Word: gaveston
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...thwarted) will be thrust rudely at you like a piece of ACT-UP literature: fine if you're a piece of ACT-UP literature, but not necessarily if you're a Christopher Marlowe play. But first, the Cliff Notes. Edward II has a particular affection for a commoner named Gaveston, and makes him his companion, much to the chagrin of his queen Isabella, his brother, his court, and his kingdom in general. With the ambitious militarist Mortimer, Isabella jealously plots Gaveston's banishment and eventual murder. Edward II winds up imprisoned and miserable, failed in his capacities as ruler...
...Like the abrupt cuts from scene to scene, these anachronisms are jarring and seem altogether a little too precious: a toy robot is set adrift, a bunch of sneakered men are directed in sit-ups by a man in a hooded sweatshirt, and the courtiers at the meeting where Gaveston's exile is discussed are dressed as a bunch of IBM executives. In one mob scene a group of demonstrators wield placards that read "Gay desire is not a crime!" One wonders why they didn't go the whole nine yards and have such things plastered in boldface on Edward...
...being stuck in a prolonged Calvin Klein perfume ad. This may have something to do with how good the actors look, and what they are wearing. Jarman's homosexual lovers have strong jaws and wellcut hair. I spent some futile time trying to remember whether I'd seen Gaveston (Andrew Tienan) in "St. Elmo's Fire...
Dripping with Muck. The play opens with Marlowe's gaudy word-painting about the pleasures of boys and other toys, and with a searching kiss on the mouth by which Edward welcomes his favorite, Gaveston. It ends with a death scene in which Marlowe dredges the most profound pity up from the most nightmarish sensationalism: the deposed king dragged from the castle cesspool, half mad and dripping with muck, washed and soothed and kissed by his murderer in the lingering tender dialogue with which a frightened lover is put to sleep. Then smothered with a feather blanket, crushed beneath...
...Edward's weakness is more than personality; it is politics. Disorder in the passions is mirrored by disorder in the state. Gaveston's name tolls like a bell through Edward's lines, but for Edward's enemies the favorite is merely an instrument to hand; his death is simply an incident in the long war between king and barons. In tantrum at court, in victorious fury of battle, then defeated and bound, Edward is stalked by his encircling nobles. This play is about the state, the nature of the medieval constitution, and the Renaissance fascination with...