Customer Reviews
Gay for sure but not very jolly - By: Jacques COULARDEAU, 07 Mar 2004 
This historical play is better than some other plays by Marlowe because the events it is based on are, by themselves, well built & full of suspense. But Marlowe insists on the negative side of things. He sees Edward as a perverted King who only revelsin carnal pleasure with his minions. He wastes the money of the crown & irritates all the Barons & the Queen. This leads to his death. Marlowe then shows Mortimer, the Queen’s lover, as a tyrant, a dictator, a criminal, an unpolitical figure, & that leads him to his fatal end. Marlowe likes gross events & bloody acts. He has all his « victims » executed on the stage & even Edward is killedin full sight of the audiencein a most disgustful wayin a dungeon that is the receptacle of all the rejects of Berkeley Castle, particularly from its toilets & its water closets. The only moment of epiphany is the sudden revelation of Edward III as a King of justice. But here again this new teenage King goes to some extremes & has his mother sent to the Tower of London, though, we know, she will survive thirty one years. Marlowe probably invented Elizabethan drama, but he could not – & did not have enough time to do so – bring it to the level it will reach only with Shakespeare. His language definitely is the « blank verse beast » that Bernard Shaw rejected. It flows marvellously & fluently but it has none of the poetry, beauty & embroidery that Shakespeare’s will master & illustrate.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
All the stuff you need - By: , 05 Feb 2003 
Edward II is horrible & confusing, but it's got a weird sort of fascination if only you can find your way through it. If you find yourself trappedin the middle of it, or if hard-hearted teachers have dumped it on you & told you to write about it, Jill Barker's York Notes Advanced are your lifeline. It's all there - plot, characters, imagery, historical background, what those guys found funny & we don't, & all the rest of it, along with some nifty hints about trendy interpretations & what the posh critics are saying. If you want to impress the examiners, here's your chance. You might even get to like the thing.
A basic introduction to the central themes of Edward II - By: , 16 Apr 2002 While there is little attempt to relate the issuesin the play with the issues of Marlowe's own times these notes provide a surprisingly comprehensive starting point for anyone studying Edward II. The notes provide a scene by scene guide & a review of the themes which the play deals with. Great if you're encountering Marlowe for the first time or have come to revise the play & it has been a while since you originally read it.
