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Act 1, Scene 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Two Noble Kinsmen, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Irrationality
Fate, Fortune, and Divine Providence
Chivalry, Honor, and Pride
Friendship
Gender and Power
Summary
Analysis
The Jailer and Wooer enter the jail. The Jailer tells the Wooer that he won’t be able to give him much money while he’s alive. Although his jail is for noblemen, they’re rare to come by, and he is not as wealthy people think he is. Nevertheless, the Wooer ensures the Jailer that he will be happy with whatever the Jailer promises the Jailer’s Daughter.
The Jailer establishes himself as an honest, honorable man. Although he doesn’t have much, what humble earnings he does accumulate he will pass along to his daughter. The lack of proper names attributed to these characters (Wooer, Jailer, Daughter) signifies their relatively lower class: they are not noblemen or noblewomen like Hippolyta, Arcite, Palamon, Emilia, and Theseus.
Themes
The Jailer’s Daughter enters carrying grasses to line the floor of the prisoners’ chamber. She observes that while it’s a shame they are in prison, it would also be a shame if they were free. Furthermore, the jail is proud of these prisoners, who “have all the world in their chamber.” The Jailer agrees with his daughter and adds that the new prisoners are supposed to be “a pair of absolute men.” Supposedly, they were the only ones fighting in battle. His daughter agrees and describes the two men as “noble suff’rers” who weather their imprisonment and make light of their battle wounds. Additionally, the men eat well, appear content, and comfort each other on rare occasions when they lose heart.
The Jailer’s Daughter’s comment about Arcite and Palamon “hav[ing] all the world in their chamber” implies a positive angle to their imprisonment. Indeed, they appear to be weathering their heavy sentence quite well. The Daughter calls them “noble suff’rers,” implying that they accept their sentence in stride and waste no time on self-indulgent things like self-pity. Her remark reinforces the Jailer’s observation that the cousins are “a pair of absolute men,” meaning that they are a prime example of the esteemed sort of nobleman this jail is supposed to host but who are rare to come by. This scene further develops Arcite and Palamon’s characters: the Jailer's Daughter's remarks show that the cousins are noble and virtuous—so virtuous, in fact, that their positive qualities shine through even in the dire circumstances of their imprisonment.
Themes
The Wooer says he hasn’t seen the prisoners yet, and the Jailer’s Daughter explains that the men and the Duke (Theseus) arrived late at night. The Jailer gestures toward the floor above them, where the prison cells line the wall: Palamon and Arcite have just come into view. When he swaps the names of the two men, his daughter points at them to correct her father’s mistake. Before she departs, the Jailer’s Daughter remarks how much she enjoys looking at Palamon and Arcite.
The Jailer's Daughter’s admission that she enjoys looking at the cousins implies that she is attracted to them. Her attraction could foreshadow the development of a romance between herself and one of the cousins.
Themes
