After being dismissed by her husband, King Edward II, in favor of his lover, Piers Gaveston, the Queen expresses her bitter and mournful feelings in a soliloquy. In the course of this soliloquy, she alludes to various figures from classical mythology:
Would when I left sweet France and was embarked,
That charming Circes, walking on the waves,
Had changed my shape, or at the marriage day
The cup of Hymen had been full of poison,
Or with those arms that twined about my neck
I had been stifled and not lived to see
The king my lord thus to abandon me.
Like frantic Juno will I fill the earth
With ghastly murmur of my sighs and cries,
For never doted Jove on Ganymede
So much as he on cursèd Gaveston.
In this private speech, she registers a sense of homesickness upon leaving “sweet France” in order to marry Edward in England, even wishing that Circe, a witch-like enchantress and minor goddess in Greek mythology, had transformed her into something else so that she could avoid her fate. Next, she alludes to Hymen, a god associated with weddings and marriage, in wishing that she had been poisoned at her own wedding banquet in order to avoid her current heartbreak. Last, she alludes to Juno, who was neglected by her husband, Jupiter, in favor of Ganymede, a mortal boy whose beauty captured the god’s attention. This last allusion daringly registers the homoerotic implications of the relationship between Edward and Gaveston. In her monologue, then, the Queen speaks freely about her many woes and bitterly laments the King’s treatment of her.
In a soliloquy saturated with situational irony, Mortimer reveals his plans to rule England as a King in a manner similar to his predecessor, King Edward II. Preparing to establish Edward’s son as a puppet-ruler under his control, Mortimer states:
The queen and Mortimer
Shall rule the realm, the king, and none rule us;
Mine enemies will I plague, my friends advance,
And what I list command, who dare control?
Maior sum quam cui possit fortuna nocere;
And that this be the coronation day
It pleaseth me and Isabel the queen.
Previously, Mortimer opposed King Edward for his favoritism, granting great rights and privileges to his “favourites” and neglecting the nobility. Ironically, Mortimer plans to rule England much as Edward did, stating, “Mine enemies will I plague, my friends advance.” Further, Mortimer anticipates having complete control of the Kingdom, as all will have to obey his “command” and none “dare control” a King. His belief in the absolute power of the King is ironic, given his own role in overthrowing the previous King; if a King really holds such unquestioned power, then Mortimer himself would not stand behind the throne. This soliloquy suggests that his newfound power has corrupted his earlier ideals and that his reign over England would simply replicate the political issues that once justified his rebellion.
