ABSTRACT
Zenocrate, daughter to the Sultan of Egypt, is first the captive and then the wife of Tamburlaine, the ruthless conqueror. Marlowes Tamburlaine is a two-part heroic tragedy that follows the rise and fall of the lowly Scythian shepherd Tamburlaine as he becomes a mighty conqueror. His great contribution to the Elizabethan stage was his creation of energetic and highly individual characters whose aspirations and language mirror those of the high Renaissance. Zenocrates speech comes towards the end of the play and summarises much of the lamentable loss which warfare and destruction have produced. Like a heroine from a Greek tragedy, she has a visionary capacity to describe scenes of violence that seem to us almost cinematic in their scope and clarity. The delivery of Zenocrates speech must be huge and must fill space. Although in the depths of sorrow at the sight of the bloody spectacle, she is very controlled and has an extremely elegant command of language and imagery.
