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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Mortimer threaten Edward if he do not agree to Gaveston's exile?

2. How does Mortimer Junior characterize Gaveston in Scene 4?

3. What does Isabella wish would happen to Gaveston at the end of Scene 3?

4. What entreaty does Mortimer Junior make to Edward when they enter in Scene 1?

5. What does Warwick believe is the only mean the nobles have of challenging Gaveston?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Edward and Gaveston's parting in Scene 4.

2. What expectation does Edward have after giving up his crown?

3. How does Isabella greet the victory of Scene 5?

4. How does Mortimer Junior convince the other nobles that Gaveston should be recalled?

5. How does Rice Ap Howell track down Edward?

6. How do the nobles respond to Gaveston's advancement?

7. What fate befalls the nobles in Scene 3?

8. How do Edward and Gaveston react to Isabella's entrance in Scene 4?

9. What plans does Gaveston upon returning from exile?

10. Describe the relationship between Leicester and Edward.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Unlike many Elizabethan histories, Edward II does not feature a cast of royals with well defined aims and objectives. Write an essay on the haphazard strategies of the princes and nobles of the play, focusing on three parts:

Part 1) Edward II, from the beginning of the play, is unable to articulate why he should be king. What, for the first half of the narrative, are his objectives and reasons for going to war? At what point does governance and the crown become important to him?

Part 2) Mortimer Junior seems at times to be a conscientious man concerned with England. At other times he seems and ambitious rogue. What does Mortimer want throughout the play? In what ways and why does he so often reverse his own decisions?

Part 3) Kent is the everyman of Edward II. Why does he stand by the king long after most other peers have left? What is the final straw for him? Why does he try to make peace with Edward II?

Essay Topic 2

Betrayal is a constant driver of plot in Edward II. Power players of medieval England make vows to each other which they break quickly for political advancement or due to lack of resolve. Write an essay about betrayal in the play, in three parts:

Part 1) Mortimer Junior vows to his fellow peers that he cannot allow Gaveston to remain in England, but he relents soon thereafter. How is he so easily swayed to change his mind? How does this put the other nobles in danger? Does it display a weakness that will later destroy him?

Part 2) Isabella constantly swears fidelity and love to Edward, but by Act 4, he is championing the cause of Mortimer Junior. Why is this? Do you buy the justification of her betrayal? How does she pay for it in the final scene of the play?

Part 3) Kent twice betrays the side to whom he has sworn fidelity. How are these two betrayals the most understandable to the audience? Are they the result of conscience rather than ambition?

Essay Topic 3

The play of Edward II focuses on the scripture of the English class system, in which people are born into their station and social mobility is looked upon with disdain. Focusing on three characters, write an essay on social mobility in the play. How does each character view himself in the pecking order? How does he seek to improve his station? What is his attitude toward the system as a whole?

Part 1) Gaveston

Part 2) Mortimer Junior

Part 3) Spencer Junior and Baldock

(see the answer keys)

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