Tamburlaine Character Analysis

Marlowe has left behind him four powerful tragedies: Tamburlaine in two parts, Dr. Faustus, The Jew of Malta, and Edward II. Each one of these tragedies revolves around one central personality who is consumed by the lust for power, Beauty and knowledge. Marlowe’s tragedies are all one-man tragedies in which the tragic hero dominates over the rest of the characters and dwarfs them by his towering personality. For the middle Ages, tragedy was a thing of kings and princes; for Marlowe it was a matter of individual heroes. His heroes are not kings and princes, but humble individuals, who however, have heroic qualities and so, rise high and achieve wonders. Thus Tamburlaine is a shepherd and Dr. Faustus is a poor scholar. In a typical Marlowian tragedy a giant figure is

As in Sophocles’ Oedipus, which we shall read later, the Protagonist gradually becomes aware of a truth that, if he had less self-assurance, less rashness, he might have recognized earlier. But when man aspires beyond his own power, he becomes inconsistent and illogical. Faustus denies the supernatural but at the same time invokes the supernatural. He sells his soul – this is either to admit its reality or to try to trick the devil, which would seem very rash in view of the devils’s manifest power. But gradually he recognizes his error and understands that the devil implies God. He realizes that he has victimized himself

Faustus symbolizes man always unsatisfied, always ambitious, always in search of happiness that eludes him every time he seems about to lay hold of it. The tragedy of Faustus is that he fails to realize his aspirations, even though he risks eternal damnation. His aspiration towards beauty is gratified only in a very fleeting manner toward the end of his life, thanks to the apparition of Helen who stands for the indescribable charm and joy of pagan art and learning, which is but a brief, though an important moment in the