gains new allies, such as his clever wife, Zenocrate. Though he seemed to be just a petty outlaw at first, the leaders of prominent Eurasian countries become increasingly concerned as Tamburlaine slowly overcomes armies and nations with force, manipulation, and unlikely alliances. As his makeshift armies continue to challenge elite armed forces, countless lives are at stake as Tamburlaine's bloody ambition only grows. When first released, Tamburlaine the Great both fascinated and disgusted the 16th century audience. Gaining a mix of fame and infamy, Tamburlaine the Great is praised for its masterful imagery and language, enchanting audiences with its drama. However, Marlowe still received criticism for the play's suspected atheist undertones and the violence associated with the play, both real and depicted. With strong themes of humanism, Tamburlaine the Great celebrates the accomplishments of Tamburlaine with little regard to the character's cruelty and aggression, creating a thought-provoking narrative that stays with readers long after the play's conclusion. Often referenced in prominent literary works, Tamburlaine the Great remains relevant with radio and film adaptations, and is still performed in theatres around the world. This edition of Tamburlaine the Great by Christopher Marlowe is now presented in an easy-to-read font and features a striking new cover decision, creating an accessible reading experience. With these accommodations, Tamburlaine the Great is restored to modern standards while the original genius and vivid imagery of Marlowe's poetry is preserved.
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TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT (PARTS I AND II) presents a fictionalized--and sensationalized--account of the military career of Timur Khan. Born in 1336 in Tashkent (today's capital of Uzbekistan), Timur began his long series of geographical conquests in the early 1360's, and established his empire's capital at Samarkand in 1366. The ensuing years saw him overrunning Persia (1383-85), invading India (1398), and sacking Damascus (1399), to name just a few of his far-flung prizes. His dream to add China to his vast Central Asian empire ended with his death in 1405. TAMBURLAINE is a play in two parts, written by Christopher Marlowe in the 1580's. In sharp contrast to what we today recognize as the style of his archrival, William Shakespeare, Marlowe here appeals to the baser appetites of his audiences, by endowing his title character with an arrogance and a depravity that surpasses what we know of the real Timur. While historical accounts of Timur's orders for the massacre of defeated populations do exist, Tamburlaine goes further: he rarely wastes an opportunity to wax poetic on the centrality of his position in the grand scheme of things. In addition, his imagination is particularly fertile when it comes to inflicting indignities and tortures custom-designed for specific enemies. This is the stuff that Elizabethan crowds (in their less-than-gentle moods) relished, and this work is for the most part devoid of the personal introspection and the social insight that have rendered Shakespeare's characters timeless. One exception to this is Tamburlaine's surprising analysis of the warrior's proper response to beauty (which ultimately does nothing to moderate his impulses). But he soon sets this perusal aside, and his unshakeable conviction that he is the "scourge of God" persists unwaveringly, maintained even on his deathbed. And yet, the portrayals of the many emotionally-stunted characters, as well as the graphic depictions of unrelenting bloodshed, are unexpectedly offset by the pure poetry of the play. Marlowe's descriptions and images suggest an atavism that the reader can recognize within the verbal communication between the characters, even if they themselves remain unaware. The human perception that we are not discrete entities merely encased within the rest of creation is an intuition that persists. Therefore, with the play as our starting point--from the wondrously described glories of creation's dawn, to Tamburlaine's vision at his point in time, to the playwright's treatment almost two centuries later--we are reminded of the lyricism inherent in the natural world, which provides whatever existential reassurance can be had, even within our own "hard science"-obsessed era. One example of many: "For I, the chiefest lamp of all the earth / First rising in the east with mild aspect / But fixed now in the meridian line / Will send up fire to your turning spheres / And cause the sun to borrow light of you." (One 4.2.36-40) The sense of timelessness and the evidence of eternal beauty underpin the text from the start, despite Tamburlaine's dismissal of these objective ideals, in favor of his contention of unity with God and cosmos. These literary elements remind us that although each of us--even the mighty Tamburlaine--is merely mortal, and will someday pass away, the permanency of Beauty suffers no such flaw. The Revels Student Edition, edited by J.S. Cunningham and Eithne Henson, provides a thematically-arranged introduction. Some of the points made are rather obvious (e.g., under "Gender"). But of particular fascination is the section on "Staging and Actions," which describes recent productions of the play. A few paragraphs on "The Text" explain the specific contributions of the Revels edition, features which certainly live up to its claims. Finally, the text's notes are more than adequate, and of special interest where they include cross-references and/or details on the interpretations of Marlowe scholars.
