The Two Noble Kinsmen Summary

The Prologue addresses the audience and tells them that the play is based on a story by Chaucer. Although the play’s actors strive to honor Chaucer’s legacy, their performance might not achieve the high quality of Chaucer. Nevertheless, the Prologue asks that his audience humor the actors’ attempts to honor Chaucer and, at the very least, hopes that the play amuses them.

Act One opens in Athens in Ancient Greece. Three Queens interrupt Hippolyta and Theseus’s wedding procession to plead with Theseus to help them. Creon, the corrupt King of Thebes, has killed their husbands in battle and won’t let the queens retrieve and bury their husbands’ remains. Theseus is hesitant to postpone his wedding night, but Emilia and Hippolyta eventually convince him to do the noble thing and lead an army to defeat Creon. Theseus acquiesces and leaves for Thebes that night.

Meanwhile, in Thebes, Arcite and Palamon debate leaving the city to avoid becoming as corrupt as their uncle Creon. Valerius appears and informs them of Theseus’s approaching army, and the cousins resolve to stay behind and defend their city.

Back in Athens, Hippolyta and Emilia pray to the gods for Theseus’s victory and talk about friendship, love, and marriage. Hippolyta talks of the many hardships Theseus and his close friend Pirithous have endured over their many years of friendship. Emilia recalls her own loving relationship with Flavina, who died in childhood. Emilia doesn’t think she’ll ever love a man like she loved Flavina, but Hippolyta suspects Emilia will change her mind.

Theseus defeats Creon, enabling the queens to retrieve their husbands’ remains and honor them with funeral rites. A Herald brings Theseus the unconscious, gravely wounded bodies of Arcite and Palamon, whom the Athenians have captured as prisoners of war. Theseus immediately recognizes Arcite and Palamon’s worth and nobility. He decides to bring the cousins to Athens as prisoners and orders the Herald to ensure that they receive the best treatment to guarantee their recovery.

Arcite and Palamon spend their days in a shared prison cell in Athens. They initially accept their fate and take comfort in their friendship. However, everything changes when they see Emilia walking through the garden below their cell and simultaneously fall in love with her. In an instant, the formerly intimate friends become bitter rivals in a battle over Emilia’s love.

Theseus frees Arcite and banishes him from Athens. However, Arcite breaks Theseus’s orders and secretly remains in Athens to try to win over Emilia. While hiding in the woods, Arcite encounters some Countrymen headed to a festival of competitive games held outside Athens to celebrate May Day. Arcite overhears the men discuss a dance they plan to perform for Theseus and devises a plan to compete in the games in disguise, prove his nobility to Theseus, and earn a position near Emilia. Arcite’s plan works: Theseus rewards Arcite with a position as Emilia’s servant and invites him to go hunting with the rest of the nobility.

Meanwhile, the Jailer’s Daughter has fallen in love with Palamon. She concocts a misguided plan to free him from prison in an effort to make him love her. The Jailer’s Daughter instructs Palamon to wait for her in the woods, promising to return later to remove his shackles. However, Palamon immediately wanders off and runs into Arcite elsewhere in the forest. Palamon angrily calls Arcite a traitor for pursuing Emilia when it was Palamon who saw her first. The cousins decide the only way to end their quarrel is to have a duel. Arcite leaves and returns later with weapons and food. They decide to delay their duel until after Palamon has regained his strength to ensure a fair fight.

When the Jailer’s Daughter returns to the forest and can’t find Palamon, she immediately convinces herself that wolves have killed him. She also realizes that her father (the Jailer) will die for her actions. Lovesick and grieving, the Jailer’s Daughter descends into madness, singing nonsensical songs, obsessing over Palamon, and longing for death as she wanders through the woods.

Sometime later, the Schoolmaster assembles the Countryfolk in the forest to practice the Morris dance they plan to perform for Theseus. The Schoolmaster is distraught when the absence of one of the female dancers threatens the performance’s success. However, the Jailer’s Daughter wanders past the group and, despite her madness, proves herself to be a suitable replacement. Shortly after that, Theseus’s hunting party crosses paths with the Countryfolk, who perform their Morris dance as planned. Theseus’s party enjoys the performance and rewards the Countryfolk with money.

Shortly after this, the hunting party encounters Arcite and Palamon, poised to duel. The unsanctioned fight enrages Theseus, and he sentences the cousins to death. However, Emilia intervenes, reminding Theseus of an oath her made to grant her a favor, and spares the men’s lives. Instead of killing both men, Theseus orders the cousins to leave Athens and return next month to compete against each other in a battle. The winner will marry Emilia, and the loser will die. The cousins accept this arrangement and agree to return to Athens next month.

Before leaving Athens, Palamon ensures that neither the Jailer nor the Jailer’s Daughter is punished for his escape, and he gives the Jailer’s Daughter a generous dowry to thank her for freeing him. The Wooer (the Jailer’s Daughter’s suitor) discovers the daughter—still mad—while out fishing and saves her from drowning. He returns the girl to the Jailer, but she doesn’t recognize her father and continues to sing nonsense songs and obsess about Palamon. The Jailer consults the Doctor about a cure for his daughter’s madness. The Doctor orders everyone to humor the girls’ delusions and instructs the Wooer to continue courting the girl—but to pretend that he’s Palamon. The Doctor’s strategy is successful: the Jailer’s Daughter accepts “Palamon’s” courtship and recovers. She and the Wooer make plans to marry.

As the day of Arcite and Palamon’s battle approaches, Emilia anguishes over her difficult decision. Although both cousins are noble, Emilia can’t stand choosing one and sending the other to his death.

Arcite, Palamon, and their knights return to Athens. Before commencing the battle, they take turns praying in the temple. Arcite prays to Mars for Victory, Palamon prays to the goddess Venus for love, and Emilia prays to the goddess Diana for the victory of the man who loves her best. Emilia refuses to watch the battle and waits nearby instead. She listens to the crowd’s cheers while a servant relays key developments to her. Eventually, Arcite emerges as the winner. After the battle, Theseus and his party lead Arcite to Emilia. Theseus announces that the couple is free to wed. Although nobody is happy that Palamon must die, they know he must accept his fate.

A group of orderlies leads Palamon and his knights to the execution block. The men bravely accept their fate, but a messenger and Pirithous halt the execution before it can begin. Pirithous informs Palamon that Arcite is mortally wounded after being thrown from his horse. Theseus, Emilia, Hippolyta enter the room, followed by Arcite, who is confined to a chair. Arcite asks for Palamon’s forgiveness, gives Palamon his blessing to wed Emilia, and promptly dies. Theseus considers the odd turn of fate that has allowed Palamon to wed Emilia and decides that the gods have given everyone what they prayed for: victory for Arcite, love for Palamon love, and the love of the man who loves her best for Emilia. Theseus announces that they will hold a funeral for Arcite, followed by a wedding for Emilia and Palamon. He orders everyone to live their lives and be grateful for everything the gods have in store for them.