Edward II: Metaphors 7 key examples

He acknowledges that it is “treason” to directly oppose a King and that the people of England generally support King Edward II “for his father’s sake.” Here, he references King Edward I, who was well-regarded in England for his military victories at war with Scotland. Despite their support for the King, Mortimer implies, the people of England will side with the rebellious lords if they oppose Gaveston, as they “cannot brook a night-grown mushroom.” Here, Mortimer imagines Gaveston as a mushroom that has grown quickly overnight, implying that Gaveston is an upstart who has rapidly gained power that is not warranted by his actions or experience.

He implores the Queen not to “angle for” or catch a fish that, upon “being caught, strikes him that takes it dead.” Through this fishing metaphor, he suggests that the Queen advocates on behalf of a figure who would not hesitate to injure her if saved. Further developing the metaphor, he describes Gaveston as a “torpedo,” an archaic term for an electric ray, a fish capable of producing an electric discharge in order to stun its prey.

Concluding his short speech, he wishes that, as they speak, Gaveston “floats on the Irish seas.” This language of “floating” responds to his earlier metaphor characterizing Gaveston as a fish, but it also invokes an image of a drowned Gaveston floating atop the sea. Mortimer’s metaphor, then, summarizes the resentful feelings that the nobility have for Gaveston, a commoner. 

Lancaster begins by stating that his emblem is more “obscure” or difficult to interpret than that of Mortimer, whose emblem depicts a tree that has been afflicted by a "canker" or disease. Lancaster then alludes to Pliny, a naturalist and philosopher in Ancient Rome. Pliny, he states, writes of a “flying fish” that is hated by “all the other fishes.” Because of this widespread hatred, the flying fish “takes the air” to escape them but finds itself nevertheless seized by a “fowl” or bird. Like Mortimer, then, Lancaster has selected a metaphorical emblem that criticizes Gaveston. Like the flying fish, Lancaster suggests, Gaveston is widely hated, and his attempts to evade his enemies will likewise prove unsuccessful. 

Beckoning his attendants to sit near him, he expresses his desire to engage in the aimless philosophical debates that characterized scholastic education in Oxford and Cambridge, “our famous nurseries of arts.” Here, he imagines these schools as children’s nurseries that foster “the arts,” a category which at this time included numerous academic disciplines ranging from the humanities to science. Further developing this metaphor, he imagines the students at these colleges as infants, absorbing the lessons of Plato and Aristotle as a baby suckles on milk. In this scene, the King looks back nostalgically upon his own adolescence in an effort to distract himself from present woes. 

Here, the King compares his own circumstances as a monarch to those of a subject. A deer, he states, “runs to an herb” when it is injured and is healed. In his layered metaphor, he suggests that normal citizens are able to take action to solve their own problems and save themselves from injury or death. “But,” he states, “when the imperial lion’s flesh is gored,” he is not able to address his injury so simply. Because of his high status at the top of the animal kingdom, the lion “rends and tears” at his own injury, proudly refusing to allow the “lowly earth” to absorb his own blood.

A King, he implies, must maintain his own dignity even at the cost of self-destruction. Through this animal metaphor, Edward reflects upon the limited choices available to him as he is forced to abdicate the throne. 

Edward responds fatalistically to his predicament, wishing that he could strike back against his enemies but never committing to any decisive plan of action. He feels that he should “revenge” himself of the “wrongs” inflicted against him, but he finds himself unable to act without the assistance of his attendants and soldiers.

Kings, he suggests, are nothing but “perfect shadows in a sunshine day” without the military support that enforces their rule. Just as a shadow disappears in bright light, Edward imagines that his own Kingship—the qualities and powers imbued in the figure of the King—have disappeared. Edward’s metaphor, then, suggests that the power of a King isn't an essential trait inherent to an individual but, instead, a social phenomenon that requires the willing participation of all parties. 

Writers in Ancient Rome often described the oak tree as sacred to Jupiter, the Latin equivalent of Jove. Here, Mortimer imagines himself as “Jove’s huge tree,” or, in other words, an oak. In comparison, the other lords are “but shrubs” who “tremble” at his name. He contentedly imagines himself towering over his subjects once he has assumed the power of a King and enjoys complete power. 

His botanical metaphors reflect a key motif in the play: the treatment of England as a garden and the King as a tall tree at its center. As his language here suggests, Mortimer has changed greatly throughout the course of the play. Where he once defended the right of the lords to oppose the King and defend their own interests, he now craves the power to rule with complete authority and terrify his enemies.