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The University of Maryland’s own renown journal, titled Restoration: Studies in English Literary Culture, 1660-1700, featured Prof. Hussein Alhawamdeh’s “The Staging of Islam and the Alcoran of Mahomet in Charles Saunders’s Tamerlane the Great and the Restoration Politics”


Dr. Hussein A. Alhawamdeh has made significant contributions to literary studies, particularly through his insightful analysis of adaptations and dramatizations in English literature. His article, "The Restoration Muslim Tangerines Caliban and Sycorax in Dryden-Davenant's Adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest," published in Critical Survey, vol. 33, no. 3-4 (2021), has garnered notable recognition in the academic community. This work has been reviewed in several prestigious journals, including Restoration: Studies in English Literary Culture, 1660-1700, vol. 46, no. 1 (2022): 140-141 (University of Maryland); Shakespeare, The Year's Work in English Studies, vol. 102, no. 1 (2023): 88 (Oxford University Press); and The Seventeenth Century, Part II, The Year's Work in English Studies, vol. 102, no. 1 (2023): 21 (Oxford University Press). These reviews underscore the article's impact on Restoration and Shakespearean studies.

Additionally, Dr. Alhawamdeh's collaborative research, as evidenced by his co-authored article "The Dramatization of the Shepherd Warrior in Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine and the Jordanian Drama Bedouin Series Rās Ghlaiṣ ('The Head of Ghlaiṣ')," published in the Journal of Screenwriting, vol. 13, no. 2 (2022): 169-186, has also received critical attention. It was reviewed in Jennifer Lillian and Lodine-Chaffey's "The Year's Work in Marlowe Studies: 2022," published in the Journal of Marlowe Studies, vol. 4 (2024): 186-187, highlighting the innovative comparison between Marlowe's work and contemporary Jordanian drama.​




​RELIGION & THEOLOGY

Alhawamdeh, Hussein A. “The Staging of Islam and The Alcoran of Mahomet in Charles Saunders’s Tamerlane the Great and the Restoration politics.” The Seventeenth Century,vol. 38, no. 2, 2023, pp. 325–348.
Hussein A. Alhawamdeh contextualizes Charles Saunders’s Tamerlane the Great (1681) within the Exclusion Crisis and the circulation of the first English translation of the Qur’an, the The Alcoran of Mahomet (1649). Alhawamdeh argues that Saunders strategically adopts the Muslim Tartar court of Tamerlane and appropriates Qur’anic verses to allegorize the Tory anxiety that the Duke of Monmouth might succeed Charles II over the Duke of York. Alhawamdeh contends that Saunders borrows the Qur’anic principle of “Islamic royalism,” the absolute sovereignty of God and the divine authority granted to kings, to represent these partisan tensions through Tamerlane’s two sons: Arsanes and  Mandricard. In his obedience to his father, Arsanes represents the Tory expectation that Monmouth accept the Duke of York as the rightful successor. Beguiled by the scheming Shaftesbury stand-in Odmar, Mandricard personifies the Tory fear of corruption of the throne. The conclusion of reconciliation between Tamerlane and Arsanes, the reveal of Mandricard as Odmar’s bastard son, and Odmar’s death affirms “the triumph of Islamic royalism” and by extension, the Tories’ belief in the Duke of York’s divine right to the throne; thus, Saunders “reinvents the legacy of Tamerlane to connect Restoration England’s anxiety” of the royal succession (345).





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New Study Reveals Emerging Trends in Christopher Marlowe Scholarship for 2022


A recent critical study by Jennifer Lodine-Chaffey of Montana State University Billings, published in The Journal of Marlowe Studies, highlights three major trends that dominated Christopher Marlowe scholarship in 2022.

The first trend focused on representations of the human body on the early modern stage, analyzing Marlowe’s omission of Timur’s historical disability in Tamburlaine the Great, discussions of bodily dismemberment in Doctor Faustus, and the symbolic connections between the body and cartographic imagery in his plays.

The second trend revolved around religious themes in Marlowe’s works, exploring not only his religious skepticism but also his use of biblical literary forms in composing prayers and the interplay between religious sentiment and racial identity.

The third trend delved into Marlowe’s sources, with scholars suggesting that he drew upon a wider range of materials—often in multiple languages—and tailored his plays with specific actors in mind. Tamburlaine received the most scholarly attention during the year, followed by Doctor Faustus and Edward II.

Spotlight: Alhawamdeh and the Arab Reception of Tamburlaine

One of the most distinctive contributions noted in the report came from Jordanian scholar Hussein A. Alhawamdeh and his co-author Feras M. Alwaraydat, who explored the indirect influence of Marlowe’s Tamburlaine on the Jordanian Bedouin TV drama Rās Ghlais (“The Head of Ghlais”). Although the series’ writer did not cite Marlowe directly, Alhawamdeh and Alwaraydat argue that the show implicitly reflects themes and character types found in Tamburlaine.

Their comparative analysis reveals striking similarities: both feature a shepherd-turned-conqueror who rises to tyrannical power, use poetic language to express romantic desire, and depict tribal resistance against oppressive rulers. The authors suggest that these parallels reflect a shared cultural and literary heritage that speaks to contemporary concerns over colonialism, power, and national identity. This work highlights the global resonance of Marlowe’s legacy and underscores the importance of cross-cultural literary analysis.

This survey reveals a vibrant and evolving engagement with Marlowe’s literary legacy and opens new interdisciplinary pathways for reinterpreting his work in contemporary contexts.


Website: https://journals.shu.ac.uk/index.php/Marlstud/article/view/388/158​


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