Character of Isabella in Christopher Marlowe’s drama, Edward II: The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer

From the very beginning of Christopher Marlowe’s drama, Edward II none can identify the true fathom of the character of Queen Isabella. At first she appears as a deeply devoted and loving wife. She is ready to sacrifice everything for the shake of her husband. She wants to leave the court and live in the forest in order to secure  the happiness of her husband with Gaveston. Though she is ill treated by her husband, she is found to be much conscious about her husband’s safety. The ill treatment that Queen Isabella has received from Edward-II is beyond common endurance. However , she bears it for the shake of peace and to avoid civil war. She agrees for the repeal of banishment order of Gaveston. She requests the barons not to revolt against the king. She succeeds in bringing back Gaveston but she fails to bring back the love of Edward-II for her. All her womanly zeal is crushed. She is stricken out and perhaps this 'cause' is in working of Marlowe to bring forth the aspect of her character.

            Isabella is a split personality to an extend. She is the first real woman character of Marlowe.  She is more alive, at any rate than the corpse of Zenocrate or the Wrath of Helen. Isabella cherishes a soft corner for younger Mortimer. The king accuses her for her adulteress. She meets Mortimer secretly and tells him about the king’s suspicions. She vividly expresses in a soliloquy her love for younger Mortimer:

                   “so well hathst thou deserve sweet Mortimer

                       as Isabella could live with the forever”.

 She is a dissembler. She assumes the role of the Machiavelli and displays her marked characteristic of dissembling – she knows what to say and what to do and in what time and in what place. The change in her character can easily bring out her split personality. It is clear from the soliloquy of the Earl of Kent:

                                     “Dissemble, or thou diest; for Mortimer

                                    And Isabel do kiss while they conspire;

                                    And yet she bears a face of love forsooth”.

Her hypocrisy is a marked one. She wants to kills two birds with one stone. In one hand, to please her husband, she pleads the barons to bring back Gaveston, on the other hand she conspired with the barons to kill Gaveston. She was sent to France by Edward-II to ease the situation but she returns England with force and defeats the king and even imprisons him. She asks Mortimer to make her son the king of England and yet she likes to control all over the kingdom.

            

Queen Isabella

Marlowe makes everyone keep in guess beforehand the idea that the queen is in love with Mortimer. Gaveston says this openly. The king seems willing to belief it; the courtiers glance and whispers. There could scarcely be better preparation for the relations between Queen and Mortimer.

            This is undeniable fact that Queen Isabella has great love for her son and she truly wants to make him the king of England. She wants to protect her son from every possible danger. It is ironical that the Queen once again is caught in adversities. The young prince suspects the hand of younger Mortimer and his mother in the imprisonment and murder of king Edward-II.

            “Mother you are suspected for his death

            And therefore we commit you to the tower

            Till further trial may me maid there of;

            If you be guilty, thou I be your son

            Think not to find me slack of pitiful”.

            Evil begets evil only Isabella now faces her Nemesis. She thought to lead to happy- go -live after her son becomes the king. But on the contrary she finds herself utterly destitute when the secrecy is revealed. The new king comes to know the actual doings of his mother and sentences her to be imprisoned. The wheel of happiness is sung into quagmire of misery.

            Isabella is a multicolored character. When she is introduced to us she seems to be an innocent wife but as the play rolls on mystery of her character becomes clear. But she is also a victim of circumstances. Further her mind and action lead to the events taking place in the plot of the play.

   

Hi Friends !

To reach a critical understanding of the plot of the play you must read the English history of that time in a nutshell:
1.In the 1st millennium bc the Celts overran the British Isles, as they did virtually all of western Europe. With their advanced knowledge of agriculture ,war and civic rules , they dominated the whole reign.
2.Then came the superiority of Roman. However, Britain did not enter the Roman world until Julius Caesar's arrival in 55 bc.
3 The glory of Roman Empire receded after the 3rd and 4th century.
4.In the meantime the history of England begins its new phase with the Anglo-Saxons, who invaded Great Britain about ad 449.
5.The year 1066 was another turning point in English history with the name of Normandy Conquest of England by  William I, the Conqueror.His rule initiated a new French aristocracy and a new social and political structure. This French influences  lasts for more than 400 years.

--->England Under the Norman (Viking people who raided and then settled in the French province later known as Normandy) 
----->Plantagenet Kings (relating or belonging to the English royal family that ruled between 1154 and 1485, or to this period of English history.)

The period is spanned by the reigns of Kings 

Henry II:Matilda's son, Henry Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, succeeded, as Henry II, in 1154.

Richard I:Richard I, the Lion-Hearted, was in England only briefly. He was busy fighting in the Crusades and later for the land lost in France during his absence, especially while he was a captive in Germany.

John:John, who inherited the resentment against Angevin rule aroused by his father and brother, added to his troubles by his own excesses.

Henry III:When John died in 1216, the barons accepted his nine-year-old son as King Henry III.The barons assumed control of the government and confirmed the Magna Carta in 1225.

Edward I:Edward I restored royal control and made several reforms: He limited the barons' right to hold their own courts of law.
Edward II:His son, Edward II remained busy with war to King Robert Bruce who championed the cause of Scotland's  independence. It beget prolonged enmity with Scotland and its alliance , France. He was a weak king who led a life of finery and beauty, kept favorites.Even the barons passed  the ordinances of 1311 that gave them the ruling power. Although he freed himself of baronial rule in 1322, he was forced to abdicate in 1327.

Edward III:His son, Edward III, got on well with the barons by keeping them busy in France, where England continued to hold extensive territory. In 1337 he initiated the Hundred Years' War to vindicate his claim to the French throne.

Later kings: Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III
Try To Find Out ---
@ In "Edward II," what is the role of Isabella in a world where men are dominant?
@ The will to power and, ultimately, the  corruption inherent in power. Is Isabella a Lady with her Eye on the Target ?
@. The triangle of relationship among Edward, Gaveston and Isabella.

Ardhendu De