Edward II

by Christopher Marlowe

Overview

The classic Renaissance play of royal intrigue, infidelity, betrayal, and murder by the acclaimed author of Doctor Faustus and Hero and Leander.

Upon the death of King Edward I of England, his son, Edward II, takes the throne and revokes the banishment of his favorite, Piers Gaveston. Upon Gaveston’s return to court, Edward II bestows upon him titles, wealth, and protection—and soon ignores his duties as leader. The king’s nobles see Gaveston as a manipulative social climber. Meanwhile, Edward II’s wife, Queen Isabella, and Mortimer Junior have their own machinations for the throne. Focused on one member of his court, the monarch fails to see the impending doom around him . . .

Also known as The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer, Edward II is one of the first English history dramas and Marlowe’s final play before his death.

Praise for Edward II

“The death scene of Marlowe’s king moves pity and terror beyond any other scene in ancient or modern drama.” —Charles Lamb

“Passionate poetry . . . subdued with severe self-restraint in a supreme tragic creation.” —Havelock Ellis

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781504080453
Publisher:	Open Road Media
Publication date:	11/29/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	204
Sales rank:	802,099
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Christopher Marlowe was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. He was the foremost tragedian of his day.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Christopher Marlowe: A Brief Chronology of His Life and Times
A Note on the Text

Edward the Second

Appendix A: Marlowe’s Historical Sources

1. From Raphael Holinshed, The Third Volume of Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587)
2. From John Stow, The Annals of England (1592)

Appendix B: From Michael Drayton, Mortimeriados (1596)

Appendix C: The Diana-Actæon Myth

1. From Arthur Golding, The XV Books of P. Ovidius Naso (1567)
2. Sonnet V of Samuel Daniel’s Sonnet Sequence Delia (1592)

Appendix D: On Friendship

1. Thomas Elyot, “The True Description of Amity or Friendship” (1580)
2. From Francis Bacon, “Of Friendship” (1625)
3. From Richard Barnfield, “The Tears of an Affectionate Shepherd Sick for Love or The Complaint of Daphnis for the Love of Ganymede” (1594)

Appendix E: Sodomy

1. “An Act for the Punishment of the Vice of Buggerie” (1587)
2. Edward Coke, “Of Buggery, or Sodomy” (1644)
3. From Philip Stubbes, The Anatomy of Abuses (1583)
4. From Thomas Beard, The Theatre of God’s Judgements (1597)

Appendix F: Kings and Tyrants

1. From An Homily against Disobedience and Wilful Rebellion (1570)
2. From Hugh Languet, Vindiciae contra Tyrannos: A Defence of Liberty against Tyrants (1648)
3. From James I of England and VI of Scotland, The True Law of Free Monarchies (1603)

Works Cited and Further Reading

Editorial Reviews

This is a first-rate edition of an increasingly important play. Mathew Martin’s editing of the quarto text of Edward the Second is detailed and thoughtful, with copious, insightful annotations, and his critical introduction lucidly explores the play’s theatrical contexts, historiographical concerns, and thematic imperatives. The extensive appendices that conclude the volume are invaluable for understanding the larger historical, political, and sexual contexts of the work. All in all, this is an edition that will greatly benefit both the student reader and the experienced scholar.” — Ian Munro, University of California, Irvine

“Mathew Martin’s new edition of Edward the Second will serve well the needs of students. The introduction contains a succinct and helpful summary of the pertinent aspects of Marlowe’s life and of the practical concerns of the Elizabethan stage, details the reign of the historical Edward II, and considers early modern and postmodern evaluations of “sodomitical” relationships. Appendices offer important cultural contexts, including passages from Marlowe’s historical sources in Holinshed and Stow, Michael Drayton’s very different poetic account of Edward’s reign, a selection of early modern versions of the tradition of amity (or friendship between men), and Renaissance legal and moral descriptions of sodomy.” — Ian McAdam, University of Lethbridge

From the Publisher

Mathew Martin’s new edition of Edward the Second will serve well the needs of students. The introduction contains a succinct and helpful summary of the pertinent aspects of Marlowe’s life and of the practical concerns of the Elizabethan stage, details the reign of the historical Edward II, and considers early modern and postmodern evaluations of “sodomitical” relationships. Appendices offer important cultural contexts, including passages from Marlowe’s historical sources in Holinshed and Stow, Michael Drayton’s very different poetic account of Edward’s reign, a selection of early modern versions of the tradition of amity (or friendship between men), and Renaissance legal and moral descriptions of sodomy.” — Ian McAdam, University of Lethbridge

Ian McAdam University of Lethbridge

This is a first-rate edition of an increasingly important play. Mathew Martin’s editing of the quarto text of Edward the Second is detailed and thoughtful, with copious, insightful annotations, and his critical introduction lucidly explores the play’s theatrical contexts, historiographical concerns, and thematic imperatives. The extensive appendices that conclude the volume are invaluable for understanding the larger historical, political, and sexual contexts of the work. All in all, this is an edition that will greatly benefit both the student reader and the experienced scholar.” — Ian Munro, University of California, Irvine

Ian Munro University of California