6 - Tamburlaine's Prophetic Oratory and the English Holy War

Summary

The cultural shockwaves that ran through London in the 1580s seem to have emanated from the public theatre by way of Tamburlaine the Great. The extent of its impact can be gauged from an assessment of the abundant evidence suggesting that Tamburlaine ‘rauishes the gazing Scaffolders’. It is remarkable that a play of this period left so many contemporary refer-ences and was imitated so incessantly. What most interests us, however, is how the play's protagonist was perceived by contemporary audiences. Today, we may be embarrassed by Tamburlaine's two-facedness: one aspect a divine hero who leads his army and a brave soldier famous for his military skill; the other a demonic tyrant who exterminates his enemies and boldly justifies his heinous deeds in the name of God. Yet, far from making a nega-tive impression upon the Elizabethan audience, Tamburlaine was lauded as a perfect heroic figure. In fact, none of the numerous contemporary refer-ences contain ‘any suggestion that Tamburlaine's triumphs were hollow, or that he failed in any way, or suffered any kind of defeat or punishment’.

One of the reasons for Tamburlaine's popularity and the admiration for the protagonist seems to have originated from the chivalric romance frame-work of the play: his miraculous victories and conquests over the ‘Islamites’; his ‘discipline of arms and chivalry’ and divine talent as a military leader, which gains him the respect of his comrades and even of his enemies; the difficulty he experiences in obtaining the love of the fair Zenocrate, the daughter of the Sultan of Egypt; and the happy ending he enjoys in marriage. Clyomon and Clamydes, an anonymous play performed in the public playhouse around 1580, gives us a glimpse of similar elements then in favour with audiences: chivalric knights, adventures, deadly enemies, combat, and the love of a beautiful princess. Moreover, several obvious borrowings from Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene show that Marlowe had a Protestant chivalric romance in mind when composing Tamburlaine.

Considering the play in this literary context, it is important to recognize that Tamburlaine himself is shaped as a ‘Scythian shepherd’ – like David, the King of Israel.