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 more kingly duties. Scotland has captured Mortimer What techniques does Marlowe use to engage audience’s interest in the first two acts of the play? Marlowe studied the Bible and the Reformation theologians as well as philosophy and history at Corpus Christi College; Cambridge for six years but instead of continuing and taking holy orders, Marlowe went to London and became a dramatist. He made important friends such as Sir Walter Raleigh. Most of his plays were written in blank verse, with â€Å"Edward II† being no exception. It is a historical tragedy play ad was Marlowe’s last play. Later it inspired playwright and director Bertolt Brecht and Lion Feuchtwanger to write â€Å"Leben Eduards des Zweiten von England† in 1924. â€Å"Edward II† is an intense and swiftly moving account of a king controlled by his basest passions, a weak man who becomes a puppet of his homosexual lover, and pays a tragic price for forsaking the governance of his country. The play is set in early fourteenth-century England, during a period when England was surrounded by enemies in Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, and France. Edward, preoccupied by the banishment of his lover, Gaveston, barely acknowledges the crises that threaten his country; he indulges his passions and forgets about his duties, failing to recognize that his refusal to attend to state affairs is eroding his royal authority. He picks his battles, preferring those petty skirmishes over Gaveston's fate to those that would benefit his rule and enhance the power of the state. â€Å"Edward II† was first performed in 1594, played by the Earl of Pembroke’s Men. The next performance indicates 1617, Queen Elizabeth’s reign. As the country being protestant at this time, parts of the play would be particularly interesting and entertaining when the play was performed, which may not have the same effect nowadays. For example when Gaveston and Edward demonstrate acts of violence towards the king and banish him to be imprisoned in the tower. Entertaining violence towards 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 corrupting influence on the young prince Edward. Now, with the elder Edward out of the way, Edward II is inviting Gaveston to return and share the kingdom with him. In a few quick lines, Gaveston's soliloquy makes clear the homosexual nature of their relationship ("take me in thy arms") as well as the theme of power that runs throughout the play.