Edward II

Christopher Marlowe
Author

Dramatist and poet considered to be the first great author of English theater and the
most important of the Elizabethan period. Born in Canterbury, on February 6th
1564, Marlowe studied at the University of Cambridge.

Works

He wrote four great plays, three of which were published.

posthumously: the heroic epic:

Tamerlane the Great (1590), based on the character of the conqueror

Mongol of the 14th century

Edward II (1594), which was one of the first successful historical dramas.
of English theater and served as a model for Shakespeare for his Richard II and
Richard III

The tragic story of Doctor Faustus (c. 1604), one of the first
Dramatizations of the Faustian legend

And the tragedy The Jew of Malta (1633).

Marlowe's major works contain a central character, dominated

for the passion and devoted to destruction by its excesses
ambitions. They are also characterized by beauty and soundness of
language and its emotional strength, which at times overflows to the point of falling

in the pompousness.
Edward II

The first tetralogy about the kings of England (the three parts of Henry
VI more than Richard III), was written by Shakespeare around the same dates or even earlier.
(1590-1591). The plot deals with the weak reign of Edward II, crowned in
1307, and on its replacement by Edward III in 1327. It is based, as well as on
the case of lashistory plays by Shakespeare, in the Chronicles of Holinshed.

Eduardo II has remained in the History of Literature as the precursor text of the
homosexual love, as it deals with the great affection that two men profess to each other: the
King Edward and his favorite Gaveston. Already in the 20th century, Bertolt Brecht revisited the

biography of the monarch, and the British director Derek Jarman, gay activist, premiered
in 1991 its eponymous movie, which follows the original text with some liberties.

Characters

KING EDWARD SECOND MORTIMER MINOR

PRINCE NEPHEW

EDUARDO, HIS SON SPENCER

COUNT OF KENT, BROTHER SPENCER SON

GAVESTON ARCHBISHOP OF
CANTERBURY
WARWICK
Bishop of Coventry
LANCASTER
Bishop of Winchester
PEMBROKE
BALDOCK BEAUMONT
ARUNDEL
TRUSSEL
LEICESTER BERKELEY
Gurney

MORTIMER
MATREVTS
LlGHTBORN CHAMPION, MESSENGERS,
SOLDIERS AND SERVANTS
SIR JUAN DE HAINAULT
QUEEN ISABEL, WIFE
LEVUNE
KING'S NIECE
RICE AP HOWEL
EDUARDO SECOND, DAUGHTER

ABAD, MONJES, HERALDS, OF THE DUKE OF

Lords, poor, Jaime,

GLOUCESTER
MOWER
LADIES
Argument

Gaveston arrives in London from his exile in France because his

Friend, the king has written a letter demanding your presence, since already
his father has died (Edward I). Edward II appears with the nobles.
discussing the advisability of Gaveston's return. Everyone, except
his brother the Count of Kent, fiercely opposes.

The king receives his friend and appoints him Grand Chamberlain, among other titles.

important titles. The Bishop of Coventry, responsible for the exile of

Gaveston is sent imprisoned to the Tower of London and Gaveston placed in his
place. The Bishop of Canterbury joins the nobles (among whom is
Mortimer, who will be the queen's lover) and sends word to the Pope about the

affront. The queen (Isabel of France) says she is going to live in the forest,
tired of the king not paying attention to her and only thinking about Gaveston's love.

Nevertheless, both she and the Bishop of Canterbury urge the nobles
that they do not rise up in arms against the king. They sign a decree of exile to
Ireland for Gaveston. Edward enters the scene with his lover and the
nobles capture Gaveston and Kent and force the king to sign as well
order of exile.

Gaveston and the king say goodbye. They exchange their portraits and lament seeing each other.

forced to move away again. The queen bursts in, who is called 'whore'
"French" by her husband, protesting to Gaveston that he serves the king.
of the 'obscene object of their pleasures.' The king tells his wife that up to
that Gaveston will not return will not make her look back.

The queen convinces Mortimer and the nobles for Gaveston to return.
the argument is that it will be easier to kill him in London than in Ireland. The king

is mourning the absence of her beloved, and when Isabel gives her the news
from Gaveston's return, he is so happy that he renews his love for her and
congratulate with his nobles. He announces that he will marry Gaveston to a cousin

skewered meat.
Mortimer's uncle talks to him. He says that the king is good and when
Once I reach maturity, I will stop frolicking. Name famous couples.
homosexuals: Alexander the Great and Hephaestion, Hercules and Hylas, Achilles and
Patroclus, Tullius, and Octavius, Socrates and Alcibiades. Mortimer argues that what
What angers him is not the "capricious humor" of the king, but that "a man such

born lowly, so much beg for the favor of his sovereign and rise them up
treasures of the kingdom," referring to Gaveston.

The king's niece, the daughter of the Duke of Gloucester, betrothed to Gaveston,
receives love letters from this. Mortimer and Lancaster prepare for the arrival of
Gaveston with shields: one with eagles stalking a crab and the
another with fish that devour another. They are the nobles and their hated Gaveston. The

the king of France invades Normandy, but Edward is only interested in that
Gaveston is delayed. He finally arrives in Tynemouth and is received with joy.
by the king and with hatred for the nobles. Mortimer wounds him with his sword.
Edward, accompanied by the queen and Kent, declares war on the nobles.
Meanwhile, Mortimer's uncle has been captured by the Scots, and both
Irish like Danes stalk the weakened kingdom of England.

Kent reproaches his brother the king about all the evils of
England is caused by his love for Gaveston. The king orders him.
to leave and Kent joins the rest of the nobles. Gaveston is captured, but
when he is about to be executed, news arrives that Eduardo is asking
to see it before dying. Gaveston remains guarded but Warwick,
one of the nobles beheads him.

Eduardo orders the execution of Warwick and Lancaster and to imprison in

the Tower to Mortimer. The nobles loyal to Edward, with Despenser to the
head, send treasures to the magnates of France so that Isabel falls into
misfortune.

Kent helps Mortimer escape and they are about to go to France to ally.
with the queen against Eduardo. Isabel, who sees that she is being ignored in
France doesn't know how to act, since they are not wanted in England either.
The invading troops drive Eduardo to flee to Ireland, and the father of
Despenser is made a prisoner. Kent laments in private about the fate of
his brother the king.

Edward II is hiding in Neath, in the country of Wales, disguised. He has

arrived there with his noble Despenser and Baldock because of the bad weather
he has prevented them from arriving in Ireland. But they are discovered by the side of

Isabel; the captured nobles and the king forced to go to the castle of
Killingworth (in the northeast of England). There, knights guard him.
they are treated with respect and are replaced for it; and there they make him abdicate of his

corona. Meanwhile, Kent is preparing a plan to free the king; and the
Queen and Mortimer another to eliminate Eduardo. Kent argues with Mortimer.
because of the prince child, who prefers his uncle Kent. Isabel takes sides.
From his lover Mortimer and Kent goes out to free his brother the king. Without
Embargo, when he arrives in Killingworth, he is arrested.

Do not kill Edward

it is a good time”, which can be understood as “Do not fear to kill the king;
it is good that he dies,” but also as “Do not kill the king; it is good
fear the worst.” In this way, he gives the order for assassination and at the same time

relief of guilt if discovered.

The new king Edward III is crowned at 15 years old, remaining under guardianship.
de Mortimer. Kent, who has been brought to the royal palace, is condemned.
by Mortimer to be beheaded. The teenage king opposes it, but he has no
nothing to do. The one in charge of killing Edward II delivers the letter of
Mortimer to the guards, who interpret it as 'Do not be afraid to kill'
Eduardo. Lightborn asks for a hot iron rod. The king, who is
locked in a cell where the sewage from the castle flows, he sees it
arrive and fear for his life. Lightborn tells him to lie down and rest.
Then he orders the two guards to bring a table, to put it on top of it and
hold him, but not too tight, so as not to leave marks. The king dies.
The function of the glowing skewer is not explicitly stated, but tradition affirms that
deadly weapon exercise being introduced through the king's anus.

Lightborn is murdered by Eduardo's guardians. Rumors spread to

palace where the queen and Mortimer have ordered the assassination. The new king
-to whom they have sent the letter- can no longer stand it, he is surrounded by the
he orders Mortimer to be beheaded and his mother to be imprisoned in the Tower.

Cultural context and public reactions in its time

It is the most complex and mature text of all those created.

by Marlowe, including a coherent historical plot and rich development
in nuances. Not for that the brand of the house (fierce criticism of the church
catholicism, explicit eroticism, and gruesome events) stops being present,
with that overwhelming force that the theater of Christopher Marlowe conveys,
so little to the taste of supposedly exquisite critics.