The Aristocracy in Edward Ⅱ
Lee, Byung-Eun
Medieval and Early Modern English Studies, Volume 16 No. 2 (2008)
Abstract
Edward II’s weakness is the subject of the play, but Marlowe neither impugns his right to the throne nor offers any explanation for his appearance in a line of strong and efficient kings. Marlowe even omits an interesting history about a claimant to the throne: he asserted that he was the rightful kingof England and Edward the son of a carter. This paper argues that the play deals with many matters bearing on Elizabethan concepts of the aristocratic family. The source of the chief conflict between the king and the barons is based on the barons’s aristocratic pride; the chief complaint of the barons is that the king constantly associates with one substantially his inferior in birth. Edward’s lack of interest in his family is more than incidental to his characterization as a weak and irresponsible king: for examples, Edward addresses Gaveston, Spencer, and Baldock as “thou,” the young prince as “you”; in the same way, he addresses Gaveston as “brother,” and banishes his real brother. However, young Edward, the ideal prince, is dedicated to his family. The contrasts make a responsibility for family relationships an important virtue in the play.
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