Christopher Marlowe

Tamburlaine the Great - Part 1 Christopher Marlowe

Tamburlaine the Great -- Part 1 by Christopher Marlowe

Part 1 opens in Persepolis. The Persian emperor, Mycetes, sends troops to get rid of Tamburlaine, a Scythian shepherd and, at that point, a nomadic bandit. In the same scene, Mycetes' brother Chosroes plots to overthrow Mycetes and take the throne.

The scene shifts to Scythia, where Tamburlaine is shown courting, capturing and conquering Zenocrates, the daughter of the Egyptian king. Confronted by the soldiers of Mycetes, he convinces first the soldiers and then Chosroes to join him in a fight against Mycetes. Although he promises Chosroes the Persian throne, Tamburlaine reneges on this promise and, after defeating Mycetes, takes personal control of the Persian Empire.

Now a powerful figure, Tamburlaine turns her attention to Bajazeth, emperor of the Turks. He defeats Bajazeth and his tributary kings, capturing the emperor and his wife Zabina. The victorious Tamburlaine keeps the defeated ruler in a cage and feeds him the leftovers from his table, freeing Bajazeth only to use him as a stool. Bajazeth later kills himself on stage by banging his head against the bars after hearing of Tamburlaine's upcoming victory. After finding his body, Zabina does the same.

Having conquered Africa and appointed himself emperor of that continent, Tamburlaine sets his sights on Damascus, a goal that places the Egyptian sultan, his future father-in-law, directly on his path. Zenocrates begs her future husband to spare her father. He obeys, making the sultan a tributary king instead. The show ends with the marriage of Tamburlaine and Zenocrate, who is crowned Empress of Persia.