AN ORIENTALIST READING OF THOMAS PRESTON’S CAMBYSES: A LAMENTABLE TRAGEDY MIXED FULL OF PLEASANT MIRTH
Keywords:
Orientalism, Misrepresentation, Demonization, Cultural others, Eurocentric Perspectives
Abstract
The study aims at the application of Edward Said’s views in his seminal work Orientalism (2003) to Thomas Preston’s play Cambyses. After thorough study, the researchers have extracted some of the key and relevant assumptions from Said’s Orientalism and rigorously applied them to the play. The researchers’ main contention is that Preston, like other contemporary writers, has intentionally misrepresented the Orient and Oriental characters with a view to establishing and asserting the Western cultural superiority. The playwright did so due to the pervasive ideology of the period which was based on denigration and demonization of the cultural others. The findings of the research substantiate the researchers’ contention that Preston’s Cambyses explicitly evinces his Eurocentric perspectives which is Said’s focal point in Orientalism.
References
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Allen, D. C. (1934). A Source for Cambises. Modern Language Notes, 49(6), 384-387.
Armstrong, W. A. (1950). The Background and sources of Preston's Cambises. English Studies, 31(1-6), 129-135.
Bartels, E. C. (1992). The Double Vision of the East: Imperialist Self-Construction in Marlowe's Tamburlaine," Part One". Renaissance Drama, 23, 3-24.
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Mathur, M. (2014). 'To all kinde of estates I meane for to trudge': Making Room for the Commoners in" Cambises". Early Theatre, 35-55.
Matar, N. (1999). Turks, Moors, and Englishmen in the age of discovery. Columbia University Press.
Myers Jr, J. P. (1973). The Heart of King Cambises. Studies in Philology, 367-376.
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.
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Fol. 16-21. Cited in P. Happe. (1965). P.209.
Wann, L. (1915). The Oriental in Elizabethan Drama. Modern Philology, 12(7), 423-447.
Ward, A. (2008). 'Whosoever Resisteth Shall Get to Themselfes Dampnacioun': Tyranny and Resistance in'Cambises' and'Horestes'. The Yearbook of English Studies, 150-167.
Wentersdorf, K. P. (1981). The Allegorical Role of the Vice in Preston's" Cambises". Modern Language Studies, 54-69.
Young Jr, T. C. (1988). The Early History of the Medes and the Persians and the Achaemenid Empire to the Death of Cambyses. In The Cambridge Ancient History, 4, 1-52.
Allen, D. C. (1934). A Source for Cambises. Modern Language Notes, 49(6), 384-387.
Armstrong, W. A. (1950). The Background and sources of Preston's Cambises. English Studies, 31(1-6), 129-135.
Bartels, E. C. (1992). The Double Vision of the East: Imperialist Self-Construction in Marlowe's Tamburlaine," Part One". Renaissance Drama, 23, 3-24.
Bartels, E. C. (1993). Spectacles of Strangeness: Imperialism, Alienation, and Marlowe. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Bevington, D. M. (1962). From Mankind to Marlowe: growth of structure in the popular drama of Tudor England. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
Cambyses11, (2016). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cambyses-II.
Cazamian, L. F., & Legouis, E. H. (1937). A history of English literature. JM Dent.
Farnham, W. (1936). The Medieval Heritage of Elizabethan Tragedy. University of California Press.
Fishman, B. J. (1976). Pride and Ire: Theatrical Iconography in Preston's Cambises. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 16(2), 201-211.
Goffman, D. (2002). The Ottoman empire and early modern Europe. Cambridge University Press.
Happé, P. (1965). Tragic Themes in Three Tudor Moralities. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 5(2), 207-227.
Herodotus. (1584). The Famous Hystory of Herodotus, Conteyning the Discourse
of Dyvers Countreys, the Succession of Their Kings: The Actes and Exploytes Atchieved by Them: The Lawes and Customes of Every Nation, trans. B. R. (London, 1584), sig. Bir; EEBO STC (2d edn.) 13224. Cited in Chloë Houston. (2014). Persia and Kingship in William Cartwright’s The Royall Slave (1636).
Hill, E. D. (1992). The First Elizabethan Tragedy: A Contextual Reading of" Cambises". Studies in Philology, 89(4), 404-433.
Houston, C. (2014). Persia and Kingship in William Cartwright's The Royall Slave (1636). SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, 54(2), 455-473.
Mathur, M. (2014). 'To all kinde of estates I meane for to trudge': Making Room for the Commoners in" Cambises". Early Theatre, 35-55.
Matar, N. (1999). Turks, Moors, and Englishmen in the age of discovery. Columbia University Press.
Myers Jr, J. P. (1973). The Heart of King Cambises. Studies in Philology, 367-376.
Norland, H. B. (1992). Lamentable tragedy mixed ful of pleasant mirth": The Enigma of" Cambises. Comparative Drama, 330-343.
Olmstead, A. T. E. (1966). History of the Persian empire. University of Chicago Press.
Preston, John. (1561). Cambyses, retrieved from
Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan, Digital Library Production Service
2011 December (TCP phase 2).
Said, E. W. (2003). Orientalism: Western conceptions of the Orient. Penguin Books Limited.
Singh, J. G. (Ed.). (2009). A Companion to the Global Renaissance: English Literature and Culture in the Era of Expansion. John Wiley & Sons.
Taverner, Richard. (1539). The Garden of Wysedomne, (British Museum C.40.a.26),
Fol. 16-21. Cited in P. Happe. (1965). P.209.
Wann, L. (1915). The Oriental in Elizabethan Drama. Modern Philology, 12(7), 423-447.
Ward, A. (2008). 'Whosoever Resisteth Shall Get to Themselfes Dampnacioun': Tyranny and Resistance in'Cambises' and'Horestes'. The Yearbook of English Studies, 150-167.
Wentersdorf, K. P. (1981). The Allegorical Role of the Vice in Preston's" Cambises". Modern Language Studies, 54-69.
Young Jr, T. C. (1988). The Early History of the Medes and the Persians and the Achaemenid Empire to the Death of Cambyses. In The Cambridge Ancient History, 4, 1-52.
Published
2020-10-13
How to Cite
Abdul Ghaffar Bhatti , Lubna Yasir, Safia Asif. (2020). AN ORIENTALIST READING OF THOMAS PRESTON’S CAMBYSES: A LAMENTABLE TRAGEDY MIXED FULL OF PLEASANT MIRTH. Epistemology, 7(3), 100-111. Retrieved from http://journal.epistemology.pk/index.php/epistemology/article/view/131
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