Brecht makes this change even more profound than in the Marlowe version by exploring the king’s darker side in the early scenes of the play, including his misogynistic treatment of his wife and his use of treachery under the guise of a truce in order to gain victory. But ultimately, the play is about Edward, who becomes more sympathetic as it progresses. It’s true that he emphasizes the humbleness of Gaveston’s beginnings he’s a butcher’s son thrust almost unknowingly into the world of cut-throat politics. Given his focus on the common man in his later work, it’s curious that he makes a member of royalty the hero of this play. This proves to be a deadly mistake when Mortimer unites with Edward’s estranged queen, Anne, to depose the king.īrecht has written a fairly straightforward tragedy. In both plays, Mortimer is captured by Edward’s army he escapes from imprisonment in the Marlowe, but in the Brecht, Edward lets his enemy go, imagining him a man of words who might serve as a witness to Edward’s triumph. For example, in Brecht’s version Edward’s chief opponent Mortimer is not a warrior by nature as he is in the Marlowe play instead, he’s a scholar who is called upon to present the argument in favor of the banishment of Gaveston from the royal court. Brecht keeps much of Marlowe’s structure but changes a number of details, some of which are more important than others. It centers on the titular king, whose passionate love for a man named Gaveston turns a number of key political leaders against him and leads to civil war. While the program note goes on to state that Edward II is nevertheless a “glorious play,” the above qualification is telling: This isn’t one of Brecht’s best efforts, especially not as imperfectly realized in this production.Įdward II was adapted by Brecht from Christopher Marlowe’s play of the same title. A curious note in the program for the Creative Mechanics Theatre Company’s production of Bertolt Brecht’s Edward II reads that the play “is not one of his more groundbreaking works, and certainly not one of his more beloved.” Written early in Brecht’s career, it came before his theorizations about Epic Theater and the alienation effect.
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