The Life of Edward II of England

The Life of Edward II of England (German: Leben Eduards des Zweiten von England), also known as Edward II, is an adaptation by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht of the 16th-century historical tragedy by Marlowe, The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer (c.1592). The play is set in England between 1307 and 1326. A prefatory note to the play reads:

"Here is shown before the public the history of the troubled reign of Edward the Second, King of England, and his lamentable death

likewise the glory and end of his favourite, Gaveston

further the disordered fate of Queen Anne

likewise the rise and fall of the great earl Roger Mortimer

all which befell in England and specially in London, more than six hundred years ago."

Brecht wrote his adaptation in collaboration with Lion Feuchtwanger. It is written mostly in irregular free verse, with two songs (one of which is from Marlowe's original), over twenty-one scenes. Looking back at the play-text near the end of his life, Brecht offered the following assessment of their intentions: "We wanted to make possible a production which would break with the Shakespearean tradition common to German theatres: that lumpy monumental style beloved of middle-class philistines."