Pembroke´s Benevolence

PEMBROKE

Hard is the heart that injures such a saint

(4.190)

PEMBROKE

My Lord Mortimer, and you, my lords, each one,

To gratify the king's request therein,

Touching the sending of this Gaveston,

Because his majesty so earnestly

Desires to see the man before his death,

I will upon mine honour undertake

To carry him, and bring him back again;

Provided this, that you my lord of Arundel

Will join with me.

(9.74-82)

These two speeches are delivered by the Earl of Pembroke in different scenes of Christopher Marlow´s Edward II. Is Pembroke at the Queen side? Is the Earl one of the King´s men?. This aparently odd behaviour in Pembroke´s character can be explained if the reader takes a look at the title page of the play.

Christopher Marlow´s Edward II was "publiquely acted by the right honorable the Earle of Pembrook his seruantes" (title page). This Elizabethan playing company best known as The Earl of Pembroke´s Men was supported and financed by Henry Herbert, Earl of Pembroke (1538-1601). Being Henry Herbert a sucessor of the Earl of Pembroke who is characterized in Marlowe´s play it is possible to argue that the role and the nature of this character should be showed in such a way that the patron of the performance had no complains about how the good name of his family was showed to the audience. 

 

Moreover, it may also be possible that Marlowe had taken into account historical reasons in order to give this character a benevolent nature because the Earl of Pembroke who lived at the time of the play (early 14^th century), had died two years before Edward`s death. In other words, it would be impossible to know if the Earl of Pembroke had been at the Edward´s side or against him.