The alliance of power and beauty in Marlowe's tam-Burlaine the great

Abstract EN

Usual criticism of Marlowe’s Tamburlaine views the drama as a play-field for the exhibition of the protagonist's power, courage, and martial discipline.

Tamburlaine is normally contrasted with a group of royal adversaries, whom he defeats one after the other.This paper, however, studies the character of the protagonist and the code of values he stands for in juxtaposition with his humane and beautiful female partner, Zenocrate, and the moral values she stands for.

The present study intends to demonstrate that Zenocrate's moral utterances, though lowvoiced, is of paramount importance, and that a study of the text with concentration on the nature and evolution of her alliance and marriage to Tamburlaine can offer a new perspective from which to reassess the protagonist and the meaning of the pl