Gorboduc

About the author

Thomas Norton (1532 – 10 March 1584) was an English lawyer, politician, writer of verse.
Norton was born in London and was educated at Cambridge,[1] and early became a
secretary to the Protector Somerset. In 1555 he was admitted a student at the Inner Temple,
and married Margery Cranmer, the daughter of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Margery died
before 1568 with no issue. In 1568, Thomas was married to Alice, the daughter of
Archdeacon Edmund Cranmer, who was the brother of the Archbishop.

From his eighteenth year Norton began to compose verse. With Jasper Heywood he was a
writer of "sonnets"; he contributed to Tottel's Miscellany, and in 1560 he composed, in
company with Thomas Sackville, the earliest English tragedy, Gorboduc, which was
performed before Elizabeth I in the Inner Temple on 18 January 1561.

Gorboduc was revised, as The Tragedy of Ferrex and Porrex, in 1570. Norton's early lyrics
have in the main disappeared. Numerous anti-Catholic pamphlets include those on the
rebellion of Northumberland and on the projected marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the
Duke of Norfolk. Norton also translated Calvin's Institutes (1561) and Alexander Nowell's
Catechism (1570).

It was first performed at the Christmas celebration given by the Inner Temple in 1561, and
performed before Queen Elizabeth I on 18 January 1562, by the Gentlemen of the Inner
Temple.[1] The authors were Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville, said to be responsible
for the first three Acts, and the final two, respectively.

The first quarto, published by the bookseller William Griffith, was published 22 September
1565.[2] A second authorized quarto corrected by the authors followed in 1570 printed by
John Day with the title The Tragedie of Ferrex and Porrex. A third edition was published in
1590 by Edward Allde.[3]

The play is notable for several reasons: as the first verse drama in English to employ blank
verse; for its political subject matter (the realm of Gorboduc is disputed by his sons Ferrex
and Porrex), which was still a touchy area in the early years of Elizabeth's reign, while the
succession to the throne was unclear; for its manner, progressing from the models of the
morality play and Senecan tragedy in the direction which would be followed by later
playwrights. That is, it can be seen as a forerunner of the whole trend that would later
produce Titus Andronicus[4] and King Lear. It also provides the first well-documented
performance of a play in Ireland: Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy staged it at Dublin
Castle in 1601.

Gorboduc appears in various dramatic collections, and was separately edited by William
Durrant Cooper (Shakespeare Society, 1847), and by Lucy Toulmin Smith in Karl Vollmöller's
Englische Sprache-und Literatur-denkmale (1883).
Plot

Gorboduc (Welsh: Gorwy or Goronwy) was a legendary king of the Britons as recounted by
Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was married to Judon. When he became old, his sons, Ferrex and
Porrex, feuded over who would take over the kingdom. Porrex tried to kill his brother in an
ambush, but Ferrex escaped to France. With the French king Suhardus, he invaded Britain,
but was defeated and killed by Porrex. Porrex himself was then killed in revenge by his own
mother Judon, then the high strata of society killed his mother and then there was a war
between high strata and low strata leading to an anarchy in the society ...this anarchy led to
Civil War denouncing Gorboduc.[1] Geoffrey does not state when Gorbuduc died, but he is
not mentioned after the account of the strife between his sons.

Short summary.

At the play's beginning, the argument gives the following summary of the play's action:
"Gorboduc, King of Britain, divided his realm in his lifetime to his sons, Ferrex and Porrex.
The sons fell to dissension. The younger killed the elder. The mother that more dearly loved
the elder, for revenge killed the younger. The people, moved with the cruelty of the fact, rose
in rebellion and slew both father and mother. The nobility assembled and most terribly
destroyed the rebels. And afterward for want of issue of the prince, whereby the succession
of the crown became uncertain, they fell to civil war in which both they and many of their
issues were slain, and the land for a long time almost desolate and miserably wasted."

Gorboduc announces his plan to divide his kingdom between his sons Ferrex and Porrex. His
councillors advise against it, reminding him of the conflict that arose between the cousins
Morgan and Cunedag when Britain was divided between them, which led to Morgan's death.
Gorboduc appreciates their advice but goes ahead with his plan. Ferrex is advised by the
parasite Hermon to take the whole Kingdom. Tyndar tells Porrex that his brother is making
plans for war, meaning Porrex decides to invade Ferrex's realm. Dordan writes to Gorboduc
of this. Gorboduc bewails this and is advised to raise a force against them. However, Nuntius
then enters, bearing the news of Ferrex's death. Porrex meets his father and justifies his
actions, saying that he was content to rule his kingdom but that his brother plotted to take
his lands. However, his mother Videna then stabs him dead while he is sleeping in revenge
for Ferrex. The people rise up in anger and kill both her and Gorboduc, blaming the King for
Porrex's death. The nobles prepare to act against the rebels. However, the succession is left
uncertain and Fergus, the Duke of Albany, plans to gain the throne and begins raising an
army while his friends try to gather support. The nobles defeat the rebels, but hear of that
Fergus has raised an army and intends to take the crown. The nobles oppose Fergus, thinking
of him as a foreign invader. Arostus says that Parliament must decide upon a new King.
Eubulus bemoans the chaos that has happened to the country and says that Parliament
should have been called while the King was alive, but that justice will eventually prevail.

E notes half summary- Gorboduc, king of Britain and last of the line beginning with the
legendary Brute, decides that he will not wait until his death before handing over the rule of
his kingdom. In addition, he decides that he will set aside the rule of primogeniture and
divide Britain between his two sons, Ferrex and Porrex. To Ferrex, the older, he plans to give
all lands south of the Humber River; to Porrex, the younger, he intends to give those lands
north of the Humber.

Calling in his chief advisers, Gorboduc tells them what is in his mind. Arostus is in complete
agreement with the king’s wishes, but Philander and Eubulus warn of the dangers of the
plan. Although they admit that the king will be able to aid his sons in the early years of their
reigns, they feel that the sons might not be willing to take advice from their father after he
places power in their hands. The advisers also warn that when the authority of the kingdom
is divided, the allegiance of the people might be divided, and they point out that Ferrex
might very well resent having to share the kingdom with a younger brother, since custom
made it the rule that the firstborn son inherited the entire kingdom. Last of all, they warn
Gorboduc that history has proved a kingdom divided is easier prey to foreign conquest.

Gorboduc listens to his counselors. When they finish speaking, however, he tells them his
mind is made up, that he feels the advantages to be gained by dividing the kingdom during
his lifetime outweigh the disadvantages. Accordingly, he sets his plan in operation, not
knowing that his queen, Videna, is extremely jealous of her older son’s prerogatives and
hates the younger son for receiving a part of the kingdom that she feels rightfully belongs in
its entirety to Ferrex.

Gorboduc sends trusted advisers of his own with each of the princes when they take over
their separate domains, but before long both sons begin to disregard their father’s
counselors. Instead, they listen to young men who prey upon their vanities. Ferrex seeks the
advice of a parasite named Hermon, a man who flatters the young ruler’s ego. Hermon tells
Ferrex that as the older son he should not have been given such a meager part of Britain and
that, according to custom and his own ability, Ferrex should have been made ruler of the
entire domain.....................

Characters

Gorboduc, King of Great Britain

Videna, Queen and wife to King Gorboduc

Ferrex, Elder Son to King Gorboduc

Porrex, Younger Son to King

Clotyn, Duke of Cornewall

Fergus, Duke of Albany

Mandud, Duke of Leagre

Gwenard, Duke of Cumberland

Eubulus, Secretary to the king Gorboduc

Arostus, A Counsellour of king Gorboduc

Dordan, A Counsellour assigned by the king to his Eldest Son Ferrex

Philander, A Counsellour assigned by the king to his younger Son Porrex

Hermon, A Parasite of Ferrex and Fergus's slave

Tyndar, A Parasite of Porrex

Nuntius, A Messenger of Ferrex's death

Nuntius, A Messenger of Duke Fergus rising

Marcella, A Lady of the Queen's privy Chamber

Chorus, Four ancient and sage men of Britain

Gorboduc

Gorboduc a king of ancient Britain. After ruling his land wisely for many years, he disregards
the advice of his sage counselors, divides the realm between his two sons, and thus brings
tragedy on his family and his country. He recognizes the folly of his decision too late, when
he learns of the unnatural deaths of his sons. Filled with remorse, he learns that as a human
being, he must grieve; the patience prescribed by his advisers is an attribute of gods alone.
He is finally murdered by his people, who have fallen into anarchy as a result of the
overturning of the natural order of succession and government.

Videna

Videna his queen. She is partial to her older son and disapproves from the beginning the
king’s resolution to deprive Ferrex of half his rightful inheritance, for she foresees in Porrex
the envy and pride that later erupt in his brother’s murder. Horrified by Ferrex’s death, she
curses and disowns her younger child, then wreaks her unnatural revenge on him.

Ferrex

Ferrex Gorboduc’s older son, his mother’s favorite. Although he is less malleable than Porrex,
he listens to the counselors who encourage him to build an army as protection against the
jealous ambition of his brother, thus provoking Porrex’s attack.

Porrex

Porrex, Ferrex’s brother. Easily convinced by flatterers that Ferrex intends to rob him of his
realm, he is enraged.