Christopher Marlowe’s drama Edward II has long been known for its representation of a close male, arguably homosexual, friendship between King Edward II and his favorite, the French Piers Gaveston, as well as their union’s negative effects on the court. Indeed much criticism exists on the common belief that the characters’ relationship is problematic in early modern England both because the two characters are male and because there is an obvious class divide. However, critics have seemed to overlook Gaveston’s being French, even in light of the massive immigration to England during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. This paper examines Marlowe’s play as a xenophobic portrayal of a Frenchman and as a shrewdly reactionary push against immigrants from Catholic nations. To achieve this goal, Marlowe stages a play whose dealings are as political as they are sexual. Starting with Gaveston’s undue sense of power in the first act and ending with the king’s historically gruesome death-by-poker scene, Edward II leaves its audience aware that a life dedicated to a foreigner ultimately ends in death from a foreigner.
","abstract_html":"<p>Christopher Marlowe’s drama <em>Edward II</em> has long been known for its representation of a close male, arguably homosexual, friendship between King Edward II and his favorite, the French Piers Gaveston, as well as their union’s negative effects on the court. Indeed much criticism exists on the common belief that the characters’ relationship is problematic in early modern England both because the two characters are male and because there is an obvious class divide. However, critics have seemed to overlook Gaveston’s being French, even in light of the massive immigration to England during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. This paper examines Marlowe’s play as a xenophobic portrayal of a Frenchman and as a shrewdly reactionary push against immigrants from Catholic nations. To achieve this goal, Marlowe stages a play whose dealings are as political as they are sexual. Starting with Gaveston’s undue sense of power in the first act and ending with the king’s historically gruesome death-by-poker scene, <em>Edward II </em>leaves its audience aware that a life dedicated to a foreigner ultimately ends in death from a foreigner.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Baker, James D"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Eric Tribunella","Mark Dahlquist","Jameela Lares"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:34Z","subjects":["nationalism","xenophobia","sexuality","early modern drama","Classics","Comparative Literature","English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/152","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Eric Tribunella","Mark Dahlquist","Jameela Lares"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Baker, James D"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-10-13T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["nationalism","xenophobia","sexuality","early modern drama","Classics","Comparative Literature","English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/152"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Christopher Marlowe’s drama Edward II has long been known for its representation of a close male, arguably homosexual, friendship between King Edward II and his favorite, the French Piers Gaveston, as well as their union’s negative effects on the court. Indeed much criticism exists on the common belief that the characters’ relationship is problematic in early modern England both because the two characters are male and because there is an obvious class divide. However, critics have seemed to overlook Gaveston’s being French, even in light of the massive immigration to England during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. This paper examines Marlowe’s play as a xenophobic portrayal of a Frenchman and as a shrewdly reactionary push against immigrants from Catholic nations. To achieve this goal, Marlowe stages a play whose dealings are as political as they are sexual. Starting with Gaveston’s undue sense of power in the first act and ending with the king’s historically gruesome death-by-poker scene, Edward II leaves its audience aware that a life dedicated to a foreigner ultimately ends in death from a foreigner.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Staging Sex or Fighting Foreignness? Marlowe's Edward II as Xenophobic Drama"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Eric Tribunella","Mark Dahlquist","Jameela Lares"],"dc:creator":["Baker, James D"],"dc:date.available":["2015-10-13T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Christopher Marlowe’s drama Edward II has long been known for its representation of a close male, arguably homosexual, friendship between King Edward II and his favorite, the French Piers Gaveston, as well as their union’s negative effects on the court. Indeed much criticism exists on the common belief that the characters’ relationship is problematic in early modern England both because the two characters are male and because there is an obvious class divide. However, critics have seemed to overlook Gaveston’s being French, even in light of the massive immigration to England during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. This paper examines Marlowe’s play as a xenophobic portrayal of a Frenchman and as a shrewdly reactionary push against immigrants from Catholic nations. To achieve this goal, Marlowe stages a play whose dealings are as political as they are sexual. Starting with Gaveston’s undue sense of power in the first act and ending with the king’s historically gruesome death-by-poker scene, Edward II leaves its audience aware that a life dedicated to a foreigner ultimately ends in death from a foreigner.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/152"],"dc:subject":["nationalism","xenophobia","sexuality","early modern drama","Classics","Comparative Literature","English Language and Literature"],"dc:title":["Staging Sex or Fighting Foreignness? Marlowe's Edward II as Xenophobic Drama"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:34Z"}