Question

from Tamburlaine the Great, Act III, Scene 2,
Christopher Marlowe Which of the following dramatic conventions do the lines most clearly contain, and what is its function?

1. Dramatic Convention: dramatic irony
Function: to create tension
2. Dramatic Convention: tragic flaw
Function: to make the audience feel sadness
3. Dramatic Convention: dramatic irony
Function: to reveal a character's motivation
4. Dramatic Convention: tragic flaw
Function: to reveal a character's shortcomings

Answer 1

I don't have the specific lines you mean from Act III, Scene 2. Could you paste them? That will let me identify the convention precisely.

If you need a quick pick without the lines: the best choice is 4 — Dramatic Convention: tragic flaw; Function: to reveal a character's shortcomings. Marlowe’s Tamburlaine speeches in that scene typically display overweening pride and ambition (hubris), which function as a tragic flaw that exposes his moral and personal shortcomings.

Why not the others:
- 1 and 3 (dramatic irony): those require the audience knowing something a character does not; many Tamburlaine speeches are boastful rather than ironic.
- 2 (tragic flaw → make audience feel sadness): tragic flaw can arouse pity, but Marlowe usually emphasizes exposure of the character’s dangerous excesses rather than primarily evoking sadness.

If you paste the exact lines I’ll confirm and give a short close reading.