THE TRAGEDY OF GORBUDUC-

CHARACTERS AND THEMES

A presentation by Amrin and Anubhuti

Main Characters

Ferrex Porrex
Gorboduc Videna
Older son of Younger son
King of Queen of
Gorboduc of Gorboduc
Britain Britain
and Videna and Videna
 Side Characters

Gorboduc Ferrex Porrex Videna

Dordan Philander
Eubulus Arostus a Hermon Tyndar Marcella
A A
Secretaire counselor Parasite parasite a lady of
counselor counselor
to king to king counselor counselor queen
by king by king
INSIGHT
◦ The play starts with Gorboduc disregarding the advice of
his counselors and dividing his kingdom equally between
both his sons .
◦ The sons squabble over what they each thought was an
unfair share given to the other brother.
◦ Subsequently, the younger Porrex kills the elder brother
Ferrex.
◦ Videna, the mother of the two kills Porrex to avenge her
favorite son’s death.
◦ The subject of the kingdom are shocked by the
bloodshed and malice displayed by their leaders and kill
both Gorboduc and Videna.
◦ The kingdom then breaks out in a civil war
◦ Ultimately the people of Britain suffer from the unrest.
 Gorboduc
 After wisely administering his land for many
years, Gorboduc ignores his wise counsellors'
advice, divides the realm between his two sons.
 Due to his decision he soon learns that his son
are in conflict with each other.
 Realizing his mistake he sets forward to correct
it when he learns that his younger son Porrex
has killed his elder son Ferrex .
 Soon Porrex is too killed by enraged Videna
leaving the king to fall into remorse and guilt
and soon to be murdered by his own horrified
subjects.
 This causes sorrow to both --- his family and his
country
• Gorboduc was seemingly kind a man
who did not want to differentiate
between either his sons. Even while
disregarding his counselors advice he is
extremely kind and polite with his
words.
• Yet he was not a very clever ruler.
• The man meets a unjust and tragic end
due to the grave mistake of not listening
to his counselor
Arostus
• Arostus was Gorboduc`s counsellor.
• He applauds the king's decision to give the kingdom to his
sons, believing that under their father's supervision, the young
men can learn to reign wisely.
• After the princes' deaths, he preaches to the king about the
inevitability of human existence, but his words do not console
his lord.
• Hence along with a wise counselor it is clear that he was a
kind man to the king who comforted him if neccesary
Eubulus.
• Eubulus was Gorboduc's secretary.
• He begs the king to keep the kingdom together for the
benefit of the people, knowing that "divided reigns do
make divided hearts."
• He foresees the dissatisfactions that both princes will
experience.
• Following the death of the king and queen, he advises
quelling the popular uprising immediately, arguing
that no subject has the right to resist against his prince
for any cause.
• He laments the fate of his kingdom, which will be torn
apart by civil wars until the legitimate heir can be
restored to the throne, as he hears of Fergus' uprising.
Videna
videna
Videna was the wife of King Gorboduc. 
She was very partial as her older son Ferrex was
more beloved to her. 
She grumbled and disrespected the King's decision
of dividing the kingdom equally between the two
sons. 
Videna could foresee the pride and envy in Porrex
upon knowing that he will be given equal share of his
Father's property. 
Thus, she did not wanted the King to do so and give
the entire kingdom to the elder son Ferrex , as he
was her only beloved son.
She lacked the quality of being a kind and
supportive mother who could have explained her
sons to be at peace with their father's decision.
Later, Porrex's greed led him to kill his own
brother. 
Horrified by the elder-beloved son's death,
Videna took her revenge for the same by killing
her own son. 
Her cruel act justifies that she was a shallow
mother and lacked humanity.
Ferrex
• Ferrex - The elder son of King Gorboduc was
his mother's beloved and favorite.
• Though he was not satisfied with the King's
decision of dividing the kingdom equally, he
didn't have malice in his heart for anyone.
• Ferrex was well aware of Porrex's jealousy. He
knew his brother knew that Ferrex would be the
next king because he had not acted in a respectful
manner and had refused to accept his fate before.
Ferrex was unsure how he would handle his half
of the kingdom because he was conceited,
arrogant, and unconcerned about the welfare of
others.
• When Ferrex heard the opinions of both the counselors
he stated that -if he killed his own brother how could
his subjects ever live peacefully without any fear of
their own lives!
• This reflects that Ferrex was a compassionate and
thoughtful ruler.
• Even after he heard critical things from others, Ferrex
didn’t commit any inhuman crime which could have
had caused guilt and remorse to anyone.
• Even though he held grudges in his heart upon not
getting the entire kingdom, he didn't have malice in his
heart.
Hermon
Hermon, was Ferrex's parasite advisor who advised him that he
should invade Porrex's kingdom and argued that if he lacked
the courage to do so, he should at least raise an army which
would be prepared to defend him when Porrex tried to invade
his half. 
Hermon believed that greed i.e. ambition to rule, knows or
acknowledges no rules of fair play. 
This beliefs tell us how selfish a person he was!
He gave negative ideas, which if had been implemented could
have bent morals and caused devastation.
Dordan
• Dordan, was the wise counsellor of Ferrex,
who predicted what could happen if he
followed Hermon's advice. 
• He was sensible enough to understand the
situation and attempted to relieve the
prince's resentment at being deprived of
half his kingdom. 
• He positively tried to understand and
support Ferrex. 
Porrex
• Porrex was the younger son of king Gorboduc
• According to the rule he should not have gotten any power if his

• RESOURCES
father had not divided the realm equally between his both sons.
He did not like Philander as he felt that in way to keep an eye
an on him his father had planted Philander near him.
• Later in the story he was persuaded by his parasite counsellor
Tyndar, that his elder brother intends to rob him of his realm.
• Thus the fear of loosing his kingdom made him paranoid.
List the resources you used for your research:

• The paranoia of being robbed of his rights made Porrex hate his
Source #1
Source #2
Source #3

brother.
 • he then retaliated by invading his brother`s kingdom and murdering
him.
• When he returns to his parents, distraught, he discovers that Gorboduc
refuses to believe his story that he killed Ferrex to save his own life.
• He is slain by his own mother after being banished from his father’s
sight.
• Porrex is a complicated character as he can be clearly seen struggling
with the power he was not supposed to get.
• Yet this power was something he always yearned for.
• When he finally did rose to power instead of getting satisfied he
became insecure. Eventually this insecurity led to his volatile and
insensitive decision.
• Due to his rage and insecurities he did not pay attention to Philander`s
advise.
Philander
• Philander was the counselor sent by Gorbuduc to guide Porrex
• Philander tried to restrain Porrex's ambition and rage.
• His lack of foresight into Porrex`s strife inevitably resulted into
the division of the realm,
• He argues that the prince should learn to govern well from his
father's example,
• He also explains that disrupting the natural order by handing
down the crown before the king's death is to "corrupt the state of
minds and things.“
• Its very clear that philander was a wise and smart man who could
have helped Porrex to not fall into jealousy only if he would have
had listened to his corrective criticism.
• Yet despite being wise he underestimated the fear and rage of
young Porrex which could have stopped the tragedy.
Tyndar
Tyndar was parasites counsellor of prince Porrex.
Porrex relied almost all his decision on the ill
advises of Tyndar.
He made the younger prince wary of his own blood
and planted the fear of losing his kingdom.
He preyed on his masters' wrath and ambition,
pushing him to fight in a futile battle with his own
brother.
His ill advices to Porrex were a driving point in the
story which led young and insecure Porrex to not
only his demise but the whole nation`s pain and
suffering.
 OTHER CHARECTERS
Marcella, Videna’s lady in waiting, who relates with grief and horror the queen’s murder
of her remaining son.

Fergus, the duke of Albany. In league with other noblemen to put down the popular
revolt, he decides to try to win the crown for himself by force. His ambition begins a long
series of civil wars.

Clotyn, the duke of Cornwall,

Mandud, the duke of Loegris, and
Gwenard, the duke of Cumberland these lords allied to put down rebellion and later to
overcome Fergus’ army.
THEMES
In the play Gorboduc we come across numerous themes as the
play changes many settings.
Some of the important themes are as follows:
COMMON THEME
1. STRUGGLE OF POWER
2. POLITICS
3. BLOODSHED
4. SORROW
OTHER THEMES
5. REVENGE
6. DOWNFALL OF AN EMPIRE
7. POTRAYAL OF WOMEN BY MEN IN THE EARLY 15th CENTURY.