The purpose of this study is to investigate the problem of whether or not the female characters are lively, active, and essential in the Tamburlaine plays. The study has been broadened to include a consideration of the general attitudes toward women expressed in the plays. However, the central emphasis is on Zenocrate's characterization and function.

As a transition period from the Middle Age to modern times, Renaissance is renowned for its cultural magnitude and richness. Different from the Middle Age, Renaissance, as its name indicates, proceeds into cultural, social and economical rebirth and prosperity. Literary works in the time also achieve a high tide not only in quality but also in quantity. Among the sparkling Renaissance works, one of the distinguished achievements is English Drama. Christopher Marlowe, probably one of the most popular playwrights in his contemporary time, no doubt, stands a peculiar and distinguishing position in the early Renaissance English theater. In his short lifetime, he produced seven plays on various dramatic themes. Whether in the adaptation of mythological stories, like Dido, Queen of Carthage, or historical events such as, Edward II, Marlovian theatrical world always contains blooming vitality and grandeur language that may easily catch the viewer¡¦s eyes. Marlowe¡¦s plays usually center on the process of the fulfillment of a person¡¦s desire and an individual¡¦s pursue for personal achievement. It is not a task to observe certain patterns manipulated in Marlowe¡¦s plays. For instance, in Dr. Faustus, Faustus exchanges his soul with Mephistopheles for omnipotent knowledge which for Faustus represents mighty power and strength. In Jew of Malta, Barabas, the Jew, by all means chases infinite riches and defends his wealth owing to that his self-esteem relies on the amount of gold. Tamburlaine, who is called the Scourge and Wrath of God, endlessly conquers country after country to establish his own empire as well as to prove his masculinity. These characters are driven by the innermost desire to prove their values that are mostly built on earthly success. Their accomplishment in turn nourishes their ambitions to pursue more success that brings them power. In the project, I attempt to detect the forming of selfhood in Christopher Marlowe¡¦s two plays, Tamburlaine and The Jew of Malta. I would also like to dissect the interweaving relations between the heroes¡¦ inner impetus and their repeated speeches as well as actions of claiming their existence and how their subjectivities are displayed in the space between the inner constructive power and their outer repeated actions for pursue of success.

Torture and the Drama of Emergency: Kyd, Marlowe, Shakespeare recovers the legal complexity of early modern torture and makes it central to an account of the anti-torture politics of the English stage. More people were tortured in the 1580s and 1590s than at any other time in England's history, and this sudden increase generated a backlash in the form of calls for the protection of liberties. Chapters on plays by Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare show how theater contributed to this backlash by means of its unique ability to present on the public stage the otherwise private suffering characteristic of state torture. Above all, these playwrights alerted audiences to the dangers posed by the concentration of absolute power in the hands of the monarch. The introduction and first chapter of Torture and the Drama of Emergency demonstrate that although torture was unknown to common law, it was executed in the context of a state of emergency. The second chapter presents Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy as resistance literature: rather than critiquing Spanish cruelty, as its setting implies, the play indicts English torture. Kyd uses the genre of revenge tragedy, enormously popular after and because of his play, to argue that torture is a form of revenge the state itself might carry out. Chapter three, on 1 and 2 Tamburlaine, argues that Tamburlaine transforms the world into a military camp by extending martial law to everyone, everywhere. Marlowe's portrayal of the creation and rise of this totalitarian regime depicts the nightmarish consequences for the people when the state's power to extend martial law remains unchecked. The final chapter, on King Lear, argues that in his most pessimistic play Shakespeare suggests there is no escape from the state's ability to seize absolute power in times of crisis. Lear's moving but tenuous declaration of human rights remains a dream that cannot survive the state of emergency created when he divides the kingdom. / text

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This dissertation enhances Marlovian studies by advancing ongoing scholarly efforts to demystify Marlowe’s stereotypical image as an outsider of his era. Specifically, it aims to challenge the prevailing perception of Christopher Marlowe as a subversive maverick, often delineated in contradistinction to William Shakespeare, England’s so-called national poet. Situating Marlowe in the context of nation-building in early modern England, this dissertation explores how Marlowe participated through his writing in the construction of English national identity. Through reading Marlowe’s five plays, Dido Queen of Carthage, Tamburlaine the Great Part One, Tamburlaine the Great Part Two, Edward II, and The Jew of Malta, my dissertation reveals that Marlowe’s ideal England is a political entity of complete sovereignty, a new empire of unprecedented achievement, and an imagined community ruled by its monarch and governors with good governance. With its emphasis on the inseparable fusion of nation and empire and the inevitable incorporation of outsiders, such English nationhood, I suggest, is an eighth form of nationhood in addition to the seven others proposed by Richard Helgerson. It is neither Patrick Cheney’s counter-nationhood nor completely Helgerson’s nationhood under royal absolutism. Since the monarch and patriotism are at its centre, Marlowe’s ideal English nationhood does not differ greatly from depictions offered by other contemporary writers. I argue that Marlowe shares more commonality with other authors of his era than has previously been understood, at least in terms of writing English nationhood. I propose that we should explore such commonality, rather than fetishizing Marlowe’s peculiarity, to gain a more nuanced, fuller image of Marlowe, who has long been obscured by his arguably more renowned contemporaries. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This dissertation reexamines Christopher Marlowe’s stereotypical image in current scholarship as an outsider of his era by looking at how Marlowe writes about England in the context of early modern nation-building. Focusing on Marlowe’s five plays, Dido Queen of Carthage, Tamburlaine the Great Part One, Tamburlaine the Great Part Two, Edward II, and The Jew of Malta, my readings reveal that what Marlowe envisions through his writing is an English nation marked by complete autonomy, remarkable achievement, and good governance. At the heart of this nationhood lies the patriotism similarly expressed by other Elizabethan writers in their literary fashioning of English nationhood. I argue that Marlowe, in this regard, shares more commonality with his contemporaries than has previously been understood. Exploring this commonality allows us to revalue the historical position of Marlowe, who has long been obscured by arguably more renowned writers of his day.

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