The Orient: Villains in the plays of Marlow and Shakespeare

Abstract

The paper attempts to underline how, in view of the 16th century British socio-cultural and economic scenario, that held a remarkable efficacy in shaping the characters in literature, the Oriental Muslim characters were portrayed, particularly, penned by the two prominent playwrights of the time- Shakespeare in Titus Andronicus and Othello, and Marlowe in Tamburlaine the Great I and II. As the plays are taught in almost all the universities at the higher levels, the paper is particularly relevant to underline how it does predispose students through the misrepresentation of the Orient. At the same breadth, it also aims to analyse how at certain instances in their works, the two playwrights explore the ambiguities and conflicting notions that the Elizabethan England harboured about the Islamic world of the East. The paper, particularly, focusses on the idea of justifying violence through polemical stereotyping and negative image which culminates with the ending of Tamburlaine the Great.