ORIENTALISM: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MUSLIM
CHARACTERS IN TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT AND
JEWISH CHARACTERS IN THE JEW OF MALTA
BY
AINI FATIMAH BINTI AMAT KAMAL
A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for
the degree of Master of Human Sciences Literary Studies
Kuliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and
Human Sciences
International Islamic University Malaysia
SEPTEMBER 2015
ABSTRACT
This qualitative research attempts to discover elements of Orientalism in Muslim and
Jewish characters in two selected plays by Christopher Marlowe, namely Tamburlaine
the Great and The Jew of Malta. This is achieved by finding and analysing elements
of Orientalism found in Marlowe’s plays using Edward Said’s Manifest Orientalism
framework in his book Orientalism. The study found elements of Orientalism in
Marlowe’s plays but there is limited evidence to substantiate Marlowe’s influences in
his playwriting. Even if there is evidence, the influence that may have led to Marlowe
producing the plays may be his own personal experience with Jews during his
lifetime. The analysis establishes that Marlowe’s writings exhibit his personal biased
views of Jewish and Muslim communities by stereotyping them, and his illustration
on how the East is laden with natural resources and precious gems from his own
imagination. Additionally, the study identifies apparent elements of stereotype, binary
opposition of characters and manifestation of latent ideas that Marlowe perceived
about the East in his plays. The analysis of the plays illustrates elements of
Orientalism such as stereotyping Muslim and Jewish characters as well as
emphasizing the binary opposition of Christianity’s superiority to selfish and wealthy
Jewish merchants and blood-thirsty Muslim conquerors. This concludes that
Marlowe’s plays Tamburlaine the Great and The Jew of Malta contains elements of
Orientalism.
ii
ABSTRACT IN ARABIC
iii
APPROVAL PAGE
I certify that I have supervised and read this study and that in my opinion it conforms
to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and
quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Master of Human Sciences (English Literary
Studies)
……………………………………………
Siti Nuraishah Ahmad
Supervisor
I certify that I have read this study and that in my opinion it conforms to acceptable
standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a
dissertation for the degree of Master of Human Sciences (English Literary Studies)
……………………………………………
Aimillia Ramli
Examiner
This dissertation was submitted to the Department of English Language and Literature
and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Human
Sciences (English Literary Studies)
....................................................................
Zahariah Pilus
Head, Department of English
Language and Literature
This dissertation was submitted to the Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and
Human Sciences and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of
Master of Human Sciences (English Literary Studies)
……………………………………………
Ibrahim Mohamed Zein
Dean, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed
Knowledge and Human Sciences
iv
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations, except
where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently
submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions.
Aini Fatimah Binti Amat Kamal
Signature…………………………..
Date……………….....
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INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA
DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION
OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH
Copyright © 2015 by Aini Fatimah Binti Amat Kamal. All rights reserved.
ORIENTALISM: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MUSLIM
CHARACTERS IN TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT AND JEWISH
CHARACTERS IN THE JEW OF MALTA
No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder except
as provided below.
1.
Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research may
only be used by others in their writing with due acknowledgement.
2.
IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print or
electronic) for institutional and academic purposes.
3.
The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieval system
and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested by other
universities and research libraries.
Affirmed by Aini Fatimah binti Amat Kamal.
………………………………….
Signature
………………….
Date
vi
DEDICATION
This is for you Ummi,
I know that happiness is with you where you are, therefore, please wait for me.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Syukur ya Rasulullah for giving me Your syafaah, rahmah and ni’mah in completing
this thesis. Without Your blessings this would not have been possible.
To my dearest, beloved late mother, I wish I had time for you to see me
complete my thesis that you have always waited for. I am sorry for not being able to
fulfill your wish but I finally made it and this thesis is for you Ummi, Siti Mariam
Wong Bt. Abdullah, wait for me. To my father, Amat Kamal Bin Mohd Lana, this
thesis and my life shows how as a woman I am able to stand on my own two feet and I
have you to thank for. My kakak Fairoz Ayesha Amat Kamal, thank you for always
being there as our pillar of strength and support to your sisters. We are going through
a rough time and I am thankful to have you as my sister. My adik Khadijah
Addawiyah Amat Kamal, even though you are my adik, there are times when you take
over the duty of a kakak and I thank you for the love and care you give to me.
To You, the whole of my heart. Thank you for believing in me and for your
endless love and support. I cherish the care, love, words of wisdom and thought.
Dearest former supervisor, Dato’ Dr Ghulam Sarwar Yousof, thank you for
your endless guidance and support in the first two years when you were my
supervisor. Your patience and guidance helped me through a lot. To my current
supervisor, Dr. Siti Nuraishah Ahmad, your support when I first came to consult you,
gave me the strength I needed to carry on because I gave up but you believed in me
and your patience in correcting my thesis and waiting for me to complete it will be
remembered. To all my lecturers who taught me, I can’t thank you enough for all your
supervising and guide. I am forever indebted to you.
Nur Yuhanis, Siti Hajar, Farah Akmar, Nashrah Khan and Sahila Latiff ; the
love, support, help, care, and deed I received from all of you will forever be
treasured. Dearest roommate Izzati Sapperi and my saviour Faatimah Salmyyah,
without the both you I believe that my thesis and years as a Masters’ student will go to
waste. Thanks you for being my beacon of strength.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract .................................................................................................................... ii
Abstract in Arabic .................................................................................................... iii
Approval Page .......................................................................................................... iv
Declaration ............................................................................................................... v
Copyright Page ......................................................................................................... vi
Dedication ................................................................................................................ vii
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. viii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................. 1
1.1 Background of study ............................................................................... 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem........................................................................ 6
1.3 Significance of the Study ........................................................................ 6
1.4 Objectives of the Study........................................................................... 7
1.4.1 Research Questions ....................................................................... 7
1.5 Literature Review ................................................................................... 8
1.5.1 Tamburlaine the Great .................................................................. 8
1.5.2 The Jew of Malta ........................................................................... 11
1.6 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................... 14
1.6.1 Orientalism .................................................................................... 14
1.6.2 Orientalism .................................................................................... 20
1.6.2.1 Modern Orientalism .......................................................... 21
1.7 Methodology ........................................................................................... 23
1.8 Limitations of Study ............................................................................... 24
1.9 Proposed Chapter Outline ....................................................................... 24
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................... 26
2.1 Introduction............................................................................................. 26
2.1.1 Christopher Marlowe .................................................................... 26
2.1.2 Tamburlaine the Great .................................................................. 27
2.1.3 The Jew of Malta ........................................................................... 30
2.2 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................... 31
2.2.1 Definition of Orientalism .............................................................. 32
2.2.2 Orientalism and Islam ................................................................... 37
2.2.3 Modern Orientalism ...................................................................... 39
2.2.4 Latent and Manifest Orientalism................................................... 40
2.3 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 41
CHAPTER THREE: CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF CHARACTERS IN
TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT ............................................................................. 42
3.1 Introduction............................................................................................. 42
3.2 Stereotyping of characters ...................................................................... 43
3.3 Misrepresentation of Prophet Muhammad and Islam ............................. 49
3.4 Manifest Orientalism in the characters of Tamburlaine the Great ......... 56
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CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS OF THE JEW OF MALTA .......................... 64
4.1 Introduction............................................................................................. 64
4.2 Stereotyping of Jewish characters .......................................................... 65
4.3 Binary Opposition ................................................................................... 81
4.4 Manifest Orientalism .............................................................................. 88
CHAPTER FIVE: 94CONCLUSION .................................................................. 94
5.1 Suggestion for future research ................................................................ 96
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................. 98
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
This research is mainly based on Christopher Marlowe’s plays entitled Tamburlaine
the Great and The Jew of Malta. The theory of Orientalism proposed by Edward Said
in his book will be the main theoretical framework used to study these plays.
According to Edward Said in Orientalism, “the orient is not only adjacent to Europe;
it is the place of Europe’s greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its
civilizations and languages, its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most
recurring images of the Other.” (Said, 1978: 1) Said further explains that “the orient is
an integral part of European material civilization and culture. Orientalism expresses
and represents that part culturally and even ideologically as a mode of discourse with
supporting institutions, vocabulary, scholarship, imagery, doctrines, even colonial
bureaucracies and colonial styles.” (1978: 2)
Orientalism can be seen through many contexts. To further elaborate on what
Orientalism is from the academic point of view, Said mentions in his introduction that
“anyone who teaches, writes about, or researches the Orient – and this applies whether
the person is an anthropologist, sociologist, historian, or philologist – either in its
specific or its general aspect, is an Orientalist, and what he or she does is
Orientalism.” (1978: 2)
According to Said, Orientalism “can be discussed and analysed as the
corporate institution for dealing with the orient—dealing with it by making statements
about it, authorising views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it, ruling over it:
in short, Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having
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authority over the Orient” (1978: 3). Even Karl Marx in The Eighteenth Brumaire of
Louis Bonaparte articulated that the Orient are not capable “they cannot represent
themselves; they must be represented’’ (1978: 21). Said further explains what
Orientalism is about:
A created body of theory and practice in which…there has been a
considerable material investment. Continued investment made
Orientalism…an accepted grid for filtering through the Orient into
western consciousness, just as that same investment multiplied…the
statements proliferating out from Orientalism into the general culture.
(1978: 6).
Said stresses that the discursive construction of the oriental serves a vital
purpose: it subtends the exclusionary process upon which European identity is
predicated, that is, the “idea of European identity as a superior one in comparison with
all the non-European peoples and cultures” (Said, 1978: 7). Said further mentions how
“the west created a dichotomy, between the reality of the east and the romantic notion
of the Orient. The Middle East and Asia are viewed with prejudice and racism. They
are seen as backward and unaware of their own history and culture. To fill this void,
the West has created a culture, history and future promise for Orients” (1978: 8).
Edward Said, according to Clarke, needs to point out that discourse on the Orient must
be understood in relation to the “period of extraordinary European ascendancy from
the late Renaissance to the present:
The scientist, the scholar, the missionary, the trader or the soldier was
in, or thought about the Orient because he could be there, or could think
about it, with very little resistance from the Orient’s part. Under the
general heading of knowledge of the Orient, and within the umbrella of
Western hegemony over the Orient during the period from the end of
the eighteenth century, there emerge a complex Orient suitable for study
in the academy, for display in the museum, for reconstruction in the
colonial office, for theoretical illustration in anthropological, biological,
linguistic, racial, and historical theses about mankind and the universe,
for instances of economic and sociological theories of development,
revolution, cultural personality, national or religious character. (1995:
7).
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Christopher Marlowe’s presence as a playwright in the English literary world
is something that is known. He was born in Canterbury, England and he wrote
extensively during his years at university. As a playwright during the Elizabethan era,
“Marlowe holds a most important place in English literature through his brilliant
poetic gift and also as Shakespeare’s exact contemporary…and his forerunner in the
creation of poetic drama (Yates: 1979). According to Cheney, the newly recognized
value of the works of Marlowe places him within the broader European context of
Marguerite de Navarre, Lope de Vega, and Torquato, progenitors of a new standard of
English authorship that “extends through Milton and John Dryden to George Eliot and
W. H. Auden, even to Derek Walcott and Sam Sheppard.” In regard to Marlowe’s
Tamburlaine the Great and The Jew of Malta, James R. Siemon mentions how The
Jew of Malta may be counted as a great favourite with Elizabethan theatre goers as it
was performed thirty-six times between February 1592 and June 1596 (Thomas &
Tydeman, 1994: 1).
The Jew of Malta is one of Marlowe’s most performed plays. It received both
positive and negative criticism (Chien, 1995: 43). The expulsion of Jews from
England initiated a series of responses on the European continent. In 1394, France
decided to remove Jews from the country, and Provence gave the same order in 1502.
This was followed by southern Italy in 1541 and then by other European cities in the
next century (Dicosmo, 2004). Elizabethan England had not seen any official Jewish
residents since their expulsion in 1290, some three hundred years before the first
appearance of both plays. That does not mean however, that anti-Jewish feelings were
out of the ordinary for Elizabethans, as Jews were common villains in most medieval
and renaissance drama (Lima, 2010). Their ancient sin against Christ was a cause of
resentment against them, along with the practice of usury, which is lending money
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with interest (Chien, 1995: 44). Such anti-Jewish sentiment coupled with the growing
fear of the menacing Ottoman Empire made for a very anti-Semitic society indeed.
This happened due to the distinctive appearance of these foreigners, the Jews with
their different attire and different physical features such as their usually large noses,
and the Ottomans with their dark coloured skin. These easily identifiable aliens,
however, were not the only ones the English harboured enmity towards. The same can
be said of European Catholics who had, by then, excommunicated the Protestant
Queen Elizabeth. Among those specially disliked were the Spanish, for their attempt
at invasion with the Armada in 1588, and the Italians, for their practice of money
lending at interest in England where there are no Jews (O’Rourke, 2003: 376). Peter
Berek as quoted in Chien, mentions that Marlowe uses Barabas’ Jewish background to
manifest the “covert social anxieties about self-fashioning and about free choice
identity in English society in the Renaissance and also to serve as an antithesis of
Englishness.” (Chien, 1995: 44). Chien further quotes Berek in saying that the
playwright’s “representation of Barabas in The Jew of Malta is not an act of imitation
but itself the ground for imitation and he explained about what Marlowe made out of
Barabas ” Berek puts more stress upon “what Marlowe made out of Barabas” (Chien,
1995: 44).
Moving on to the next play, Tamburlaine the Great, according to Sykes:
The figure Tamerlane, was the greatest Asian conqueror known in
history. The son of a petty chieftain, he was not only the bravest of the
brave, but also profoundly sagacious, generous, experienced, and
persevering, and the combination of these qualities made him an
unsurpassed leader of men and a very god of war adored by all ranks …
The object of Tamerlane was glory, and, as in the case of all conquerors
ancient or modern, his career was attended by terrible bloodshed. He
sometimes ordered massacres by way of retribution or from policy, but
there were few that had their origin in pure savagery. (Sykes, as quoted
in Marozzi, 2004: 1)
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Tamburlaine the Great was written in 1587-1588. Up until 1587, the historical
background of Tamerlane was not known, but “because of the fictional character
Tamburlaine by Christopher Marlowe, Tamerlane became popular” (Marozzi, 2004:
63). According to Feiler, Marlowe makes his hero and what happens to his
personality, rather than the action, the soul of the quasi tragedy. His purpose is quite
apparent in the imagery used in the play, which portrays “a hero in the beginning a
thoroughly beautiful and gigantically ambitious young man but who becomes a brutal,
tyrannous General before a final apotheosis of sorts.” (Feiler, as quoted in Gainesville,
1961). In her paper, Marquis writes about how Marlowe depicts Tamburlaine as
someone that is violent, and through his illustration of Tamburlaine in the play shows
why critics argue “Tamburlaine’s severe and unending violence throughout parts One
and Two of the play, leads many critics to cast Tamburlaine as villainous and in the
case of early twentieth-century scholarship, evil.” (Marquis, 2006: 1). Another author,
Marozzi, shares the same views as Feiler and Marquis in arguing that Marlowe is
misrepresenting Tamburlaine and that in his writing, Marlowe is guilty of all the usual
sins: exaggeration, historical infelicities, geographical inaccuracies, sensationalism
(Marozzi, 2004: 63). Marozzi further writes in his paper that Tamburlaine is seen as a
character that rises even higher than his historical counterpart as a figure of boundless
power. “He is an irresistible, unworldly force that lifts him above his fellow mortals
towards the heavens. He tramples over our universe, butchering innocent virgins,
slaughtering whole-sale, all the while consciously setting himself up as a rival to the
gods whom he despises for their weakness.” (Marozzi, 2004: 63).
It is through analyzing these plays critically in the chapters to come that this
author intends to carry out research and determine whether the claims mentioned are
5
true. The author wishes to make a contribution to the study of Marlowe’s corpus and
pave the way for future literature studies on Orientalism.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This study intends to research issues connected to the theory of Orientalism proposed
by Edward Said based on Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great and The Jew of Malta.
The concepts used to analyse the plays are stereotyping, binary opposition, the
misrepresentation of Islam and manifest orientalism as they are defined in Edward
Said’s book, Orientalism. Therefore, it is worth investigating to have a better
understanding of the characters and plot of each play. The plays can also be studied
through looking at the themes and characters based on historical and cultural
backgrounds.
This research is also interested in investigating how Marlowe portrays
Tamburlaine the Great, which represents eastern characters, and how The Jew of
Malta represents the Jewish community to English society in the 16th century.
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
It will be interesting to study Marlowe’s way of depicting characters that are not from
his race and religion. A different way of analyzing the texts can be produced and new
ideas can be developed in understanding Marlowe’s Oriental undertaking. It will also
be an enthralling way to analyse a text that revolves around the history of a wellknown Muslim conqueror and the portrayal of Jews during the Elizabethan era.
Analysing Christopher Marlowe’s plays from the perspective of an eastern and
Muslim researcher can contribute to an Islamic perspective of the portrayal of
Marlowe’s characters.
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This research is carried out because there are limited writings and material on
Tamburlaine the Great and The Jew of Malta. There are material on Marlowe’s other
literary works, but material on Tamburlaine the Great and The Jew of Malta are not
easily obtained and most of them are not up to date. Hence, this research intends to
add to the number of existing body of scholarly work and studies. Hopefully through
critical analysis and in depth investigations, a better understanding of orientalism in
Marlowe’s writings can be achieved.
1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This research has three main objectives:
1.
To analyse the indications of Orientalism in Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the
Great and The Jew of Malta,
2.
To identify the elements of Orientalism in Marlowe’s plays through the
portrayal of Muslim and Jewish characters based on Said’s framework
3.
To examine Marlowe’s attitude towards the Oriental communities, i.e.
Muslims and Jews, through his plays.
1.4.1 Research Questions
There are three research questions in this study:
1. Are there indications of Orientalism in Marlowe’s plays?
2. What are the elements or forms of Orientalism in Marlowe’s plays?
3. How does Marlowe represent Muslim and Jewish communities through the
characters Tamburlaine from Tamburlaine the Great and Barabas from
The Jew of Malta?
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1.5 LITERATURE REVIEW
Christopher Marlowe is one of the greatest playwrights in the history of English
Literature. According to Yates, as cited in Greenblatt, “Marlowe holds a most
important place in English literature through his brilliant poetic gift and also as
Shakespeare’s exact contemporary…and his forerunner in the creation of poetic
drama. He died a violent death, stabbed under curious circumstances, in 1593, a time
when Shakespeare was beginning to emerge in his full stature.” His plays and literary
works have been read from generation to generation (Greenblatt, 1979: 20).
Marlowe as a playwright has always been a centre of attraction in the scholarly
world (Riggs, 2006). David Riggs (2006) in his book The world of Christopher
Marlowe mentions how Marlowe distinguished himself by becoming the first
university man to maintain a professional relationship with people known as adult
players [government agents], an alliance particularly suited to a government agent
hired to create dissention by giving voice to sedition and heresy so that the
Elizabethan authorities could exercise their power in controlling the society. Riggs
further mentions how ‘Marlowe’s rigorous academic study, government service, and
playwriting became mutually reinforcing activities for Marlowe.’ (2006: 17).
1.5.1 Tamburlaine the Great
The first and the second part of Tamburlaine the Great were written and performed in
1587- 1588 and were the only published works in Marlowe’s lifetime in 1590 (Fahd
Mohammed Taleb al-Olaqi, 2012: 181). During this era, dramatic literature reached its
peak and the era was called the “Golden Age of English Drama’ (Engels, Lars, &
Bevington, 2002). This is the result of very significant events like the discovery of the
continent of America, ‘the Act of supremacy’, the defeat of the Spanish Armada,
8
“explorations, trade, and the first steps of colonization…, England was truly finding
its own national identity and it was a time of great cultural development.” (Levin,
2002: 1). The first political and economic relations between England and Turks were
inaugurated and “there was a fashion for plays about Turks (and other Islamic nations)
in late Elizabethan drama” (Shepherd, 1986: 142). Karlsson explains that “this fashion
was the consequence of the publications about Turks all around Europe”, because,
“In the 16th century about 2500 publications about Turks … were spread
around Europe and in these too the image of ‘bloodthirsty’ Turks was
imprinted. In the period 1480 to 1610, twice as many books were
published about the Turkish threat, [which was directly related to sieges
of Eastern Europe by the Ottoman Empire and the conquest of Istanbul
by the conqueror, Mehmed II], as about the discovery of the continent
of America” (Karlsson, 2006: 6).
According to Liane Marquis (2006) “Marlowe’s focus on the epic ideals and
histories situate Tamburlaine in a world quite removed from Marlowe’s Elizabethan
culture” of the sixteenth century. Hopkins (2008: 114) explains “Marlowe who is a
well-known spy for the Queen Elizabeth I is particularly prone to provocative
juxtapositions of allegedly opposed religious systems [and nations], particularly in
Tamburlaine part two, were religious affiliation first starts to emerge as a serious issue
in Marlovian drama.”
To support what Hopkins mentioned in his book, another author in his paper,
Tuc (2010: 349) mentions how like most Elizabethan plays, Marlowe’s approach to
Islam and Turks was nefarious, pejorative, farcical, barbarous, insulting,
unenlightened and preconceived, and all these images constituted the basis of his
drama and these works always captivated the imagination of the Elizabethan audience
who were claiming a share on the glorious east against the expanding Ottoman
Empire. Tuc further argues “Marlowe achieves his goals with these lines most
9
probably to incite Turkish hatred and to show the Turks as a nation who deserves
death and sorrow.” (2010: 349)
Another author who shares the same ideas as Tuc, Simkin, further elaborates in
his book how Marlowe’s character Tamburlaine shows his confusion about his own
religiosity and heathens. Simkin mentions how Marlowe portrayed Tamburlaine’s
confusion towards his own religion:
Tamburlaine was a monstrous figure in the annals of history, and as a
follower of Islam, a heathen. Marlowe evokes the Islamic Prophet
Mohammed only to have Tamburlaine blaspheme against him; in so
doing, Marlowe was simultaneously raising a spectre that an
Elizabethan audience would have instinctively reacted against
(Mohammed) and depicting Tamburlaine as a heretic to his own
religion. As so often, Marlowe seems to enjoy playing a double game: it
is likely that the Elizabethans may have enjoyed hearing a heathen
religion attacked, but at the same time it is likely that many would have
been shocked by Tamburlaine’s godlessness. Tamburlaine offers
another challenge: for him, Mahomet’s failure to respond to the
outrageous claims he committed against Islam is proof of his nonexistence, or at least of his powerlessness (2001: 83).
This excerpt is based on how Marlowe portrays Tamburlaine mocking the
Prophethood of Muhammad as a messenger of God. Tuc further argues that this
provocative scene which cannot be more “depreciatory and degrading for any religion,
had already rung the bells of negative expression toward Islam and ethnocentric
approaches towards the Turks and Muslims centuries earlier.” (Tuc, 2010: 12).
Edward Said in his book Orientalism states that “Marlowe’s ‘oriental stage’ helped
fabricate the stereotype of Islam as Christendom’s other…” (Said, 1978: 56). Another
critic that argues strongly against Marlowe’s action is Nabil Mattar. Nabil Mattar
supports Said’s argument, saying “in the absence of a translation of the Qur’an or
documents from Arabic, Turkish or other Islamic civilizations, Britons saw Islam
exclusively through the prism of Muslims attacking, enslaving, converting (as with the
janissaries especially) and killing Christians” (2009: 217). In research done by Fahd
10
Mohammed Taleb al- Olaqi, he writes how Marlowe attempts to locate more blooddrenched words and expressions to portray Tamburlaine as an image of “the Scourge
of God” which are directed to Muslims in particular and other religions in general.
“The Scourge of God” is a Marlovian phrase for the counteraction of aggressive
forces persisting in the play (Fahd Mohammed Taleb al-Olaqi, 2012: 189). Fahd Taleb
al- Olaqi in his paper gave a very sound reason as to why Islam was attacked by
Marlowe:
Since Marlowe was deeply skeptical about the credentials of
Christianity as an organized religion, a perspective that made him detest
the claims of Christianity, he had a burning desire to make his ideas
known. But in Renaissance England, attacking Christianity was simply
unthinkable. Therefore Marlowe chose to pick up a soft target: Islam.
By attacking Islam on stage, he accomplished the twin objectives of
attacking organized religion and endearing himself to his native
audience. (2012: 189)
In addition to this Paul H. Kocher says, “Tamburlaine’s creed is what Marlowe
himself believes” (1972: 79). Like Kocher, Harry Levin further argues how
Tamburlaine wanted to be the terror of the world and in the last act, Tamburlaine
burns the Qur’an. Levin says “it is a peculiarly Marlovian twist, an antireligious
fascination with a ceremony, which animates Tamburlaine’s burning of the Koran…
and culminates in the ritual of excommunication” (cited in Jump, 1967: 148). In a
further argument by Gorley Putt, he remarks that this title character of the play used
by Marlowe is seen as a “thrilling theatrical ogre, a decorous defence of orthodox
Christian theology” (1981: 42).
1.5.2 The Jew of Malta
The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe is a play written based on a Jewish
character named Barabas and the island of Malta. The play is mainly based on the
11
depiction of Jews living on an island governed by Christians, and how they live
together as a community. According to Maus (1998), Marlowe’s play, being the first
of the two to be staged in the early 1590s, precedes the renewal of antisemitic hatred
that resulted from the case of Roderigo Lopez, a Portuguese Jewish convert that was
executed for an alleged assassination attempt on the Queen. Even though the
prosecution happened after the staging of the play, it brought out the sentiment of antiSemitism. Maus further quotes Martin D. Yaffe in his book on the way Marlowe
portrayed Jews inaccurately. Maus mentions how Yaffe further explains his stand in
saying that “what God promised Abraham is a home or a promised land, which is the
Jew’s collective desire, not accumulation of wealth, as Marlowe depicts.” (Maus,
1998: 86)
To further support the view of Maus, a quote by Stephen J. Greenblatt in his
book argues that considering the protagonist’s frequent use of proverbs, Barabas is a
construct of the Christian world. Greenblatt further explains, “Proverbs in The Jew of
Malta are a kind of currency, the compressed ideological wealth of the society.”
(Greenblatt, 1979: 68)). David H. Hurn observes, “Marlowe presents in Barabas a
figure who submits with ludic abandon to the imperative of profit and acquisition, to a
policy which demands that nothing to be lost, that even the sheer accidents of plot be
appropriated, enclosed, and put into an investment” (1994: 167).
To support his earlier claim, Hurn further continues to express his views on
how Marlowe depicts his heroes in the plays he produced, “Marlowe, to show
absurdity of the demand for complete enjoyment, diminishes the Jew’s enjoyment
gradually by de-individualising him with stereotypes and ideologies as the plot
progresses.” (1994: 164) that is, the play “works increasingly to convert the Jew’s
surplus use-value’ into the visible currency of popular tradition, his complexity into a
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caricature of the Jew as a usurious and scheming figure, given to ruthless cunning and
murderous pranks.” (1994: 164). Greenblatt in his observation can be seen as thinking
along the lines of Hurn, when in his book Renaissance Self-fashioning: From Moore
to Shakespeare, he talks about how Marlowe’s heroes are fashioned to self -destruct.
Take courage from the absurdity of their enterprise, a murderous, selfdestructive, supremely eloquent, playful courage. This playfulness in
Marlowe’s works manifests itself as cruel, murderous practical jokes, a
penchant for the outlandish and absurd, delight in role-playing, entire
absorption in the game at hand and consequent indifference to that lies
outside the boundaries of the game, radical insensitivity to human
complexity and suffering, extreme but disciplined aggression hostility to
transcendence. (1980: 220).
Greenblatt further explains how Marlowe depicts his characters as individuals
that are destructive in nature but respected in their life. His characters are made to
destroy their own beings and cause their own destruction. Marlowe takes pleasure in
creating characters that are violent in nature and act like the “scourge of God” on earth
toward mankind. This author believes that Greenblatt’s views make a good point
because in both the plays, Marlowe’s heroes indirectly destroy themselves in order to
attain victory. They engage in plans that try to destroy other people but end up
destroying themselves. This is another way to describe how Marlowe uses Oriental
characters to show how they are negative to a certain extent. They are vicious
characters that do not need to be sympathized with by the readers and audience.
Due to the fact that this research studies on a new topic where two oriental
characters are analysed from an oriental perspective based on the way Marlowe
portray the characters and the analysis is done following Edward Said’s framework,
the limitation of sources is visible, hence, with further reading in the months to come,
more literature citations will be added to enhance the sources for this thesis.
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1.6 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Edward W. Said’s book Orientalism written in 1978 will be the main reference for the
theory of Orientalism and the origins, meaning, elements and the way Orientalism is
used as portrayed in works of literature. This research will critically analyse
Marlowe’s manner of depiction of Oriental protagonists in his plays.
1.6.1 Orientalism
Definitions, meanings and attributes of Orientalism can be gathered from different
sources or schools of thought. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (1971), the
word Orientalism is generally used to refer to the work of the Orientalist, a scholar
who is versed in the languages and literatures of the East (Macfie, 2002: 3). According
to Edward Said, (1978: 3) “anyone who teaches, writes about or researches the Orient
and this applies whether the person is an anthropologist, sociologist, historian, or
philologist either in its specific or its general aspects is an Orientalist, and what he or
she does is Orientalism”. Said further critiques that “the West has created a
dichotomy, between the reality of the East and the romantic notion of the Orient.”
(1978: 12). The Middle East and Asia are viewed with prejudice and racism. They are
seen as backward and unaware of their own history and culture. To fill this void, the
West has created a culture and future promise for Orientals.
Orientalists are often subjected and related to the group of scholars who
confine themselves to the study of the East, and moreover everything that is related to
the East is classified as Oriental. The relation between the “Occident” and the
“Orient” is seen through classifying the people of the West (England, France, and the
U.S) as Occidental, and using the term Oriental for the romantic and misunderstood
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