Gaveston Strikes Back

Base leaden earls, that glory in your birth,
Go sit at home and eat your tenants' beef,
And come not here to scoff at Gaveston,
Whose mounting thoughts did never creep so low
As to bestow a look on such as you.
(II,ii, 74-78)

In Act I, we are repeatedly given description of Gaveston from the nobles' points of view. He is nobody, without rank or title, climbing up the social scale by wooing the king. For them, he is a snake, whispering sweet nothings into the ear of Edward, feminizing the king and weakening the country. In Act II, we are given Gaveston's view of these nobles. He scoffs at them for basking in their inherited status, living off the land and subjects they were given rather than had to earn. After Gaveston's description of his enemies, I admittedly feel more sympathetic towards him. Whether or not he truly deserves the titles bestowed upon him by the king, he has had to work to gain the king's love and trust in order to increase his status. It does seem hypocritical, at least in our time, that the nobles deem Gaveston undeserving when in fact they acquired their land and status not from their own actions but from their birth.