The Famous Chronicle of King Edward the First

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The Famous Chronicle of King Edward the First, sirnamed Edward Longshankes, with his returne from the holy land. ALSO THE LIFE OF LLEVELLEN rebell In Wales. Lastly, the sinking of Queen Elinor, who sunck at Charingcrosse, and rose againe at Pottershith, now named Queenehith. is a play by George Peele, published 1593, chronicling the career of Edward I of England.

Contents

Editions

A quarto edition duly appeared with the date 1593, printed by Abel Jeffes and sold for him by William Barley in Gracechurch Street. Copies of this edition are preserved in the Bodleian Library and the British Museum. These editions are composed with tolerable care but representing a very corrupt text. A second edition appeared in 1599. [1]

Plot

The play concentrates on the power struggle between Edward I and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, also glancing at the reign and fall of John Balliol. The play's presentation of Llywelyn's life while in rebellion against Edward is based on the legend of Robin Hood. Although some sympathy is extended to the Welsh the playwright effectively endorses the aim of uniting Britain by force.

Heavily influenced by ballads, the play is rambling and episodic. It has been argued that the text is corrupt and that Peele did not write certain scenes, particularly a (ballad-based) deathbed confession by Queen Eleanor that of all her children, only the last, Edward of Caernarfon, is her husband's.

The first editor to break the play into scenes was Arthur Henry Bullen. [2] The following scene breaks are based on Frank S. Hook's 1961 Yale University Press edition (spelling of character names is based on the original):

Characters

(list from Frank S. Hook's edition for Yale University Press (1961), pp. 70–71)

I. Speaking Parts

The English

The Welsh

The Scots

II. Walk-Ons

  • Hugh de Cressingham
  • Robert Bruce
  • Scottish lords (7)
  • Scottish pages (9)
  • Welsh barons (3)
  • Negro Moors (4)
  • Footmen (4)
  • Barbers (2)
  • Ancient
  • Heralds
  • Lords attendant, both English and Scottish
  • Musicians
  • Soldiers
  • Sailors
  • Nurse
  • Ladies-in-waiting

Edward II is born during the play, but is never more than an infant in any of his scenes.

III. Unexplained characters

Recent developments

In 1974, a "retroform" of the play prepared by G.K. Dreher was published, with the dubious scenes removed and the remaining text streamlined. [6] Although this would be considerably easier to stage than the full text, there has to date been no modern fully-staged production.[ citation needed ]

A one-off performance of the full surviving script was given at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, part of Shakespeare's Globe's on 10 February 2019. Part of the theatre's Read Not Dead series, the performance was semi-staged and performed with limited rehearsal and script-in-hand before a live audience. [7] [8]

In Shakespeare the Player (2000), John Southworth (following the Victorian scholar F. G. Fleay) argued that the actor who had originally portrayed Edward was not, as is commonly supposed, Edward Alleyn, but William Shakespeare.

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References

  1. King Edward the First by George Peele; Published 1911; Printed for the Malone Society by H. Hart, at Oxford University Press; London; p. v.
  2. Hook, 65.
  3. Hook (205) believes that this would have baffled even audience members familiar with the poem due to the context.
  4. p. 205
  5. In real life, he was Llewellyn's brother, not Rice's son.
  6. "George Peele, "The Chronicle of King Edward the First Surnamed Longshanks with the Life of Lluellen, Rebel in Wales", edited by G. K. Dreher (Book Review)". ProQuest .
  7. "Read Not Dead: Edward I casting. This weekend we".
  8. "Read Not Dead: Edward I". 27 March 2019.