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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Act 2, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Wooed by Women:
Imprisoned by the Athenian authorities after fighting bravely in battle on behalf of his native city of Thebes, Arcite foreshadows later events of the play. Attempting to reassure his close friend, cousin, and fellow prisoner, Palamon, that imprisonment might prove to be a blessing in disguise, Arcite states:
Let’s think this prison holy sanctuary
To keep us from corruption of worse men.
We are young and yet desire the ways of honor
That liberty and common conversation,
The poison of pure spirits, might like women
Woo us to wander from.
Related Themes:
Act 5, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Die a Bachelor :
After Arcite has defeated Palamon in battle, Arcite prepares to marry Emilia and Palamon prepares to be executed in accordance with Theseus’s conditions. Reporting back to Emilia on the outcome of the battle, Theseus foreshadows the tragic accident that reverses Arcite and Palamon’s fortunes. To Emilia, he says:
Unlock with LitCharts A+O loved sister,
He speaks now of as brave a knight as e’er
Did spur a noble steed. Surely the gods
Would have him die a bachelor, lest his race
Should show i’ th’ world too godlike. His behavior
So charmed me that methought Alcides was
To him a sow of lead. If I could praise
Each part of him to th’ all I have spoke, your Arcite
Did not lose by ’t, for he that was thus good
Encountered yet his better.
Related Themes:
