While the ultimate goals of Tamburlaine’s enemies are doomed to failure, in the same way Tamburlaine’s goal is unreachable. This truth leads to another of the themes treated in the play - natural order. Natural order is challenged when the shepherd Tamburlaine declares that he wants to become a god. He says that in Scene 2 of Act I:
“Jove sometimes masked in a shepherd’s weed,
And by those steps that he hath scaled the heavens,
May we become immortal like the gods.” (p.13)
His hopes are in vain and serve only to increase the irony of mortal Tamburlaine’s death in Part Two. Another example of natural order being challenged is when Cosroe, Mycetes’s brother plots to dethrone of his brother:
“Well, since I see the state of Persia droop
And languish …show more content…
After deciding to usurp the kingship and “receive th’imperial crown”, Cosroe wears the crown for only a short time before he too is defeated. Tamburlaine's mortality and Cosroe’s defeat help Marlowe emphasize the futility of man in challenging natural order.
Marlowe also uses irony in character presentation, especially the character of Mycetes, to present an ironic derivation on the character of Tamburlaine as an invincible superhero, because Mycetes is a weak king whose conquest does not make the glory of his conqueror any greater. Mycetes’ character does not present any problem to Tamburlaine and this can be seen in Act II as Tamburlaine plays with the defeated king:
“TAMBURLAINE. What, fearful coward! Straggling from the camp,
When the kings themselves are present in the field.
MYCETES. Thou …show more content…
One conflict resides in the two drastically opposed attitudes that the other characters show toward Tamburlaine, and this divergence of opinion is illustrated by names applied to the warrior. Mycetes speaks of a Tamburlaine “That, like a fox in midst of harvest time, / Doth prey upon my flocks of passengers.” (p.4) In calling Tamburlaine a fox, Mycetes is alluding to all the deprecatory connotations of the word. But Techelles compares Tamburlaine to princely lions, (p.9) alluding to the great connotations associated with lions. Making the characters carry out this kind of name-calling, Marlowe has an objective position, because Mycetes has every reason to have a low opinion of the tyrant who threatens his kingdom. In the same way, Techelles has every reason to admire the qualities in Tamburlaine that make him a successful military leader. Any one character’s opinion of Tamburlaine depends on that character’s position in relation to Tamburlaine’s position, not on any preferences of the playwright. Marlowe’s objectivity is emphasized again by the irony of the two different attitudes toward
“Jove sometimes masked in a shepherd’s weed,
And by those steps that he hath scaled the heavens,
May we become immortal like the gods.” (p.13)
His hopes are in vain and serve only to increase the irony of mortal Tamburlaine’s death in Part Two. Another example of natural order being challenged is when Cosroe, Mycetes’s brother plots to dethrone of his brother:
“Well, since I see the state of Persia droop
And languish …show more content…
After deciding to usurp the kingship and “receive th’imperial crown”, Cosroe wears the crown for only a short time before he too is defeated. Tamburlaine's mortality and Cosroe’s defeat help Marlowe emphasize the futility of man in challenging natural order.
Marlowe also uses irony in character presentation, especially the character of Mycetes, to present an ironic derivation on the character of Tamburlaine as an invincible superhero, because Mycetes is a weak king whose conquest does not make the glory of his conqueror any greater. Mycetes’ character does not present any problem to Tamburlaine and this can be seen in Act II as Tamburlaine plays with the defeated king:
“TAMBURLAINE. What, fearful coward! Straggling from the camp,
When the kings themselves are present in the field.
MYCETES. Thou …show more content…
One conflict resides in the two drastically opposed attitudes that the other characters show toward Tamburlaine, and this divergence of opinion is illustrated by names applied to the warrior. Mycetes speaks of a Tamburlaine “That, like a fox in midst of harvest time, / Doth prey upon my flocks of passengers.” (p.4) In calling Tamburlaine a fox, Mycetes is alluding to all the deprecatory connotations of the word. But Techelles compares Tamburlaine to princely lions, (p.9) alluding to the great connotations associated with lions. Making the characters carry out this kind of name-calling, Marlowe has an objective position, because Mycetes has every reason to have a low opinion of the tyrant who threatens his kingdom. In the same way, Techelles has every reason to admire the qualities in Tamburlaine that make him a successful military leader. Any one character’s opinion of Tamburlaine depends on that character’s position in relation to Tamburlaine’s position, not on any preferences of the playwright. Marlowe’s objectivity is emphasized again by the irony of the two different attitudes toward