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The world of arts :

Palamon and Arcite, the two noble kinsmen

Written in 1613-14, the two Noble Kinsmen is believed to be a romance adapted from Chaucer's Knight's Tale. It was in celebration with Fletcher that Shakespeare wrote the play but failed to get into the Folio of 1623. The play allowed the whole of Act I, scene I of Act III and the whole of Act V except scene II. that was ready for the Folio.

Theseus, the Duke of Athens from Shakespeare’s play,
‘The Two Noble Kinsmen’.

Separating Fletcher from Shakespeare, the unloved subplot of the goaler's daughter was assigned to Fletcher. Yet, how much each dramatist edited the other no one was able to speculate. However, the play runs smoothly because there is no indication to prove which one agreed on the other. It is a proven fact that Jacobean Theatre is mirrored in the incidental pageantry. But this part is seldom performed though few revivals have strengthened the belief in theatre power. Or it could have been in the consistent quality of verse.

Though not as popular as most of Shakespeare's plays, few versions have been seen performed after its first mounting in 1664 as The Rivals by Devenant. He opted to remove the part of the goaler's daughter. The play laid in hibernation until 1928 when Andrew Leigh staged the same text at the Old Vic with Ernest Milton and Eric Portman as Palamon and Arcite. Jean Ford-Robertson was the goaler's daughter in 1974. Richard Digby adapted the text as an imaginative drama for the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park. A magnificent production of the play by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1986 saw Hugh Quarshire and Gerard Murphy as the noble kinsmen.

The Plot

In the play with First Act is devoted to the three mourning queens who very profoundly and with dignity appeal to Theseus, the Duke of Athens at his marriage to Hippolyta to attack Creon, the King of Thebes who slew their husbands. The Third Queen in particular speaks the couplet: (transmuted from Chaucer)

'This world's a city full of straying streets,

And death's market place, where each one meets'...

Act I Scene V

Theseus agrees to avenge their deaths, one of the reasons being that Palamon and Arcite happen to be the nephews of Creon. They also fight for Thebes (Creon). But Theseus is able to capture and imprison them. Palamon and Arcite see Emilia, the sister of Hippolyta from their prison and they both fall in love with her. Arcite is released but banished from Athens. He goes disguised into Emilia's service. In the meantime, the goalkeeper's daughter who is passionately infatuated by Palamon, helps him to escape and later goes mad for the loss of Emilia. The two kinsmen, meet and fight each other, sparring them on the intercession of Emilia and her sister, Hippolyta. But Emilia cannot say whom she loves. Theseus orders them to return in a month's time and fight each other so that the winner could have Emilia. He also orders the execution of the loser. A suitor is impersonated as Palamon to restore the sanity of the goalkeeper's daughter.

As the month slips by, Arcite prays to Mars and Palamon to Venus for the success of their fencing bout. Emilia prays at Diana's altar. Arcite who wins the combat falls from the horse and is mortally wounded. With his last breath, Arcite implores Palamon to take over Emilia and wish them all joy and happiness after he learns that Palamon will not be executed. The goaler's daughter recovers from her madness.

Chief characters:

Theseus - Is the Duke of Athens, a just man, noble and sincere.

Hippolyta - Most dreaded Amazonian, marries the Duke of Athens.

Emilia - Sister of Hippolyta. A confused young woman who cannot make up her mind whether it is Palamon or Arcite she wants to marry.

Palamon - A noble kinsman and nephew to Creon, King of Thebes.

Arcite - A noble kinsman and nephew to Creon, King of Thebes.

The three queens.

The three noble kinsmen are not included in the complete works of Shakespeare nor in his first Folio, the reason I am unable to quote.

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