The American University in Cairo
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
The Question of Islamophobia and Marlowe's
Tamburlaine the Great
A Thesis Submitted to
The Department of
English and Comparative Literature
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Master of Arts
By
Dalia Adnan AL-Abboud
Under the supervision of
Dr. Justin Kolb
ABSTRACT:
In my thesis, I exam the way the Islamic religion had been attacked and
negatively portrayed in European literature for centuries after the advent
of this monotheistic religion under Prophet Mohammed’s flag in the
Arabian Peninsula. Islam was demeaned and its culture was distorted as a
means of building upon Christian confidence in the face of the
sophisticated faith of Islam, which was spreading with surprising speed
(represented by the Ottoman Empire) in Christian Europe. I look at
different European examples of the negative portrayals of Islam before
focusing specifically on English Renaissance writers generally and
Christopher Marlowe specifically as a representative of his era. By
closely examining Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great we are enabled a
deeper understanding of the way Islam was looked at with fear and
grudging respect in sixteenth century England. By understanding the
status of Islam and its past reception in European Christendom, we reach
a better understanding of modern Islamophobia in its current form; only
by attempting to re-read the past can we understand the present.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………………ER
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1. ANTI-ISLAMIC BIGOTRY IN EUROPEAN
CULTURE…………………………………………………….……………....…..……...ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2. THE MEDIEVAL
ERA.…………………………………………………….………………………………………………………..…....ERROR! BOOKMARK
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3. THE FALL OF
CONSTANTINOPLE………………………………………………………………………………………………….…...ERROR! BOOKMARK
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4. 'THE TURKE': SIXTEENTH CENTURY ANGLO-OTTOMAN RELATIONS AND THE
STAGE………………………………….…..ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
5. EXAMPLES OF ELIZABETHAN
BIGOTRY…………………………………………………………………………………………….….ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
CHAPTER
1:………………………………………………………………………………………..ERROR! BOOKMARK
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1.“ALL BARBARY IS UNPEOPLED FOR THY SAKE” (PT II, I.III,
149)…………………………………………………………..…ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2. TAMBURLAINE AS THE "SCOURGE OF
GOD"……………………………………………………………………………………..ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
3.THE OTTOMAN BAYAZID AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF
MUSLIMS:……………………………………………………………...ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
4. THE ANGLO-OTTOMAN
ALLIANCE………………………………………..……………………………………..…………………ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT
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5. MARLOWE AND HIS
SOCIETY……….…….………………………………………………………………………………………….ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT
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6. MARLOWE'S PORTRAYAL OF
RELIGION..………………………………………………………………………………………….ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
CHAPTER
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1. TIMUR THE
CONQUEROR……………………………………………………………………………………………………..……...ERROR! BOOKMARK
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2. BIRTH AND
ORIGIN.…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….ERROR! BOOKMARK
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3.MARLOWE'S TAMBURLAINE THE
GREAT…………………………………………………………………….………..…………..ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
4.DRAWING TAMBURLAINE ON
STAGE……………………………………………….………………………..……….……………ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
5. MARLOWE AND RELIGIOUS
ATTITUDES.…………………………………………………………………………………………..ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
6. MARLOWE AND HISTORICAL
REFERENCES.……………………………………………………………………………………….ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
7. THE SECOND PART OF TAMBURLAINE THE
GREAT……………………………………………………………………………...ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………………………...ERR
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WORKS
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