The Abdication Scene (Act V, Scene I.)
Write
a commentary on the Abdication Or Deposition Scene Or,
Attempt a critical analysis, with a note of dramatic significance of the
Deposition or Abdication scene.
Critical Analysis:
The
Abdication or Deposition scene is considered the most admirable piece of
Marlowe’s dramatic art in his historical tragedy of Edward II. The scene appears almost as a long soliloquy of the
fallen weak king. Yet, in dramatic action and suspense, in dramatic poetry and
pathos, it has but a few peers in the dramatic literature of England.
The
scene (Act V,Sc I) is set in the castle
of Killingworth (Kneilworth), where the king is kept imprisoned under the
custody of Duke of Leicester.
The
scene opens with the pleading of Leicester with the king to have repose and
security in mind. This is followed by a long soliloquy of the king in which he
dwells on his fallen state and on the deep pathos of hid riyal fall. The king,
enraged by the secret working of Mortimer and Isabella, expresses his
determination to cling to his crown. He will not yield his crown to make
Mortimer the king of England.
The
Bishop of Winchester who has come from Mortimer and Isabella to take his crown,
along with the Duke of Leicester, entreats the king to yield his crown. But the
king, still flaming with his passion and rage, is most unwilling and holds the
crown dearly. He gives vent, in impulsive an imaginative poetry, to his
profound eagerness for retaining the crown, and fondly puts on the same.
The
followers of Mortimer who are extremely anxious to carry the crown safely away,
are sparing of words, but they threaten that the prince may lose his right
because of the obstinacy of the king to yield his crown. Now the king agrees to
give crown, but his passion and resentment remain unabated. He makes over the
crown most unwillingly, as he feels that his abdication is an inescapable doom.
As
the Bishop of Winchester and others are about to leave, the king gives them a
handkerchief, soaked with his tears and dried by his sighs, for presenting to
Isabella.
The
scene concludes with the arrival of Lord of Berkeley who comes with an order
from the queen. The king, under his order, is placed under his custody and goes
with him.
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Dramatic Significance:
The Abdication
Scene is truly an epitome of Marlowe’s dramatic
genius. From the structural standpoint, the action reaches here the climax, no
doubt. The king is presses for abdication in favour of his son. With a severe
mental pan, the unfortunate sovereign is compelled to give up that which he
considers more precious than his life even. The Abdication Scene completes the
fall of king, and the retribution against Mortimer starts hereafter.
The
scene well represents Edward’s nature in which much of Marlovian poetry is
conspicuously evident. The king speaks here, like a poet, and her, his
parallelism with Shakespeare’s Richard II is distinct. The king dwells, with a
remarkable poetic passion, on his acute suffering and torment. He reflects on
the greatness of his rank which sets him always much above average man, in
adversity as well as in prosperity.
“The
griefs of private men are soon allayed,
But
not of kings.”
He
muses, with no less poetic vigour, on the irony of his lot, as a helpless
captive at the hands of his powerful nobles,--
“ My
noble rule, I bear the name of King;
I
wear the crown, but I am controlled by them.”
The
scene brings out clearly Edward’s passionate nature in which his violent and ineffectual
fits of anger are particularly noticeable. His soliloquy, rich in his poetic
vigour, records his vehement passion. The very thought of the younger Mortmier
irritates him and makes him reiterate his resolve to keep the crown at all
costs. As the crown is made over to Mortimer’s followers, the king gives way to
another passionate outburst—
“But
stay a while, let me be the king till night.
That
I may gaze upon this glittering crown.”
The
scene is well employed to win for the king sympathy and compassion. Marlowe’s
hero in this play is nothing of the grandeur of a typical tragic hero, and he
is found too weak to be a hero of a high tragedy. Marlowe’s conception of the
character of Edward is much controlled by his historical materials, and
consequently his weak king never mounts to heroism. Yet Marlowe has the craft
of a born dramatist to derive pity even for his weak king. One of the effective
means by which this is achieved is this Abdication Scene. The pang of the
fallen sovereign, compelled to give up his cherished crown, touches everyone with
compassion. The king now appears no more foolish or inactive man, but a pitiful
victim of a tyrannical ambition. His faults and follies are now the matters of
the past. In his poetry and passion, he is not simply pathetic, but tragic,
too. He does not win here the pity that a tragic hero deserves, but a feeling
of sympathy and a sense of awe dominate this scene of abdication, and is found
to be an effective measure to change the attitude of the audience to one whose
doom is implied in his character.
This
grand and moving scene has, however, one discordant note, and this is the
incident of the handkerchief. It offends the cult of refinement and proves a
ridiculous element in the otherwise brilliant scene. It also degenerates the
tragic grandeur to which the character of Edward
II partly reaches in this scene.
In
conclusion, it need to be noted that the scene is a necessary prelude to the
tragic end of the king. The custody of the king is taken away from Leicester
and given to Berkley by Mortimer. Mortimer’s purpose is to accomplish the
execution of the king smoothly and secretly. This is his preparation to fulfil
his tyrannical design.
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