Act two then presents a quarrelsome Edward, as he refuses to perform :: English Literature

Act two then presents a quarrelsome Edward, as he refuses to perform even much kingly duties. Scotland has captured MortimerWhat techniques does Marlowe use to engage audiences interest in thefirst two acts of the foregather?Marlowe studied the Bible and the Reformation theologians as easy asphilosophy and history at Corpus Christi College Cambridge for sixyears but instead of continuing and taking holy orders, Marlowe wentto London and became a dramatist. He made important friends such asSir Walter Raleigh. Most of his plays were written in blank verse,with Edward II be no exception. It is a historical tragedy playad was Marlowes last play. Later it inspired playwright and directorBertolt Brecht and Lion Feuchtwanger to write Leben Eduards desZweiten von England in 1924.Edward II is an intense and swiftly pathetic account of a kingcontrolled by his basest passions, a weak man who becomes a puppet ofhis homosexual lover, and pays a tragic price for forsaking the judicature of hi s nation. The play is set in early fourteenth-centuryEngland, during a period when England was surrounded by enemies inScotland, Ireland, Denmark, and France. Edward, preoccupied by thebanishment of his lover, Gaveston, barely acknowledges the crises thatthreaten his country he indulges his passions and forgets about hisduties, failing to recognize that his refusal to attend to stateaffairs is eroding his royal authority. He picks his battles,preferring those petty skirmishes over Gavestons fate to those thatwould benefit his incur and enhance the power of the state.Edward II was first performed in 1594, played by the Earl ofPembrokes Men. The next performance indicates 1617, Queen Elizabethsreign. As the country being protestant at this time, parts of the playwould be particularly interesting and entertaining when the play wasperformed, which may not have the same effect nowadays. For practicewhen Gaveston and Edward demonstrate acts of violence towards the kingand banish him to be imprisoned in the tower. Entertaining violencetowards the Catholics would have been in those days.The first scene opens with Gaveston reading a letter from Edward II,newly crowned sovereign of England after the death of Edward I.Gaveston had been banished from court because of his corruptinginfluence on the young prince Edward. Now, with the elder Edward outof the way, Edward II is inviting Gaveston to withdraw and share thekingdom with him. In a few quick lines, Gavestons soliloquy makesclear the homosexual nature of their relationship (take me in thyarms) as well as the theme of power that runs throughout the play.