A further consequence of the aggregation of events is a remarkable tightening of the chain of historical causation. Edward the Second is Marlowe’s best-constructed play. Actions lead directly to their consequences, as when Edward’s ill-timed and provocative exaltation of Gaveston goads the barons to switch tactics from legally banishing to kidnapping him (scene 4: this edition preserves the octavo’s fluid division into scenes only, rather than adopting the five act divisions favoured by some modern editors). Many of the causal linkages are made to feel like pointedly ironic reversals: Gaveston’s murder leads to Edward’s one victory in avenging it; his cruelty in exploiting his success provokes Kent’s desertion and leads to Mortimer’s fatal alliance with Isabella against the king. These reversals complicate the play’s characterization: proud Mortimer starts out like Hotspur and ends up a Machiavellian, while Isabella changes from wronged wife to practised hypocrite. Are these inconsistently used stereotypes or subtly ironic modulations? When Isabella sounds formulaic and insincere, she may be meant to – to sound as though she is half-consciously using a false language.
The question is linked to the problem of the play’s verbal style. Its language is generally bare and tense. Big speeches are frequently punctured by colloquially plain counterstatements. Single lines are heavy with hidden meaning. Apparently polite formulae are used as insults (compare the taunting heraldic devices in scene 6); Edward’s murder is ordered in one ambiguous sentence. The language keeps checking itself, its switches of idiom reflecting the larger reversals of the action.
All these reversals are framed by Edward’s own ‘strange exchange’ (21.35), his decline from kingship to abjection. Structural and verbal patterns converge in the closing scenes, where Edward’s laments are juxtaposed with the callous double-talk of Mortimer and Isabella. Details of the king’s torment emphasize the reversal: the shaving in sewer-water is taken from Stow (see note on 23.36.1–SD below) and ‘rhymed’ with the treatment of the bishop of Coventry in scene 1; and in the murder itself there surfaces a ghastly fusion of cruelty and sexuality long latent in the play. The idiom remains grimly ironic: one of the horrors of Marlowe’s invented murderer Lightborne is that he sounds so menacingly comforting.
Scene 1
7 France: Gaveston had been banished to his native Gascony by Edward I.
14 die: (i) Swoon, (ii) reach orgasm.
16–17 What… night: Since Gaveston enjoys the king’s sun-like favour, he has no need for the goodwill of lesser lights, such as the nobles, and least of all for the ‘sparks’ (20) of the common people.
22 Tanti!: Italian, so much for that! fawn: For Q’s fanne.
25 your worship’s service: To serve your worship.
31 lies: Travellers’tales.
33 against the Scot: In Edward I’s military campaign against Robert Bruce.
39 porcupine: It was believed that porcupines would shoot their quills in self-defence, on the authority of Pliny’s Historia Naturalis (VIII.xxxv).
54 masques: Extravagant court entertainments of Italian origin, sometimes involving the use of lavish costumes and sets, were popular in Tudor and early-Stuart England.
56–71 And in… lord: As the speech unfolds, it becomes apparent that Gaveston plans to stage the myth of Diana and Actaeon (N).
57 sylvan nymphs: Wood-nymphs.
89 Mort Dieu!: God’s death! (punning on Mortimer’s name).
94 these knees… stiff: I.e. too stiff to kneel.
107 to the proof: Irrefutably.
110 Mowbray: Q’s spelling Mowberie suggests the name is trisyllabic.
117 Preach upon poles: Traitors’ heads were placed upon poles and mounted above the gates of city walls as a warning to others.
126 Wiltshire: Because the Mortimers had no historical connections with Wiltshire, Roma Gill argues strongly against Q’s reading, maintaining that the compositor may well have misread ‘Welshrye’, i.e. the people of Wales, the power-base of the family. See ‘Mortimer’s Men’, N&Q, n.s. 27 (1980), p. 159.
127–8 All Warwickshire… many friends: Both lines are spoken ironically.
132 minion: (i) Favourite, (ii) darling boy (from French mignon). The nobles perhaps use the word in the latter sense as a term of homo-phobic contempt.
142 Thy friend, thy self: Proverbial (Tilley F696).
149 high-minded: Proud, arrogant.
155 King and Lord of Man: The lords of the Isle of Man were also known as kings because of the sovereign rights they possessed.
There may also be a sexual quibbles.
167 seal: If this is the Great Seal of the realm, Edward confers near-regal power on Gaveston.
185 Saving your reverence: Polite formula, used derisively, with a pun on ‘Sir reverence’, a euphemism for faeces, which might well be found in a ‘channel’ (= sewer: 187).
197 Tower… Fleet: The Tower of London and the debtors’ prison.
200 True, true: A rueful comment on the aptness of ‘Convey’ (= steal: 199)
206 prison… holiness: A prison would suit the austere life of a priest (imprisonment was one of the sufferings of the early Christians).
Scene 2
6 timeless sepulchre: Early grave.
11 villain: Villain, with a pun on ‘villein’, serf.
75 the New Temple: Home of the Knights Templar, and later part of the Inns of Court.
78 Lambeth: Site of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s official residence.
Scene 3
The shortness of this scene has led to suspicions of textual corruption. But it further establishes Gaveston’s brusque confidence, despite his knowledge of the forces ranged against him.
Scene 4
0.1 SD NOBLES: Q is sometimes unspecific about which nobles are required.
1 form: Formal articles.
7 declined from: Less inclined towards.
8 sits here: Edward grants Gaveston the Queen’s place next to himself, probably on a throne.
13 Quam male conveniunt!: How badly they suit each other! (based on Ovid, Metamorphoses II, 846–7: ‘Majesty and love do not suit each other, and do not remain long in one seat’).
19 faced and overpeered: Insolently outfaced and looked down on (with a pun on ‘peer’).
26 pay them home: I.e. punish them fully for their treason.
51 legate to: Representative of.
54 Curse: Excommunicate.
61–2 discharge… allegiance: Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth I in 1570, thus supposedly absolving her subjects of obedience to her.
68 President of the North: Cf. John Cowell, The Interpreter (1607), ‘President… is used in common law for the king’s lieutenant in any province or function, as: President of Wales, of York, of Berwick’ (Gill 1967).
97–105 Proud Rome… live: Such vehement anti-papalism might well appeal to Elizabethan Protestants; but Edward’s obvious pique and murderousness might be more disturbing.
102 make: For Q’s may.
168 repealed: Recalled from exile.
175 those arms: I.e. Edward’s arms (embracing Isabella).
178 frantic Juno: From Ovid, Metamorphoses X, 155–61.
189 ill entreated her: Treated her badly.
191 long of: Because of.
195 Cry quittance: (i) Get even, (ii) quit him, (iii) give up the marriage bond, declare yourself free of marital obligations.
199 wanton humour: Amorous mood (Forker 1994).
211 tend’rest: Care for.
216 him: I.e. Mortimer Senior.
223 torpedo: The electric ray, which can deliver a numbing shock.
224 floats: Sails, but with the implication of a drowned corpse floating.
247 make white… day: Proverbial (Tilley B440).
255 play the sophister: I.e. deceive by false arguments.
261 whereas: While.
269 in the chronicle: In the year-by-year annals of the reign. Mortimer is thinking of how history will judge Gaveston’s hypothetical killer.
284 night-grow
n mushroom: Because mushrooms grow overnight, this metaphor was proverbially used to describe the unprecedented rise of an upstart (cf. Tilley M1319).
318 Diablo!: Italian, devil!
327 golden tongue: There is some evidence of medieval jewels in the form of metal tongues.
330 these: Edward’s arms.
341 sovereign’s: For Q’s soveraigne.
350 bear the sword: The sword was a symbol of state power, usually carried before the monarch during processions.
358 Chirk: Mortimer Senior’s estate which bordered Shropshire and Wales.
374 Against: In preparation for the time when.
377 made him sure: Betrothed.
378 Gloucester’s heir: I.e. Lady Margaret de Clare.
381 triumph: I.e. the jousting tournament (cf. 375).
390–96 mightiest kings… Alcibiades: Mortimer Senior tries to placate his nephew by citing classical examples of homoerotic love. See (N).
392 Hercules: Q’s Hector mangles the myth.
406 He wears… his back: Proverbial (Tilley L452).
407–8Midas-like… heels: He struts around in court decked in gold, with a train of low-born foreign rascals (literally, ‘testicles’).
415 other: Others.
Scene 5
14 preferred… to: (i) Put me forward for promotion, (ii) liked me more than.
20 our lady: Margaret de Clare.
30 read unto her: Tutored her.
32 court it: Behave like a courtier.
33–4 black coat… serge: Baldock wears the modest, and cheap, clothes of a scholar.
band: collar.
Serge: A cheap material.
38 making low legs: Bowing obsequiously.
44 formal toys: Trivial politenesses.
53 propterea quod: Because. Baldock satirizes the Latinate rhetoric of scholarship.
54 quandoquidem: Because. The joke is unclear.
55 form: Conjugate.
71 coach: Coaches were not widely used in England until the 1560s.
Scene 6
11 device: An emblematic painting and motto which decorated a shield.
20 Aeque tandem: Equal at last.
28 Undique mors est: Death is on all sides.
35 my brother: I.e. Gaveston.
40 jesses: For Q’s gresses.
42 Britainy: Britain.
62 painted: Decorated with flowers.
73 Return… throats: Defy them.
74 Base leaden earls: ‘Spurious nobles (like coin of alloy rather than of true metal)’ (Forker 1994).
75 eat… beef: I.e. the nobles are beef-witted (stupid) and parasitic.
81 Here, here: Pembroke points at Gaveston.
12.2 gather head: Raise an army.
146 the broad seal: Letters patent under the Great Seal, which gave the bearer the right to collect money for a special purpose without fear of being prosecuted for begging.
158 treasure: Treasury.
159 The murmuring… hath: And has overtaxed the discontented common people.
163 O’Neill: Irish clan-leader during Edward II’s reign.
164 the English pale: English settlement around Dublin.
165 made road: Made raid.
167 narrow seas: English Channel.
171 Valois: Philip of Valois, King of France.
186 women’s favours: Love-tokens given to knights and often worn in combat.
189–94 Maids… rumbelow: From Robert Fabyan’s Chronicle (1559).
190 Bannocksbourn: Edward’s forces were famously crushed by the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn (24 June 1314).
194 rumbelow: A meaningless refrain.
195 Wigmore shall fly: I.e. Mortimer Junior’s Herefordshire estate, Wigmore Castle, shall be sold.
202–3 cockerels… lion: Traditionally, lions feared the cock’s crowing.
225 him: I.e. Mortimer Junior.
241 arms: Coat of arms.
242–3 gentry… Oxford: An MA degree conferred gentlemanly status.
248 well allied: Of good stock.
264 Have at: (Imperative) let us attack.
Scene 7
5 of policy: As an act of politic deception.
20 give the onset: Begin the attack.
23 the name of Mortimer: Historically, the family took its name from Mortemer in Normandy, but Mortimer prefers the association with the Dead Sea (Mortuum Mare) and the Crusades.
Scene 8
4 hold: Fortress.
46 Flemish hoy: Small fishing vessels used in the North Sea by the Flemish.
Scene 9
4 unsurprised: Uncaptured.
5 malgrado: Italian, in spite of.
14 welter in thy gore: Be soaked in your own blood.
15 the Greekish strumpet: Helen of Troy.
27–8 But… our hands: Gaveston is to be beheaded, a privileged form of execution reserved for the nobility.
62–3 seize… possess: Get hold of… keep.
64 in keep: In custody.
67 for: Because.
69 To make… thief: To kill a man of honour who has stood hostage for a dishonest man.
72 Question… thy mates: Bandy arguments with your equals.
84 had-I-wist: (Literally) had I known (proverbial; Tilley H8). Warwick is reluctant to let Gaveston escape, only to repent of it later.
85 over-woo: Plead excessively to.
88 in this: In this matter.
Scene 10
1 wrong thy friend: I.e. betray Pembroke.
5 Centre… bliss: ? Applied to the king.
13 watched it well: I.e. kept a vigilant guard over Gaveston.
14 shadow: Ghost.
Scene 11
13 braves: Insults.
14 beard me: Pluck my beard (i.e. defy me).
20 preach on poles: Cf. 1.117n.
27 We’ll steel… tops: We’ll sharpen our swords against their helmets and cut off (‘poll’) their heads.
29 affection: Desire.
31.2 SD truncheon: A staff which symbolized authority.
36 bowmen… pikes: Lances with sharp metal tips at both ends were driven into the ground just in front of the archers to protect them in battle (Wiggins and Lindsey 1997).
37 Brown bills: Soldiers carrying halberds (covered in bronze to prevent rusting).
42 in him: In his person, to the advantage of his family.
43–4an it… pours: If it please your grace, one who pours…
53 Lord Bruce… land: Holinshed reports that when William de Bruce offered to sell some of his land in the Welsh Marches to the Mortimers to pay his debts, they were outbid, with the king’s help, by Spencer Junior.
54 in hand withal: Are negotiating for it.
57 Soldiers, a largess: Edward promises the soldiers a generous gift of money for their loyalty.
66 Sib: Kinswoman (i.e. wife), or a contraction of her name.
76–7 heaven’s… shoulder: Atlas (N) is here imagined supporting the roof-beams of the heavens.
79 towardness: Boldness.
87 once: Once and for all.
121 part: Action.
127 fire… starting-holes: Smoke them out of their lairs (like animals).
129 moving orbs: The heavenly spheres which, according to Ptolemaic cosmology, moved in their concentric orbits around the earth.
145 merely: Purely.
152 iwis: I know.
158 plainer: Complainant (who brings an allegation).
163 deads: Deadens.
royal vine: Edward’s crown was in fact adorned with strawberry leaves, but the association of the vine with royalty was traditional.
Scene 12
0.1 SD excursions: Soldiers rush across the stage, emulating the confusion of battle.
9 retire: Retreat.
18 Thou’d best… them… trains: You had better quickly abandon them and their intrigues. Q reads Th’ad… thee.
20 on thy face: Apparently a variant of the more usual riposte ‘in thy face’.
23 tr
ow ye: Think you.
35 Saint George: Established as the patron saint of England during Edward III’s reign.
Scene 13
3 hang the heads: As in French, Elizabethan English could use the definite article where modern English uses a possessive.
4 advance: Raise their heads on poles (punning on ‘advance’ = to promote).
22 but temporal: I.e. Edward can only inflict physical torment, and not spiritual suffering.
25 my lord of Winchester: Spencer Senior, earl of Wiltshire.
45 Bestow… France: Spencer Junior employs Levune to bribe the French lords, and thus prevent Isabella from receiving aid in France.
47–8 Jove to… Danaë: The shower of gold in which Jupiter reached Danaë (N) was sometimes interpreted as a bribe.
53 levelled: For Q’s levied.
54 lay their heads: Punning on the sense ‘conspire’.
55 clean: Absolutely.
56 clap so close: (For Q’s claps close) shake hands (to strike a deal) in secret.
Scene 14
10 stay: Await.
11 Stand… device: Kent calls upon the darkness of night to assist Mortimer Junior’s escape.
14 But… so happily?: Did your sleeping potion work successfully on the warders?
Scene 15
1–2 Ah, boy… unkind: Levune’s mission has been successful.
4 a fig: An obscene gesture involving the thumb being thrust between two fingers.
5 my uncle’s: Kent’s.
7 ‘’A: He (unstressed form).
9–10 tuned… jar: The metaphors are from music.
10 jar too far: (i) Quarrel too much, (ii) have become out of tune.
The Complete Plays Page 63