Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine and the Politics of English Trade

Abstract

The article considers the early modern dramatic work of one of the most famous playwrights of Shakespeare’s age. It addresses Marlowe’s play as a pioneering attempt at the orientalist approach of the English towards a chapter of Eastern history that fascinated Europeans at the time. Tamburlaine, the Eastern conqueror in Marlowe’s play, presents the problem of a uniquely savage portrayal of the anti-hero that violates all the moral and historical expectations of the audience. The article addresses the issues of historiography as well as ideology that have made this play continue to perplex the critics since its first performance. Consequently, the protagonist is re-interpreted in the article by deploying the historicist methodology which locates this play and the themes and motifs it raises within the context of the mercantile and strategic concerns of sixteenth century English society. It considers the Anglo-oriental trade agreements made by the Elizabethans with the Russian, Ottoman and Persian rulers of the era with a view to explore the paradoxical and contradictory ideas inherent in the characterization of the major figures in the play.