Flattering Dedication In The First Book

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Christopher Marlowe explored the theme of power throughout many of his plays, most notably Tamburlaine the Great, The Jew of Malta and Doctor Faustus. Marlowe also translated Lucan’s Pharsalia, Book 1; this essay will examine the significance of this and how these plays are similar with regards to the theme of power.

It is perhaps significant to think of the reasons why Marlowe might have chosen to translate Lucan’s Pharsalia (The First Book). Lucan’s epic depicted the Roman civil war and much like Marlowe presented its audience with a representation of dictatorship and a figure who believed he was divinely appointed by God. It is significant to look at Lucan’s own words to his ruler at the time, Nero, in his seemingly flattering dedication in The First Book:

Thou Caesar at this instant art my God,

Thee if I invocate, I shall not need

Crave Apollo's aid, or Bacchus' help;

Thy power inspires the Muse that sings this war. [1] 

Lucan’s dedication to Nero can arguably be seen to be ironic and mocking the Roman emperor through subtle means. Through his epic, Lucan showed that powerful men claimed divine providence on their side, representing the belief at the time. He had to remain loyal to Nero, flattering him, so that he was not seen as opposing his rule. The use of ‘Apollo’ and ‘Bacchus’ reiterate the idea that this emperor is more powerful than the God’s themselves to Lucan. He was presenting the helplessness of men not only in the civil conflict within his work, but also the helplessness of himself and those under Nero’s rule.

By translating Lucan, Marlowe was suggesting that lust for power and dictatorship would always be present throughout history, heightened more by the powerful messages within his plays Tamburlaine, The Jew of Malta and Doctor Faustus. He was subtly implying that comparisons could be drawn with Elizabethan England at that time. Patrick Cheney wrote:

‘In choosing to translate Lucan, Marlowe was making a public statement about the political and ideological investments of Elizabethan England, about the idolization of epic, and its concomitant idolization of Tudor centralizing power, and about the epic conception of laureateship.’ [2] 

Marlowe’s plays had the power themselves to reveal the underlying problems of society and the ‘political and ideological investments’ of Elizabethan England. England at the time of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign was suffering from a conflict between the Protestant and Catholics, the use of civil conflicts in many of his plays reflected a relevant idea to his audiences, showing the stupidity of civil war. This was the reason why Marlowe used such power driven figures, conveying his own political opinions and giving society insight into the problems surrounding power and politics.

Allyna E. Ward wrote about the significance of Marlowe’s translation of Lucan on Tamburlaine the Great, saying:

Lucan’s discussion of Caesar’s tyranny is, I argue, brought sharply into focus by Reformation discussions of divine providence and fortune. The notion that the gods would decree the suffering of humans and the horrors of civil war for just one man is treated with irony in the epic, and it is this important aspect of Lucan’s text that relates significantly to Marlowe’s theatrical dictator Tamburlaine. [3] 

There are strong similarities between Lucan’s protagonists and that of Tamburlaine, this emphasises the idea that Marlowe was mocking the idea of divine will being on a tyrannical leader’s side. Through Tamburlaine, he showed that the amount of power he gained was verging on ridiculous.

The idea that Tamburlaine has divine providence on his side is a theme that Marlowe explores throughout the play through many of Tamburlaine’s great speeches. Tamburlaine uses the idea of being protected by the gods, along with his eloquence to gain what he wants and to manipulate people into joining him. The audience witnesses this when he manipulates the ‘chiefest captain of Mycetes’ host, / The hope of Persia,’ [4] Theridamas into betraying his own King. Through flattery and manipulation, Tamburlaine manages to acquire the ‘hope of Persia’ on his own side, calling Theridamas ‘thou valiant man of Persia’ (1.1.166) and promising ‘triumph over all the world’ (1.1.173). Tamburlaine continues on to say:

I hold the Fates bound fast in iron chains,

And with my hand turn Fortune’s wheel about,

And sooner shall the sun fall from his sphere

Than Tamburlaine be slain or overcome.

(1.1.174-7)

Tamburlaine exudes power, promising that if Theridamas is against him, he will be sure to lose. He controls ‘Fortune’s wheel’ and ‘the Fates’, these are powerful claims to be making and it is his unwavering attitude that makes him so convincing. Again there are links to Lucan’s First Book, in which Lucan appraised Nero as an inspiration for his poetry and not the gods. This can also be compared to Edward II, when Mortimer states, ‘As thou intendest to rise by Mortimer, / Who now makes Fortune's wheel turn as he please’. [5] Marlowe was intertwining the same ideas within each of his plays to convey not only political messages but to question the bounds of religion and fate. Tamburlaine continues on to say that Jove himself will ‘stretch his hand from heaven / To ward the blow and shield me safe from harm’ (1.1.180-1). He ends this great speech on, ‘Jove sometime masked in a shepherd’s weed / And by those steps that he hath scaled the heavens / May be become immortal like the gods.’ (1.1.199-201). He uses the idea of his shepherd parentage to compare himself to Jove here, saying that Jove ‘scaled the heavens’ and Tamburlaine can do the same to become immortal. The depth of his arrogance knows no bounds and the audience see just how power driven he actually is, he doesn’t just want to conquer the world, he wants to become ‘immortal’ and godlike as well. This speech emphasises not only how powerful Tamburlaine is actually presented to be but also how certain he is that he will conquer and overpower everything, including the heavens.

Tamburlaine is obsessed by the notion of power, it is as if he has to project an image of power at all times, ‘all sights of power to grace my victory’ (5.2. 410-14) This insinuates that he is not showing power unless everyone can see examples of it, in this sense by creating a ‘bloody spectacle’ for all. (5.2. 275-78) He claims that:

The god of war resigns his room to me,

Meaning to make me general of the world.

Jove, viewing me in arms, looks pale and wan,

Fearing my power should pull him from his throne.

(5.1.450-4)

Marlowe is touching on the subject of divine providence giving power to those with royal status. Tamburlaine’s speech here gives the impression that somebody exuding that much power is automatically offered a throne in heaven, let alone a throne on earth. The god of war has even resigned his room to Tamburlaine and there are strong insinuations that imply even the god Jove is afraid of Tamburlaine’s power. An idea circulating around at the time was that rulers should have a royal status and that divine providence backed those that were of rightful blood. Marlowe’s ideas in Tamburlaine strictly went against this proving that royalty was something that could be won through power. Andrew Hadfield wrote that, ‘Tamburlaine achieves what he does because he is powerful and favoured by fortune, not because he is nobly born and has any hereditary right to rule.’ [6] Theridamas describes Tamburlaine as ‘gross and like the massy earth / That moves not upwards nor by princely deeds / Doth mean to soar above the highest sort.’ (2.6.72-3). Marlowe is once again reiterating Tamburlaine’s original lowly status and proving that through dictatorship and power, one can ‘soar above the highest sort(s)’.

This idea applies to Marlowe’s own social upbringing, which was one of low standings that took immense hard work and power to change. It is apparent throughout the play that Tamburlaine is extremely proud of what he has become, ‘I am a lord for so my deeds shall prove, / And yet a shepherd by my parentage.’(1.2. 34-5) Through his powerful tyranny, he has transformed from a lowly shepherd to a ‘lord’. It is his belief that many should strive to be as powerful as him, he proves this through his eloquent speeches giving power to others that please him:

'Deserve these titles I endow you with

By valour and by magnanimity.

You births shall be no blemish to your fame,

For virtue is the fount whence honour springs,

And they are worthy she investeth kings.'

(4.4. 130-34)

This is reiterating the idea that ‘lowly parentage’ is unimportant if you are to become powerful in later life. Marlowe was emphasising the idea that power only determined one’s worth and their achievements, not their upbringing.

Tamburlaine not only demonstrates great power through his actions, but also through his speech. His eloquence far pasted the usual stereotypical villain of the era. Before the play even begins, the prologue states that we shall ‘hear the Scythian Tamburlaine/Threat’ning the world with high astounding terms/And scourging kingdoms with his conquering sword.’ The prologue implies the power that the audience will witness right from the beginning of the play, insinuating that Tamburlaine will exert power not only through his sword, but also through ‘high astounding terms’. The contrast of ‘terms’ and ‘swords’ emphasises that Tamburlaine’s words are just as powerful as the symbol of a sword connotes. David H. Thurn expands on this idea, as he explores the ‘frequent association of words and swords, both of which serve as instruments of coercion having a common purpose of subjugation.’ [7] He looks closely at the repetition of the two being used together, such as Mycetes telling Theridamas, ‘thy words are swords’ (Part 1, I.I.74-75). The association of the two heightens the fact that Tamburlaine is altogether powerful and that it was not only ones actions that made them powerful, but the grandeur of their speech as well. Throughout the play the audience witness more of Tamburlaine’s eloquent speeches than actual battles. The eloquence of Tamburlaine is noticed by others, such as Theridamas who is charmed by Tamburlaine into betraying Cosroe. He justifies this betrayal by saying, ‘You see my lord, what working words he hath’ (Part 1, 2.3.25) Tamburlaine calls his own words, ‘oracles’ (3.3.102) emphasising the sheer power that he has over people. This raises an important point that it is not only ones physical strength that makes them powerful but it is also their mind and speech.

Barabas in The Jew of Malta exerts similar power to that of Tamburlaine, Barabas is strategic and manipulative desiring power over his enemies. There is a similar theme running in Marlowe’s plays where the ‘underdog’ is in fact the one that gains all the power, going unpunished throughout the course of the play. In The Jew of Malta, Barabas is an anti-hero being both rich and Jewish in a Christian Maltese society.

Like Tamburlaine the Great, The Jew of Malta begins with a prologue spoken by the Italian sixteenth century political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, ‘I am Machevil, / And weigh not men, and therefore not men's words. / Admired I am of those that hate me most.’ [8] Machiavelli himself questioned in his book, The Prince:

whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved, […] they will offer you their blood, property, life and children, [9] 

He states that being feared will reward you with ‘their blood, property, life and children’, this furthers one of Marlowe’s key themes that to gain power one must be deceitful, manipulative and feared. Machiavelli is a constant figure that runs through the mind of many of the characters within The Jew of Malta. Machiavelli’s idea that ‘men more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony’ (Chapter XVII) is a significant idea that Barabas seems to uphold throughout the course of the play. It can also be linked to Tamburlaine’s character in that possessions of family are far less important than inheritance and material goods. Marlowe uses this feature of Machiavelli, the most notorious political schemer perhaps to show the audience what is to come and what characteristics the main protagonist Barabas will demonstrate.

Barabas shows clear examples of Machiavellian traits when asking the slave Ithamore of his ‘birth, condition, and profession.’ Marlowe presents a recurring idea that runs throughout his other plays, such as Tamburlaine the Great, that birth is irrelevant to power and success:

Hast thou no trade? Then listen to my words,

And I will teach thee that shall stick by thee.

First, be thou void of these affections:

Compassion, love, vain hope, and heartless fear.

(2.3.170-4)

This reiterates Machiavelli’s idea that to be powerful, one must be feared and without human emotions. He continues on to say, ‘Under pretence of helping Charles the Fifth, / Slew friend and enemy with my stratagems.’ (ll.191-2) Barabas makes it clear that to gain power, friends are merely there for situational gain and are labeled the same as enemies. He uses the skills of manipulation and ‘extorting, cozening, forfeiting, / And tricks belonging unto brokery’ (ll.194-5). Machiavellian tactics is something that Marlowe explores throughout The Jew of Malta through the use of such lines spoken by Barabas like, ‘it shall be cunningly performed’ (2.3.369) The idea of manipulation and scheming is recurrent, giving power to those that use it.

Barabas, much like Tamburlaine, demonstrates power through his eloquent speeches and stage presence:

See the simplicity of these base slaves,

Who, for the villains have no wit themselves,

Think me to be a senseless lump of clay,

That will with every water wash to dirt!

No, Barabas is born to better chance,

And fram'd of finer mould than common men.

(1.2.215-20)

Barabas is separating out the two types of villain, simple ‘base slaves’ who lack in wit and Machiavellian villains, born to ‘better chance’ and ‘fram’d of finer mould than common men’. Marlowe is again reiterating the idea of power being gained from manipulation and scheming, someone that possesses these skills will therefore be ‘fram’d of finer mould’ mentally speaking and physically rather than demonstrate ‘simplicity’.

In Machevil’s prologue, he discusses his views on religion stating, ‘I count religion but a childish toy’ (l.14). The use of ‘childish toy’ makes clear that Machevil see’s religion as perhaps naïve and something which is used now and then when desired. He precedes on to say:

Though some speak openly against my books,

Yet will they read me and thereby attain

To Peter's chair, and, when they cast me off,

Are poisoned by my climbing followers.

(Prologue. ll. 10-4)

Here Machevil is talking of Catholicism, attaining to ‘Peter’s chair’ was touching on the subject of those that wanted to become Pope. He was implying that those who wanted to become Pope would do so by reading Machevil’s books and using his tactics. [10] He states that those that are then done with his tactics are themselves, ‘poisoned by [his] climbing followers’. This reiterates the idea that religion and politics are corrupted and full of those using tactics and scheming to gain power. This leaves the audience questioning if Machiavellian tactics are necessary to gain power or is divine providence and religion enough? Marlowe subtly implies that it is man that is the force behind power and that strategies have more power over the outcome of ones life.

Marlowe used historical facts within his plays and subtly insinuated powerful political messages, making the audience question Elizabethan England’s own issues. Arata Ide discusses this subject saying:

Marlowe, by displaying the governor's crafty maneuver to regain control of the nation, seems to focus an oblique spotlight on the Elizabethan regime itself. While making a pretense of innocence or "simplicity", the government actually applies Machiavellian tactics to consolidate its power. And Marlowe, while making a pretense of providentialism, actually applies the same tactics to expose the hypocrisy of Elizabeth's government. [11] 

Marlowe’s plays had the power themselves to explore the underlying tensions of his own era. He raised important questions about religion, politics and power. Money and power are desired in The Jew of Malta not only by Barabas but also by the church, Marlowe explores this hypocrisy of the religious system.

Barabas begins by being obsessed by gold, money and his material possessions. ‘Wealth’ and ‘goods’ seem to be all that is important to him:

You have my goods, my money, and my wealth,

My ships, my store, and all that I enjoy'd;

And, having all, you can request no more,

Unless your unrelenting flinty hearts

Suppress all pity in your stony breasts,

And now shall move you to bereave my life.

(1.2.139-144)

Without them, Barabas begs Ferneze to ‘bereave [his] life’ signifying just how important material goods and his gold are to him. It is only later on that the audience witness a change in Barabas as it is suggested that his motivation has changed, ‘For, so I live, perish may all the world’ (5.5.10) It seems as though Barabas is wanting power over the entire world and the world is his enemy. This is extremely similar to Tamburlaine in the sense that Barabas is just wanting more and more power but not wanting to stop and enjoy it. His lust for power is not money anymore; it is scheming, manipulation and vengeance. He is plotting against everyone and anyone, his last words being, ‘I would have brought confusion on you all’ (5.5.184).

Similarly to Tamburlaine, Barabas is presented as an unconventional hero, gaining empathy from the audience. This could also be seen another great power of Barabas and Tamburlaine, being able to gain empathy even with their tyrannous and power-hungry antics. Barabas is not a moral man but he is honest and upfront about this, in comparison to the men proclaiming religious morals and showing hypocrisy. In the same way, Tamburlaine portrays an unconventional hero behaving in an unruly matter, yet being rewarded by the heavens whom he claims are behind his every action. It can perhaps be seen that neither Tamburlaine nor Barabas suffer a fall from power because they share an undying faith in themselves and their goals.

The theme of divine providence was one explored in many of Marlowe’s plays, including Tamburlaine the Great and The Jew of Malta. It is examined through the character of Ferneze who states, ‘Oh, fatal day, to fall into the hands / Of such a traitor and unhallowed Jew! / What greater misery could Heaven inflict?’ (5.2.13-5) This is insinuating that everything happening is controlled by God. The last lines of the play present the recurring juxtaposition of divine providence against man’s own power as Ferneze’s last words state, ‘So, march away, and let due praise be given / Neither to fate nor fortune, but to heaven.’ (5.5. 122-3) This theme runs subconsciously throughout the entire plot, questioning the role of God upon man. We are left to decide whether it is divine providence that has ended Barabas’s outburst of tyranny or whether it is actually Machiavellian tactics that have put an end to him. Ferneze’s last words highly contradict his actions, in that he is suggesting that God’s will drives our actions, yet he has had to employ false tactics to get what he wanted, ‘I will show thee greater courtesy / Than Barabas would have afforded thee.’ (5.5.60-1). This leads the audience to believe that it was in fact Machiavellian traits that ultimately put an end to Barabas’s power hungry behaviour and not God. Ferneze’s last words can be directly compared to The Massacre at Paris when the King of Navarre states:

The duke is slain and all his power dispersed,

And we are graced with wreaths of victory.

Thus God, we see, doth ever guide the right

To make his glory great upon the earth. [12] 

Marlowe repeats many of the same ideas throughout the selection of his plays, conveying a powerful message and allowing Elizabethan England to question divine providence over men controlling their own fortune. The idea of divine providence in The Jew of Malta also connects with the theme running throughout Tamburlaine the Great. Tamburlaine claimed divine will was on his side, yet it could be argued that he too just used powerful Machiavellian tactics to gain ‘conquered kingdoms’, ‘egyptian prize[s]’ and ‘heaps of gold in showers’ (1.2. 182-92) He seduces his enemies with promises of sharing his power and earnings. In short, they are all blinded my Machiavellian tactics of scheming and manipulation but this is purely hidden behind Tamburlaine’s self-made symbol of the ‘Scourge of god and terror of the world,’ (Part 2, 4.1.154) The relationship between divine providence and human strategies is a questionable one, there are features of both Tamburlaine the Great and The Jew of Malta that heavily imply the two but it is uncertain which is the force driving the events. In a speech given by Barabas at the beginning of The Jew of Malta, Barabas inflicts a warning on Ferneze:

The plagues of Egypt, and the curse of heaven,

Earth's barrenness, and all men's hatred

Inflict upon them, thou great Primus Motor!

And here upon my knees, striking the earth,

I ban their souls to everlasting pains

And extreme tortures of the fiery deep,

(1.2.163-9)

This could arguably be seen as Barabas believing that he has divine providence, therefore God, on his side. To inflict ‘the curse of heaven’, one has to believe that they have the power to do this, reiterating the tenuous relationship of divine providence and human will.

Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus presents power in a different angle, presenting not only the constraints of power within religion but also the corrupting affects that power can have on an individual. The prologue begins by discussing Faustus’s life up till now, stating: ‘Now is he born, his parents base of stock’. [13] This can be one again directly compared to Marlowe himself, in that his referral to Faustus’s parents as ‘base of stock’ can be taken to mean that they are of low class. But the prologue depicts how Faustus:

[…] soon profits in divinity,

The fruitful plot of scholarism graced,

That shortly he was graced with doctor’s name,

Excelling all whose sweet delight disputes

In heavenly matters of theology,

(Prologue. ll.15-9)

He is portrayed as having a similar upbringing to that of Marlowe himself, beginning with a lower class status but working studiously to gain more power. The prologue begins to change to inform the audience what to expect in the play stating, ‘swoll’n with cunning of a self-conceit, / His waxen wings did mount above his reach, / And melting heavens conspired his overthrow.’ (ll.20-3) This is almost presented as the opposite of divinity and the divine providence in both Tamburlaine the Great and The Jew of Malta, in which divine providence is helping out in some way, whether that means keeping Tamburlaine safe or putting an end to the unruly tyrant Barabas. Faustus is spoken of ‘falling to a devilish exercise,’ (l.23) and mentions practices such as ‘necromancy’ (l. 25) displaying the ‘art of predicting the future by supposed communication with the dead; (more generally) divination, sorcery, witchcraft, enchantment.’ [14]