THE IMAGE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT AS A CONVERGENCE OF EASTERN AND WESTERN MINDSETS IN THOMAS GOFFE’S PLAY “THE COURAGEOUS TURK”

Abstract

The paper discusses the little-known English Renaissance play The Courageous Turk (1618) by Thomas Goffe with specific focus on the significance of the figure of Alexander the Great who appears as an exemplum to the protagonist – the Ottoman sultan Amurath (the historical Murad I (1326–1389). I argue that the trope of Alexander, as a cultural bridge between East and West, was employed by Goffe to challenge students in England (the presumed audience of this Oxford academic play) to think critically about certain culturally imposed assumptions about the “Turk”. Furthermore, the paper aims to introduce the work to Bulgarian scholarship and popularise the unique inclusion of characters related to Bulgarian history. Lala Shahin Pasha, the famous commander who helped secure Ottoman control of the Bulgarian lands and likely died in Kazanlak (c. 1388) is given a prominent role in the play. The Bulgarian tsar Shishman also makes an appearance, thus firmly locating the story within a spatio-temporal framework of Bulgarian history. This fascinating aspect of the dramatic narration merits more serious scholarly attention than has been given previously, and is integral to my study.