Edward II as a Marlovian Hero with a Difference

In comparison to Doctor Faustus, Tamburlaine, or Barabas the Jew, Edward II is not a typical Marlovian hero. He is not portrayed as one with so much outer glory, intelligence, villainy, or ambition as has been bestowed to the other three. It might even be argued that, compared to the other three, Edward appears to be petty, pitiful, cowardly, and even pathethic. In other words, Edward II is different from the typical Marlovian hero, a new one portrayed with a much more sophisticated insight: Marlowe tried a new style of character portrayal, and came up with no small success.

In Edward II Marlowe has given a tragic dimension to the suffering of protagonist. He has presented his suffering as the ironic result of Edward's own character and obstinacy. If in the first part of the play Marlowe arouses the feeling of contempt for the derelict king, in the second half he arouses our pity for the king. The king is responsible for his deposition and assassination but the tortures and indignities heaped upon him are far out of proportion to his weakness.

Edward lives like a reckless, irresponsible juvenile, and grows up to be a man who finally realizes his duty. Although he knows it is too late, he tries, with the little he has left in a hopeless situation, to do what he thinks— and what he finally knows— is right. There is no sign of cowardice whatsoever in his mind before he dies; there is only a clear, awakened mind in a brutally-abused, weary body that peacefully welcomes the savage death for his final redemption and salvation. What makes Edward a real tragic hero is the fact that he really tries to “fight the unbeatable foe” in an absolutely hopeless situation, fully realizing that he is doomed to fail.

He dies as a real tragic hero, a man.