Elizabethan Orientalism

ISBN-13: 9783847300601 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 184 str.

Fahd Al-Olaqi

Opis

The present study attempts to locate and analyse the Oriental element in the plays of Marlowe, Shakespeare and Ben Jonson. The Oriental material had considerable influence on English literature, in general, and on Elizabethan drama, in particular. The Oriental element is noteworthy in such Elizabethan plays as and The Courageous Amurath I (1632), Greenes Alphonsus (1596), Dabornes A Christian Turnd Turk (1612), Masons The Turk (1610) Goffes The Raging Turk (1631), and Fulke Grevilles Mustapha (1606). I have selected Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and Ben Jonson (1572-1637) because they are outstanding figures in English literature. Marlowes Tamburlaine The Great (1587) stands out in English literature as a distinctly Oriental play. Marlowe, Shakespeare and Jonson display a keen interest in Oriental material, as is evident from their plays. Shakespeare speaks admirably of the Orient in Antony and Cleopatra, The Merchant of Venice, Titus Andronicus and Othello, etc. Jonsons The Alchemist has valuable Oriental material, displaying familiarity with the Oriental costume, science and culture. Jonson makes use of many Arabic scientific terms.

O autorze

Dr. Fahd Al-Olaqi is an Assistant Professor of English at King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Science & Arts - Khulais in Saudi Arabia. He works on issues of Orientalism in Elizabethan English literature as well as on projects about the biography of Prophet Muhammad and the Holy Quran in the Western writings.