%0 Journal Article
%T Algebra and the art of war:  Marlowe¡¯s military mathematics in Tamburlaine 1 and 2
%A Joseph Jarrett
%J Cahiers ¨¦lisab¨¦thains
%@ 2054-4715
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0184767817749248
%X In his Tamburlaine plays, Marlowe broached a difficulty of dramaturgy: how can an acting company of a dozen men convey to their audience the scale of military battles involving thousands? Here, I argue that algebra provided Marlowe his solution. I reconsider the numbers critics have noticed are ubiquitous throughout Tamburlaine 1 and 2 in terms of their algebraic functions and their role in effecting an algebraic stage. My contention is that Marlowe utilized algebra to create a unique aesthetic of warfare, in which the enormity of battle could be played out imaginatively within the small space of the Elizabethan theatre
%K Christopher Marlowe
%K Tamburlaine
%K algebra
%K war
%K Christopher Marlowe
%K Tamburlaine
%K algrlaine Marlo
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0184767817749248