Edward II

"...for undergraduates and for the general public (especially with the accessible price of the paperback edition) this edition of Edward II should remain a valuable resource of many years."
     —Joseph F. Stephenson, Abilene Christian University, in Sixteenth Century Journal (see below for more reviews)

 Contents:

• Preface
• Life of Marlowe
• Introduction to Edward II
• Bibliography
• Date and Note on the Text

Edward II

Related texts:

• Raphael Holinshed, The Third Volume of Chronicles (1587)
• John Stow, The Annals of England (1592)
• St. Paul, Epistle to the Romans (c. 56)
• An Homily against Disobedience and Willful Rebellion (1570)
• John Ponet, A Short Treatise of Politic Power (1556)
• Vindiciae contra Tyrannos: A Defense of Liberty against Tyrants (1579)
• Plato, The Symposium (c.380 BC)
• Marcus Tullius Cicero, Of Friendship (44 BC)
• Michel de Montaigne, Of Friendship (1580)
• John Calvin, Commentary upon the First Book of Moses Called Genesis (1554)
• Henri Estienne, A World of Wonders (1566)

Reviews:

"Marlowe’s Edward II has received quite a bit of attention lately, both by scholars and theatre companies. The play’s treatment of sexuality, its importance in the development of the history play in English drama, and its beautiful verse have helped to raise it to a status equal to Marlowe’s other great plays. Lynch's excellent edition of the play therefore comes at a very fortuitous time.
     "Lynch has made the play extremely accessible to beginning readers of Marlowe. The text is laid out attractively on the page, with mostly complete names for speech prefixes and a hanging indent for multiline speeches. Implied stage directions are written out clearly, but not intrusively. Marginal glosses are often quite useful for the inexperienced reader. . . . Spelling, in both the play text and in the accompanying historical texts, is modernized, and the text is indeed a pleasure to read.
     "The introduction to the play is also extremely useful. . . . Sections of the introduction mention themes such as 'unruly nobles' and 'friendship and love,' but, again, the final interpretation is left to the reader; the last section of the introduction is headed 'Royal Sodomite or Saintly Martyr?'
     "Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this volume comes at the end, where the 'Related Texts' are gathered. The inclusion of the relevant passages from Holinshed's Chronicles is useful. . . . It was a pleasant surprise to see some of the classical texts with which Marlowe was familiar, such as Plato's Symposium and Cicero's Of Friendship.”
     "[F]or undergraduates and for the general public (especially with the accessible price of the paperback edition) this edition of Edward II should remain a valuable resource of many years."
     —Joseph F. Stephenson, Abilene Christian University, in Sixteenth Century Journal

"This exciting new edition of Edward II is indeed reader friendly. Of particular distinction are the introductory sections which include a thorough account of Marlowe's biography, a fresh critical examination of the play, plus a bibliography for further reading; a wise consideration of the date and text; and extensive annotations, especially helpful to students who have difficulties with the language. Of special value to both students and scholars are the Related Texts that follow the text of the play: three sections of documentary evidence on historical sources; power and politics; and love, friendship, and homoeroticism—all vital to an understanding of the play. No previous edition of the play manages to encompass so much."
     —Robert A. Logan, University of Hartford

"I have often lamented the fact that the plays of Christopher Marlowe are not available in something like the Shakespeare Arden editions—that is, editions which provide detailed introductions, relevant excerpts from primary texts and significant notes. While the Hackett edition is missing some of the minutiae of the Arden's textual notes, it makes up for it in thoughtful attention to cultural and historical references. Providing glosses of arcane or unusual diction in the margins allows readers to avoid becoming lost in footnotes; many undergraduates lose track of the storyline as they become obsessed with reading the notes. I would like to teach a course in Marlowe's plays in the coming years and I am now relieved to know there are editions of his plays which will allow students to study his work with the seriousness and attention that is generally afforded only to the work of Shakespeare."
     —Catherine R. Eskin, Florida Southern College

"Throughout his helpful Introduction, Lynch directs his readers to portions of the "Related Texts" included later in the volume. Lynch puts his view of the text into practice in a thoroughly annotated, modernized edition of the tragedy. The final portion of the Lynch’s edition offers fifty pages of very helpful contextual materials that fall under three headings: "Historical Sources," "Power and Politics," and "Love, Friendship, and Homoeroticism." Taken together, these supplemental readings should help undergraduates get a sense of the cultural stakes of the charged political atmosphere in Marlowe's tragedy and his treatment of Edward’s love of Galveston. A good option for teachers who want to give their undergraduates an affordable paperback edition of Marlowe’s tragedy."
     —Andrew Fleck, University of Texas, El Paso, in Comitatus

About the Author:

Stephen J. Lynch is Professor of English and Director of the Liberal Arts Honors Program at Providence College.