Edward II Abdication Scene: C.U. English Honours Part-II Notes

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.

This pic is taken from ancestryimages.com.

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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