Christopher Marlowe Flashcards
Quotes: about Tamburlaine
“Tamburlaine, that sturdy Scythian thief”
“What God, or fiend, or spirit of the earth,/ or monster turned to a manly shape”
Bajazeth, exchanging threats - will turn T into a “lustless Eunuch”; “ambitious pride will make thee fall as low”
T’s men: “three hundred thousand men in armour clad/ upon their prancing steeds”
Quotes - by Tamburlaine
“I am a Lord, for so my deeds shall prove,/ and yet a shepherd by my parentage”
“Zenocrates, lovelier than the love of Jove,/… Thy person is more worth to Tamburlaine/ than the possession of the Persian crown”
“Techelles, women must be flatter’d./ But this is she with whom I am in love” (mechanical/mercenary?)
“Our swords shall play the orators for us”
“I hold the fates bound fast in iron chains/ and with my hand turn fortune’s wheel about”
“Will’ and ‘shall’ best fittest Tamburlaine”
Christopher Marlowe - works
Tamburlaine (1587)
Dr Faustus
The Jew of Malta
Christopher Marlowe - about
d.1693. Elusive history - accused of atheism; allegedly a spy. Went to Canterbury school (became popular after he became famous). Responsible for bringing BLANK VERSE to the stage.
Rhetoric - eg’s and critics
Key examples: Tamburlaine; Faustus; Volpone; The Alchemist (Jonson)
Key points:
Vickers: “The art of persuasive communication”; orator has to arouse audience to persuade them. Generally for political means. 3 styles: grand (move), middle (charm), simple (instruct). Rhetoric taught as a tool to improve others with.
Skinner: “sound instruction” = “sound governemtn”. Rhetoric a key part of king’s counsel - dangerous? Those who have the skill of rhetoric are usually taught, but comes naturally to the nobility (bypasses issue of all being good at speaking). Conduct books. Machiaveilianism: “profitable deceit”.
Marlowe - critics
Romany and Lindsey: plays bring an “obscure, even dark, imaginative energy” to the stage. Is fascinated by “dangerous beauty” (Helen, Celia). Central preoccupation: “self-destructive desire”. Triumphs are tinged with sadism (Bajazeth’s cage). Describes Faustus as a “dark morality” and “spectacle of damnation”.
Tamburlaine - critics
Greenblatt - T goes from admirable to an unstoppable machine, and space becomes an “abstraction”. The play has an “obsessive preoccupation” with the body and stabbing. Marlowe’s characters “use up” spaces and experiences.
Burnett - the body is a site of contestation and power in Tamburlaine. “penetrating” deaths. T’s self-laceration dispels the illusion of impenetrability; Z’s hearse onstage = reminder of mortality.
Tamburlaine - key characters
Tamburlaine (“Scythian thief”/shepherd who marries)
Zenocrates (Egyptian princess)
Theridamas (Persian who joins T)
Techelles, Usumcasane, (his friends)
Bajazeth and Zabina (Emperor/ess of the Turks)
PART 2: Calyphas, Amyras, Celebinus (T’s sons)
Callapine (vengeful son of Bajazeth)
Tamburlaine - key themes
Physical/spiritual power; rhetoric; military prowess; mortality; sexuality; physicality.
Tamburlaine Part 2 quotes
Death in every act.
On sons: “methinks their looks are amorous, /not martial”.
Zenocrates: “in whose sweet being I repose my life” (Giovanni/heart encompassing…)”Techelles, draw thy sword and wound the earth”
Showing strength/mortality to his sons: “A wound is nothing… blood is the god of war’s rich livery”.
After stabbing son: “thy victories are grown so violent”
After burning Q’ran “Now, Mahoment, if thou have any power, / come down thyself and work a miracle” “for he is God alone, and none but he”
“What daring God torments my body thus/ and seeks to conquer mighty Tamburlaine?/ Shall sickness prove me now to be a man?”
“Give me a map, then, let me see how much/ is left for me to conquer all the world” dying advice to sons “let not thy love exceed thine honour, son”
The Jew of Malta - about/themes
1589/90. anti-semitism, relgious conflict. Greed - allegoric/stereotypical? Spiritual vs. monetary wealth. Continual money metaphors.
The Jew of Malta - Key characters
Barabas (wealthy Jew, and father of) Abigaill (daughter, and in love with) Mathias (rival of) Lodowick Ithamore (Barabas's slave) Bellamira (courtesan) Friars Jacomo and Barnadine (corrupt and greedy also)
The Jew of Malta - key quotes
Prologue: spoken by ‘machevil’ and Barabas described as a “sound machevil”
Barabas: “So enclose/ infinite riches in a little room” “rather had I, a Jew, be hated thus/ than pitied in Christian poverty.”
“Religion/ hides many mischiefs from suspicion”. Barabas, when Abigail finds his hidden treasure: “O my girl,/ my gold, my fortune, my felicity”
Lodowick, on Abigail: “‘tis not thy wealth, but her that I esteem”
Barabas to Ithamore, when Abigaill enters convent: “I here adopt thee for mine only heir”
Ithamore, when with the courtesan Bellamira: “to undo a Jew is a charity, and not sin”
Barabas: “I drank of poppy and mandrake juice” to fake death and turn to Turks for revenge on the Governor.
Dr Faustus - about
c.158-93. Appears in two scripts - 1604 (shorter) and 1616 (longer). MY TEXT = FIRST
Dr Faustus - themes
faith/disbelief
worldly vs. spiritual wealth.
supernatural - good/bad angels
predestination and point of repentance.
Opposition and “comic relief” of second strand of play.
Emblem of the clock chiming in final scene.
