Edward II, by Christopher marlowe.

1. Edward II
- Christopher Marlowe
Author Introduction
Christopher Marlowe
Born Baptised 26 February 1564
Canterbury, Kent, England
Died 30 May 1593 (aged 29)
Deptford, Kent, England
Occupation Playwright, poet
Language Early Modern English
Nationality English
Alma mater Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Period 1564–93
Literary movement English Renaissance theatre
Notable works Hero and Leander; Edward the Second; The
Tragical History of Doctor Faustus; Dido,
Queen of Carthage

2. Publication
The play was entered into the Stationers' Register on 6 July 1593, five
weeks after Marlowe's death. The earliest extant edition was published in octavo
in 1594, printed by Robert Robinson for the bookseller William Jones, a second
edition, issued in 1598, was printed by Richard Braddock for Jones. Subsequent
editions were published in 1612, by Richard Barnes, and in 1622, by Henry Bell.
The 1594 first edition of the play is very rare and was uncovered only in
1876.Only one copy, held at the Zentralbibliothek Zürich, was known to exist
after a second was lost in the Second World War. In 2012, a third copy was
discovered in Germany by Jeffrey Masten, a scholar of English Renaissance
literature and the history of sexuality and a faculty member at Northwestern
University. The volume was bound with a treatise arguing against the execution
of heretics and another on Turkey and Islam

3. Theme
Edward II, the play of Christopher
Marlowe is quite historical tragedy. Theme:
Marlowe's play Edward II is the one according
to which power and suffering constitutes the
leading theme of the play. The assertion of
power and authority and the exercise of power
and authority are a recurrent theme in this play.

4. Edward II Characters
-Edward II
-Piers Gaveston
-Mortimer Junior
-Isabella
-Edmund, Earl of Kent
-Prince Edward/Edward III
-Mortimer Senior
-The Earl of Lancaster

5. Religion
Edward II presents tension between the church and the
state. When Edward and Gaveston strip the Bishop of
Coventry of his lands and possessions, they joke
subversively about religious traditions. Edward and
Gaveston mock the Bishop as they attack him. Before the
play takes place, the Bishop advocates for Gaveston's exile.
As Edward and Gaveston attack the Bishop, they mock
Catholic symbols as they assert their power over the
Bishop.