Tamburlaine the Great, Part One

About

Marlowe's Tamburlaine (c. 1587) is the play that effectively launched the Elizabethan dramatic revolution: a Scythian shepherd who rises through military brilliance and sheer willpower to conquer half the world, speaking verse of unprecedented grandeur and power. Edward Alleyn's original performance established the tragic hero as a figure of overreaching magnificence rather than medieval moral example. The play's 'mighty line' — Marlowe's blank verse, far more supple than anything before it — became the template for the decade of drama that followed, including Shakespeare's earliest work. Tamburlaine is not subtle, but its ambition and rhetorical energy remain extraordinary.