Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Tamburlaine the Great is a play by Christopher Marlowe written and published in 1587. The play attained huge success in the theater; hence, Marlowe wrote the second part in 1588. Tamburlaine the Great was the only play by Christopher Marlowe that was published while he was alive.
The titular character of the play is loosely based on Timur of Central Asia who founded the Timurid Empire in 1405. Tamburlaine is significant because it was the first play in which the author adapted blank verse, breaking from the rigid Tudor style in which poetry and plays were written before it. Marlowe wrote the play in blank verse. The play also exhibited innovation and moral and intellectual complexity in the plot. Christopher Marlowe often depicted ordinary characters chasing extraordinary dreams. Medieval society had preached that each individual should know his (or her) place. However, Marlowe believed in breaking the norms and this is what he depicted in most of his plays. Tamburlaine pursues the best even if it appears beyond his reach. In his plays, Marlowe depicted characters who, through force of character, rejected the lot into which they were born and, through force of personality, reached unbelievable heights. Marlowe's Barabas in The Jew of Malta seeks limitless wealth; Faustus seeks forbidden knowledge; Mortimer (in Edward II) wants to usurp the crown. Tamburlaine, on the other hand, aims much higher than any of the other Marlovian characters, he wishes to rule the world and almost succeeds. But his quest for power doesn’t stop there, he aims to challenge gods.
The first part was a five-act play while Marlowe penned the second part as a four-act play in 1588, culminating the story of Tamburlaine.
Characters of Tamburlaine the Great:
Tamburlaine is a poor shepherd who becomes the emperor of Turkey through his sheer will. He is a war-loving man who manages to conquer many countries. He is very proud and likes being addressed as Tamburlaine the Great. He is cruel and war-loving, expecting his sons to be the same. However, his eldest son Calyphas is a calm, rather cowardly man whom Tamburlaine kills by his own hands. Mycetes is the king of Persia. He is a coward and foolish man tricked by his brother Cosroe. Cosroe takes the help of Tamburlaine in overthrowing Mycetes, believing that he will be the next king but Tamburlaine tricks him too and becomes the king. Zenocrate is an Egyptian princess whom Tamburlaine captures. She falls in love with him even though she is supposed to marry someone else. She has three children with Tamburlaine. She is as sadistic, proud, and ambitious as Tamburlaine and supports him through thick and thin until she dies. Bajazeth is the emperor of Turkey whom Tamburlaine defeats and captures. Bajazeth too is very proud and violent. He kills himself by bashing his head into the walls of his cell when he realizes that Tamburlaine will humiliate him forever. Zabina is the empress of Turkey and the wife of Bajazeth. She too is captured by Tamburlaine who wishes to treat her as a slave. Like her husband, she kills herself. Amyras is Tamburlaine’s younger son who succeeds him. Like his father, he too is a brave war-mongering ruler. Callapine is the son of Bajazeth and Zabina, the heir to the Turkish empire. He manages to remain alive and unconquered by Tamburlaine. He tries to take revenge and the Turkish empire back. He attacks Tamburlaine before he dies. Though Tamburlaine manages to avoid defeat, it is implicated that Callapine will continue to attack until he defeats Tamburlaine’s successor. Orcanes is the king of Natolia. He is a fierce soldier and opponent of Tamburlaine who tries everything possible to save his kingdom against Tamburlaine’s expansionist moves. King of Soria and King of Trebizon are conquered by Tamburlaine who forces them to pull his chariot and ultimately kills them. King of Jerusalem too is defeated by Tamburlaine. Techelles and Usumcasane are friends of Tamburlaine whom he makes the king of Fez and king of Morocco respectively. Both are loyal to Tamburlaine. Sigismond is the king of Hungary who vows not to attack Natolia but breaks his vow and gets defeated by the king of Natolia. The Captain of Balsera is killed when Techelles and Theridamas attack his city. His wife Olympia kills her son and tries to kill herself but Techelles stops her, impressed by her beauty, he decides to imprison her and present her to Tamburlaine. However, Olympia succeeds in tricking Techelles into killing her.
Summary of Tamburlaine
Part 1
The play begins with a prologue in which the frivolous “clowns” and “mother wits” of other works declare that this play won’t be focussing on petty subjects that are discussed in other plays and that the story is about a great conqueror and his victories. Act 1 begins in the court of Mycetes, the king of Persia who discusses with his brother Cosroe about Tamburlaine, an outlaw and his band of other outlaw shepherds continually trouble his estate. Meander, the loyal advisor of Mycetes describes Tamburlaine as a “sturdy Scythian thief, who first opposed to pay taxes and when soldier abrogated his field, he threatened to revolt. Mycetes sends Theridamas, a proud chieftain with a thousand horsemen to defeat Tamburlaine. He then orders Menaphon, another chieftain to follow and help Theridamas. But Cosroe interjects and says Menaphon must be sent to Africa to control the revolting Babylons. When Mycetes leaves, Cosroe tells Menaphon that many Persian nobles are supporting him to overthrow Mycetes and become the king himself.
Meanwhile, Tamburlaine attacks and captures a caravan taking Zenocrate, the Egyptian princess. When he sees Zenocrate, he falls in love with her and proposes to her to marry him. Zenocrate is already promised to the prince of Arabia but she genuinely falls in love with Tamburlaine, seeing his leadership qualities. Techelles and Usumcasane praise Tamburlaine and his bravery. Tamburlaine promises Zenocrate that she will be respected and remain safe. At the same time, Theridamas appears with the force of a thousand horsemen but is convinced by Tamburlaine to shift his allegiance in favor of him. Theridamas becomes a loyal chieftain of Taburlaine.
When Cosroe learns this, he plans to take the help of Tamburlaine and his force to depose Mycetes. Tamburlaine attacks Persia. To disarray his soldiers, Meander advises Mycetes to throw gold in the streets. Mycetes tries to protect his crown and Tamburlaine lets him keep the crown until his army is totally defeated. Persian soldiers soon accept defeat but Cosroe flees with the crown to Persepolis. Tamburlaine challenges Cosroe and wins, killing Cosroe during the fight.
Tamburlaine becomes the king of Persia and decides to attack Turkey.
Bajazeth, the emperor of Turkey gathers all his kings and prepares to resist Tamburlaine. Meanwhile, Agydas, a loyal lord of Egypt advises Zenocrate to not let herself be manipulated by Tamburlaine; Zenocrate tells Agydas that she wants to marry Tamburlaine. Agydas realizes that Tamburlaine overheard what he said and stabs himself to avoid being tortured by Tamburlaine. Tamburlaine marches on Turkey and defeats the forces of Bajazeth. He captures Bajazeth and Zabina, his wife, and keeps them as slaves. Tamburlaine and Zenocrate then enjoy torturing and humiliating Bajazeth and Zabina. Zenocrate then sends Zabina to serve Aippe, Zenocrate’s maid while Tamburlaine instructs Anippe to treat Zabina as a slave.
Tamburlaine plans to attack Arabia as he wishes to defeat the prince of Arabia to whom Zenocrate is betrothed. Meanwhile, the Sultan of Egypt is worried about Zenocrate and asks for the help of the Arabian king to stop Tamburlaine. When Tamburlaine comes to know about this, he prepares to attack Egypt. Zenocrate pleads him not to attack Egypt but he ignores her pleas. His army reaches Damascus. The governor of Damascus sends virgin girls to please Tamburlaine to avoid an attack but Tamburlaine declines the gift. He orders the slaughter of all those virgins and then displays them on the city walls. He kills the governor of Damascus himself. He continues to march towards Egypt.
While Tamburlaine is at war against Egypt, Bajazeth realizes that there is no way he can protect his pride and decides to end his life. He hits his head on the wall of his cell until he dies. When Zabina learns this, she runs toward his cell hits her head on the wall of Bajazeth’s cell, and dies. Callapine, the son of Baljazeth and Zabina is still imprisoned.
Meanwhile, Tamburlaine defeats the Sultan of Egypt and murders the Prince of Arabia. He spares the life of the Sultan and rather offers him much more territory to rule than the Sultan ever had.
After returning, Tamburlaine marries Zenocrate. The first part of Tamburlaine the Great ends here.
Summary of Tamburlaine the Great Part 2
The terror of Tamburlaine continues as he wishes to conquer the world. Orcanes, the king of Natolia learns that Tamburlaine’s next target is his kingdom. The king of Natolia is already engaged in a tussle with Sigismond, the king of Hungary. He meets Sigismond and offers a truce to unite their army and protect their territories against advancing Tamburlaine. Sigismond recognizes the gravity of the situation and accepts the truce, vowing not to attack Natolia and thus helping Orcanes against Tamburlaine. However, Frederick, one of his advisors suggests to him that they should ally with Tamburlaine and help him defeat Natolia.
Meanwhile, Callapine, the prince of Turkey bribes the jailer of his cell and promises him a kingdom if he lets him slip away from the cell and prepare an army against Tamburlaine. The jailer remembers how Baljazeth and Zabina were humiliated and decides to help Callapine and lets him slip away.
Before marching to Natolia, Tamburlaine meets his three sons. While the younger two of his sons, Amyrus and Celebinus are exactly like him, cruel, war-loving, and ambitious, his elder son Calyphus often preaches about peace. He worries that his grown sons are not warlike, especially the lazy and cowardly Calyphas. Zenocrate assures him that they are. Zenocrate shows some signs of illness but hides away and Tamburlaine marches toward Natolia.
When Sigismond learns about Tamburlaine’s army preparing to attack, he accepts Frederick’s advice and attacks Natolia from other side. However, Tamburlaine learns about Zenocrate’s sudden death due to her illness while he is still in the war. Stricken by grief, he decides to return to Turkey while his sons remain on the battlefield. Orcanes successfully defends Natolia, defeating Sigismond and Tamburlaine’s war chiefs together.
After returning to Turkey, Tamburlaine burns down the city where Zenocrate died and forbids anyone to rebuild it. Callapine takes advantage of the situation and gathers Turkish kings to support him who crown him as their emperor and swear to help him in taking revenge for the humiliation his father and mother were forced to face.
After sulking for a while, Tamburlaine learns about the revolt of Callapine and decides to return to the battlefield again. He sends Theridamas and Techelles to march northward where they attack the city of Balsera whose captain fights valiantly but dies during the war. His wife Olympia knows how cruel and sadistic Tamburlaine and his ways are. Thus, she decides to murder her son and then to kill herself. While she succeeds in murdering her son, Techelles stops her from killing herself and imprisons her, hoping to present her to Tamburlaine as a gift. When Theridamas sees Olympia, he gets seduced by her and tries to court her. Olympia makes a fool of him and tells him that she has an ointment that protects against any injury or even knife stabs. To prove herself, she applies some ointment on her belly and asks Theridamas to stab her. He foolishly does so and unwittingly murders her.
Meanwhile, Tamburlaine and Usumcasane attack the kings supporting Callapine. He then marches to Natolia and confronts and defeats Orcanes and the Turk forces in battle, in which his sons Amyras and Celebinus perform valiantly. Calyphas, however, had sat out the battle gambling in his tent. The next day, Amyrus and Clebinus confront Calyphas and ask why he didn’t help them during the war. Calyphas makes airy excuses and they call him a coward and challenge him to fight. Calyphas shies away. When Tamburlaine learns about his absence from the battlefield while his brothers were facing enemies, he gets enraged and kills him.
Tamburlaine then captures many kings who supported and crowned Callapine as the emperor of Turkey and yokes them by the mouth like horses to pull his chariot. When they get tired, he murders them. In his rage, he continues to attack new territories and attacks Babylon. The governor of Babylon is a coward who tries to hide in the city among the citizens, hoping Tamburlaine won’t kill citizens. When the city is conquered, the governor tries to convince Tamburlaine not to kill him, but his plan fails. Tamburlaine hangs the governor of the city, orders every Babylonian drowned, and burns Islamic religious books. In his rage, he declares he is destined to rule the world and dares Mahomet to challenge his own power. Suddenly, he falls ill and feels very weak. He decides to return to Persia. On his way back, his forces are ambushed by Callapine and his army. Tamburlaine strives to fight a last battle but cannot garner the strength. His son Amyras skillfully manages to defeat Callamine who runs away, vowing to attack again.
As they reach Persia, Tamburlaine falls terminally ill. He laments the lands he did not have the chance to conquer and bestows his crown on Amyras, telling him to carry on his conquest. The play ends with the lamentations of Amyras, fearing that he will never be as great as his father.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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