King Edward is an aloof and stubborn man. He has tendencies to make the wrong choices for the betterment of himself and not necessarily for everyone that is affected by his decisions. Many of his courtiers find him impulsive, and despise his affections to a lesser man. The nobles are particularly observant to the way he treats Gaveston, his advisor, among the rest of them. This incites the nobles to turn against the King, causing great turmoil between the King and his greatest friend. Edward the Second’s loyalty is blinding to him and causes the King great suffering.
Gaveston is forced to leave London under the pretense that Edward’s father banishes him. The King sorrowfully sets him off under his protection and money. While he is gone, the noble men notice that the King is deranged and forthcoming of his feelings towards Gaveston. He misses him greatly. Distraught, he fights with the noblemen for speaking so surly towards his friend. To the King, he doesn’t understand why they don’t see Gaveston’s greatness. The courtiers think of that man as everything the King should not be fraternizing with. Their distaste is eventually rendered useless as the King convinces them to allow his advisor’s safe return. They are not happy with this decision, particularly the Mortimers, even the Kings wife finds woe in the Kings virtue in Gaveston.
The noblemen continue to hold harsh feelings towards the King’s favorite, upholding the banishment and seeing Edward as weak to his emotions. Young Mortimer is the most passionate about his hate, as King Edward proclaims to Gaveston and Queen Isabella: “The younger Mortimer is grown so brave, / That to my face he threatens Civil Wars” (Marlowe lines 26-7). The other noblemen follow him in his decision to revolt if Gaveston remains in England. Edmund, the King’s brother, will allow Gaveston in their home. Even as Edmund comes to his brother’s aid, he sees that he is not seeing clearly and his judgment is being impaired. His brother is not acting as a good King, and tries to convince him as such.
Gaveston is overwhelmed with the revelation of overhearing the King talk so kindly of him. Gaveston displays the “… right amount of self-congratulation with disdain for the earls and those not fortunate enough to ‘be the favourite of a king,’…” (Anderson 107). Edward bestows titles upon his friend, the like of which Edmund comments that even his brother has outdone himself this time. But even as they are unable to be together, Edward shows his true feelings for Gaveston by even revolting against the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been the one to banish Gaveston the first time. The Archbishop joins the plots crusades to rid of Edward who “…is accused of allowing his homoeroticism to take precedence over his political and social obligations…” (Stymeist 235).
While Edward and Gaveston have their last moments together, Isabella, the King’s wife, tries to profess her love to her Lord, but he is unaccepting of her affections. She turns to the courtiers and agrees that Edward must be done away with, but she convinces them to not hurt him. The men retort that it will be impossible if the King draws his sword. If he shall, then they must draw blood.
Edward is “… delighted in sodomy, the favourite to whom he was excessively attached.” (Horne 32). The earls attempt to show him that his affections are not worthy to be bestowed upon Gaveston, but their fear that Edward will be unapproachable is conceived. Edward is very stubborn, and when he finds out about their treason, he tries to overcome them. During the fight, they manage to seize Gaveston while Edward is yielding to the archbishop’s threat of enforcing his papal powers, Edward must stand by and watch his friend being taken away. Edward then tries in his blindness of his inability to save, to find some other accusation to help Gaveston. His accusation is of his cheating wife for mating with the young Mortimer. She denies this, Edward then attempts to get her to use her advantage to save Gaveston from whatever the noblemen plan to do with his friend. Her love wins out and she tries to convince the noblemen, but they are unhearing to her pleas. This allows the noble to go against her wishes, and hurt the King in ways she didn’t think possible. Edward is angry with his wife, because of her inability to save Gaveston, so he has her alienated. But she runs with Mortimer to France because she was forsaken her love of her King. Edward is even angrier to find that when Gaveston was taken away he was murdered by Warwick and Lancaster. In Gaveston’s last lines before death, he is untainted by his death because of his pure love: “I thank you all, my lords: then I perceive, / That heading is one, and hanging is the other, / And death is all” (Marlowe lines 30-2). The King has Warwick and Lancaster, the two who murdered Gaveston, executed for their treason. King Edward voices his grief:
My swelling heart for very anger breaks:
How oft have I been baited by these peers,
And dare not be reveng’d, for their power is great!
Yet, shall the crowning of these cockerels
Affright a lion? Edward, unfold thy paws,
And let their lives’-blood slake thy fury’s hunger. (Marlowe lines 194-99)
In Edward’s grief, he finds a new friend to reign his love upon, Spencer, as well as Spencer’s father. Spencer was a courtier and helps his King in any way he can. Since Isabella was unable to help Gaveston, Edward alienates her. She, in turn, takes Mortimer as her love and goes back to France with her son in search of allies. France denies her any aid, except for Sir John of Hainault. He provides an army that can help them take back the throne and have Edward executed if they win.
During the battle of Bannockburn, Edward is easily defeated. Edward flees to Neath Abbey, in hiding by a mower, but is eventually betrayed. Both Spencers are executed. Edmund attempts to help Edward but realizes that Mortimer has gained power from being with Isabella, as well as with the help of Sir John. Edmund is taken to court for trying to help his brother and is executed. Mortimer is the one to kill, claiming Edmund is a threat to the throne.
Mortimer and Isabella have Edward taken to Berkeley tower under the care of Lightborn, who is intended to kill him. Edward sees through the deception, and even as he asks for Lightborn to stay with him, Lightborn kills him. We find that Mortimer planned the death of Edward, and Edward’s son is on his way to enact his father’s revenge. The two other patrons of Edwards’s death, Maltravers and Gurney, are there to keep Lightborn silent. Gurney runs and Matlravers is forced to catch him, else Mortimer will be caught.
It is too late, Edward III comes with attendants and other lords and has Mortimer taken away to be executed, and has his mother imprisoned for her betrayal of his father. In the end, Edward III takes the throne.
The play is centered on a “…hollow victory and defeat…” (Robson 978). Loyalty is the main theme, and how others perceive those loyalties. Edward was easily distracted by his greatest friend and ally. In which Mortimer thinks “… of Gaveston as a night-gown mushroom…” (Wehling 245). The other earl’s opinions were quite similar, and as such, they were able to form a bond to fight with the King.
Though the play itself was a “…vehicle for discussing Buckingham’s controversial career throughout the 1620’s.” (Perry 313), Marlowe was distinctly emphasizing the relationships that the King had. Edward the Second compromised his own crown with his relations that were highly unethical to his peers. Marlowe was convincing in which Edward pushed away all other words that his peers had, and even those who could easily ruin him Even in which they did, he was still loyal to his greatest friend and ally.
Edward was angered when he found that Gaveston was murdered, and as such punished accordingly. He was not disturbed by his decisions, but it did incite actions by the others who were also part of Gaveston’s death. They sought to destroy Edward, for his cowardice and his wrongful anger. Mortimer is deceitful to Edward because he is remorseless. Mortimer can also be seen as loyal to Edward because he sees that Gaveston is nothing but a distraction.
Edwards’s complete loyalty also drives away Isabella, who had been devoted as a wife. Mortimer takes on Isabella and they run to France, but they are unhelpful to them. However, they do manage to get some help and have an army good enough to take on Edward. Mortimer’s loyalty to his beliefs will eventually cause him his downfall. In the meantime, it seems that he will have what he wishes.
Isabella has lost her loyalty to her husband and falls behind Mortimer who is very passionate about enacting revenge. Her revenge is to take over the kingdom with someone who will give her the attention that she craves. However, she is torn because her love for Edward was present even as she had allowed Gaveston to be taken away. Her defending goes unnoticed, and so she finds Mortimer to hold her interests at heart.
The most loyal to the king, who is not only Gaveston, but Edward the Second’s son. Edward the Third is very loyal to his father, who plays a very little part in the story but ends it on a very high note. He’s never once betrayed his father, and in a way, he never did his mother unless there was a reason to. For his loyalty and his good intentions, he was able to obtain the throne after his father dies. He’s very loyal to his father, by also imprisoning his mother like his father had.
The simple finality of his choices leads to his greater fortune and the demise of everyone else. Gaveston’s loyalty enabled him an easy death, as he died happily. Mortimer, Lancaster and Warwick had their loyalties questioned so were in the end executed for their misdeeds. Loyalty can be seen as an unquestionable part of friendships, and especially when ruling the land. The great falls of these characters were caused by the changing of loyalties.
Works Cited
Anderson, Randall Louis. Theatre Journal Vol. 45, No. 1. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Print.
Perry, Curtis. The Review of English Studies Vol. 54, No. 215. Oxford University Press, Jun., 2003. Print
Horne, Peter. History Workshop Journal No. 47. Oxford University Press, Spring, 1999. Print.
Marlowe, Christopher. Edward the Second. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Dec., 2012. Print
Robson, Mark. The Modern Language Review Vol. 90, No 4. Modern Humanities Research Association, Oct., 1995. Print.
Stymeist, David. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 Vol. 44, No. 2. Rice University, Spring, 2004. Print.
Wehling, Mary Mellen. Modern Language Notes Vol. 73, No. 4. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Apr., 1958. Print.
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