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Study Guide Study Guide Prepared by Michael J. Cummings...© 2003 Revised in 2010.© .......Edward III is a history play. The battlefield feats of Prince Edward, known as the Black Prince, resemble those of Prince Hal (later King Henry V) in Henry IV, Part I; Henry IV, Part II; and Henry V. Date Written: Probably between 1589 and 1592 .......Since the publication of Edward III more than 400 years ago, its creator has been in doubt for two key reasons: (1) The publisher, Cuthbert Burby, failed to identify the author when the first copies of the play appeared in print, probably in 1596; (2) the Great Fire of London in 1666
probably destroyed any records referring to the author. However, over the centuries, scholars began to recognize similarities between the style of Edward III and other Shakespeare plays, although Edward III is clearly inferior to the great Shakespeare plays. .......The action takes place at the royal palace in London; Roxborough Castle, near the Scottish border; a French camp near Sluys, Flanders; a field near Crécy; English camps near Calais; battlefield. Characters The French and Their Allies The Scots .......This play focuses first on one of the causes of the Hundred Years' War between England and France: the claim of King Edward III (b. 1312, d. 1377) to the French throne as the son of Isabel, the only surviving child of the French king Philip IV (1268-1314). The last of Philip's three sons died in 1328. The play then shifts its focus to King Edward's quelling of an uprising by Scots, who had been aided by the French, and finally to the war in France in the 1340's, where the English win a glorious victory, thanks in large part to the derring-do of the king's son, Prince Edward, known as the Black Prince. Plot Summary
The French obscured your mother's privilege, .......Another Frenchman, the Duke of Lorraine, arrives at court to tell Edward that if he presents himself before John within forty days and acknowledges him as the rightful ruler of France, John will grant Edward the dukedom of Guienne. Artois and Prince Edward, the worthy son of the English king,
both dismiss the brazen offer and ridicule John. Lorraine leaves in a huff. War looms. And, though she were the next of blood, proclaimed John of the house of Valois, now their king. The reason was, they say, the realm of France, Replete with princes of great parentage, Ought not admit a governor to rule, Except he be descended of the male. (1.1.19-27) .......Meanwhile, belligerent Scots under King David invade England, capture Berwick and Newcastle, and besiege a castle at Roxborough that lodges the beautiful Countess of Salisbury, the daughter of the Earl of Warwick. King Edward dispatches troops to engage the French while he marches against David and the Scots. When Edward reaches Roxborough, the Scots flee and Edward prepares to pursue them until he sees the countess. Her charm and her looks utterly bewitch him, and he abandons his campaign against David to woo her. Although he and the countess are both married, Edward unabashedly proclaims his love for her. Morally upright, she rejects him—and refuses to yield to importunities from her father, whom Edward has forced into speaking up on his behalf. In the end, Edward and the countess never know each other except through eye contact. .......In France, the English capture Barfleur, Lo, Crotoy, and Carentan and lay waste the countryside even though John has a massive army that includes allies from Denmark, Bohemia, Sicily, Russia, and Poland. After John withdraws with 100,000 men to the plain of Crécy, he and King Edward—now encamped in France—meet briefly during a lull in fighting and exchange insults before the French move on. On King Edward's behalf, the Earl of Derby tells King John that Edward has a just claim to the French crown:
Was ever any of thy father's house king .......Prince Edward, known as the Black Prince, receives a splendid suit of armor from the Earl of Derby, Lord Audley, and Artois, then pursues John and his forces. But the French wheel and set upon him. All seems lost for the young warrior, especially when King Edward refuses to march to his aid. His
son must fend for himself to prove his mettle—or die. However, the prince rallies his forces and wins the day. When he arrives at his father’s camp with the body of the King of Bohemia, his father pronounces the prince a “fit heir unto a king.” King Edward then orders his son and Audley to pursue John’s army as it flees toward Poitiers while the English king and his forces besiege Calais, a
seaport in northern France. But thyself, before this present time? Edward's great lineage, by the mother's side, Five hundred years hath held the scepter up. Judge then, conspirators, by this descent, Which is the true born sovereign, this or that? (3.3.130-135) .......At Calais, bully news arrives from England: Armies of the crown have defeated the Scots. Moreover, John Copland, an esquire, has captured King David. King Edward sends a dispatch summoning Copland just as Edward’s wife, the queen, arrives at the port of Calais for a visit with her husband. After Edward pitches his tent near the shore to await his wife, the burgesses of Calais agree to surrender if Edward grants the town clemency. Edward tells a French captain that six of the town’s wealthiest merchants must
Come naked all, but for their linen shirts, .......King John, meanwhile, turns the tide and traps Prince Edward. Then he dispatches a herald to deliver this message to the prince: John will spare the prince if he surrenders on his knees with one hundred high-ranking men. Ever bold and proud, Prince Edward spurns the offer. Suddenly—and
inexplicably—a strange darkness With each a halter hanged about his neck, And, prostrate, yield themselves upon their knees, To be afflicted, hanged, or what I please. (4.2.74-77)  descends on the French camp, and ravens hover over the troops, unnerving them. Attempting to hearten his army, John says the ravens are merely awaiting the
spill of English blood. While the troops cower beneath the ominous birds, a French officer arrives with a prize captive, the Earl of Salisbury. The king summarily orders him to the gallows. Salisbury protests, declaring that he has a passport granting him travel rights through French ranks. He had obtained it from the Duke of Normandy, he claims, in exchange for the release of a French prisoner
named Villiers. John refuses to honor the pass; however, the duke (John's eldest son) steps forward and confirms that he granted the passport, swearing a vow to honor it. The king then releases Salisbury, telling him he may go to Calais to tell King Edward to prepare a grave for his son. .......Prince Edward’s situation indeed appears hopeless, for his archers have spent all their arrows. But the resourceful prince orders his troops to use what French soil has in abundance—flint. Still distracted by the ravens, the French troops panic. When some of them flee, their own compatriots turn against them. John’s son, Prince Philip, observes: “One poor David hath with a stone foiled twenty stout Goliaths. Some twenty naked starvelings with small flints have driven back a puissant host of men. . . .” Prince Edward once again has turned what appeared to be certain defeat into a victory. .......At Calais, King Edward decrees death for the six merchants brought before him. However, after the queen persuades him to show mercy, he relents. Copland then arrives with the captive Scottish king and Salisbury with news that Prince Edward appears doomed. Shortly thereafter, though, a herald delivers the glorious tidings that the young prince has won another great victory and, what is more, has brought with him two royal captives:
Rejoice, my lord, ascend the imperial throne. .......All is well for the English after these opening battles of the Hundred Years War. The mighty and redoubted Prince of Wales, Great servitor to bloody Mars in arms, The Frenchman's terror and his country's fame, Triumphant rideth, like a Roman peer, And lowly, at his stirrup, comes afoot King John of France together with his son In captive bonds; whose diadem he brings To crown thee with and to proclaim thee king. (5.1.177-184) Climax .......The climax occurs when Prince Edward, the Black Prince, turns the tide of battle and wins a smashing victory, enabling his father to receive the crown of France from the Prince's captive, King John. The clash between England and France over the throne of France. Edward III, King of England, believes he is the rightful heir to the throne of France as the son of Isabel, the only surviving child of Philip IV of France (1268-1314). His claim
Either swear to leave thy most unholy suit, Small Stage, Great WritingAnd never henceforth to solicit me, Or else, by Heaven, this sharp-pointed knife Shall stain thy earth, with that which thou would stain: My poor chaste blood. Swear, Edward! Swear, Or I will strike and die before thee here. (2.2.181-186) .......Edward III was one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays. While writing it, he practiced a skill that served him well in later plays: making believable for his audiences a scene that was too large in scope for an Elizabethan stage (a raging battle, for example). In Act III, Scene I, Shakespeare accomplishes this task by having a mariner describe to King John of France an encounter between the English and French navies. The mariner’s description says, in part:
Purple the sea, whose channel filled as fast .......Thus, the physical limitations of the stage spurred Shakespeare to broaden the power of his language in order to present a panoramic scene which today, in a film, requires teams of cinematographers and experts in special effects to present in credible form. These limitations ultimately benefited Shakespeare as a
playwright, for they forced him to rely on his writing genius to inform the audience about a battle, a shipwreck, a riot, a violent thunderstorm, etc. And what came out of Shakespeare's quill is certainly greater by far than what comes out of modern movie cameras and computers. With streaming gore that from the maimèd fell, As did her gushing moisture break into The crannied cleftures of the through-shot planks. Here flew a head, dissevered from the trunk; There mangled arms and legs were tossed aloft, As when a whirlwind takes the summer dust And scatters it in middle of the air. Then might ye see the reeling vessels split, And, tottering, sink into the ruthless flood, Until their lofty tops were seen no more. (161-171) .......Edward III, like all other Shakespeare plays, is rich in imagery. Often, the imagery uses nature and animals to make comparisons, as the following two examples demonstrate: Metaphor Comparing Edward to a Garden Flower
And from the fragrant garden of her [Edward's mother, Isabel] womb, Metaphor Comparing Serpents to the French Your gracious self, the flower of Europe's hope, Derivèd is -- inheritor to France. (1.1.14-16) Personification/Metaphor Comparing Swords to Advocates
Let creeping serpents hid in hollow banks, Metaphor Comparing Ships to Pines and Ensigns to FlowersSting with their tongues; we have remorseless swords, And they shall plead for us and our affairs. (3.3.98-100)
Near to the coast I have descried, my lord, Imagery: the Horror of WarAs I was busy in my watchful charge, The proud armada of King Edward's ships, Which, at the first far off when I did ken, Seemed as it were a grove of withered pines; But, drawing near, their glorious bright aspect, Their streaming ensigns wrought of colored silk, Like to a meadow full of sundry flowers, Adorns the naked bosom of the earth. (3.1.62.71) .......Shakespeare also drenches the audience in gore, as he sometimes does in other plays--most notably Titus Andronicus. In the following passage, a mariner delivers a gruesome report to King John on the progress of the fighting:
Purple the sea, whose channel filled as fast Imagery: the Yearning HeartWith streaming gore that from the maimèd fell, As did her gushing moisture break into The crannied cleftures of the through-shot planks. Here flew a head, dissevered from the trunk; There mangled arms and legs were tossed aloft, As when a whirlwind takes the summer dust And scatters it in middle of the air. Then might ye see the reeling vessels split, And, tottering, sink into the ruthless flood, Until their lofty tops were seen no more. (3.1.161-171) .......King Edward, captivated by the beauty of the Countess of Salisbury, cannot resist making a play for her. He experiences overwhelming desire that he cannot control--and overwhelming guilt when he sees the reflection of his wife's face in the face of his son. Metaphor: the Alluring Eyes of the Countess of Salisbury Are Eloquent Orators
What needs a tongue to such a speaking eye, Paradox and Metaphor: "Wisdom is foolishness," "Beauty is slander" That more persuades than winning oratory? (1.2.139-140) Metaphor: Looks Compared to Summer, Disdain Compared to Winter
Wisdom is foolishness but in her tongue, Metaphor/Personification: A Face Becomes a PersonBeauty a slander but in her fair face, There's no summer but in her cheerful looks, Nor frosty winter but in her disdain. (2.1.40-43)
I see the boy. Oh, how his mother's face, England's House of PlantagenetModelled in his, corrects my strayed desire, And rates my heart, and chides my thievish eye, Who, being rich enough in seeing her, Yet seeks elsewhere. (2.1.74-79) Henry II (son of Henry I's daughter and Geoffrey Plantagenet) 1154-1189. Age at death: 56.  Plays on DVD (or VHS) Play
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