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Act 2, Scene 1
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
Palamon and Arcite remain above. Although they make light of their situation, Palamon fears that they’ll be prisoners forever. Arcite agrees, noting that he has resigned himself to accepting this fate. Palamon anxiously wonders about their “noble country” of Thebes, and their friends and family who live there. He wonders if they’ll ever return, and laments, “O, never / Shall we two exercise, like twins of honor, / Our arms again, and feel our fiery horses / Like proud seas under us.”
The cousins might have accepted their imprisonment, but this doesn't mean it's easy for them. In particular, they are upset by their inability to "exercise, like twins of honor, / [Their] arms again, and feel [their] fiery horses / Like proud seas under." It's not their freedom they mourn but their pride. Palamon's remarks underscore the cousins' commitment to upholding the chivalric code, emphasizing the importance of bravery, duty, and honor.
Themes
Arcite commiserates with Palamon, mourning the fact that they’re wasting their youths in prison. Worst of all, they’ll die without ever marrying or experiencing love. Arcite imagines the songs the maidens will sing about their exile, “curs[ing] ever-blinded Fortune” for the punishment she has inflicted upon them. Palamon agrees with Arcite. Furthermore, they won’t be able to engage in noble battles ever again, which will cause their inner sense of duty and bravery to diminish over time.
The cousins lament the many experiences their imprisonment will keep them from pursuing—especially romantic affairs with women. However, what they despise most is that their prison sentence prevents them from performing their chivalric duties. Part of being chivalrous is behaving chivalrously: if they’re not actively defending their honor, they’re not living up to their duty as noblemen.
Themes
Literary Devices
While they are right to bemoan their dismal futures, Arcite reminds Palamon that their cell cannot be a prison so long as they have each other. Palamon agrees and expresses how lucky they are that “[their] fortunes / Were twined together.” Arcite suggests the cousins make the best of their situation and “think this prison holy sanctuary.” Remaining in prison enables them to continue down an honorable path and not be led astray by temptation. Furthermore, it prevents outside factors like war, women, business, or quarrels from coming between their friendship. Palamon thanks Arcite for comforting him. He adds that it’s actually a positive thing that “the loving gods found this place for [them],” because, had they remained in Creon’s corrupt and wicked court, they almost certainly would have become corrupt and wicked themselves.
Despite the cousins’ inability to exercise their bravery, they are fortunate to have each other’s company. Their profoundly intimate bond is strong enough to transform their prison cell into a “holy sanctuary.” The language Palamon evokes when he refers to “[their] fortunes” as “twined together” parallels Hippolyta’s earlier remarks about Theseus and Pirithous’s friendship. Palamon seems to believe that he and Arcite are one soul shared between two bodies. His later remark about how “the loving gods found this place for [them]” shows how a belief in divine Providence helps them accept their fates. They don’t bemoan their circumstances but see them as part of some larger plan the gods have in store for them. Palamon theorizes that imprisonment might be a blessing because it has removed them from the corrupt kingdom of Thebes.
Themes
Literary Devices
Palamon and Arcite continue to praise their friendship. Arcite insists that even after they die, their spirits will remain intertwined. Just then, Emilia and her Woman enter below. Emilia asks about a specific flower, and her Woman tells her the flower is a Narcissus. Emilia scoffs at Narcissus, who was “but a fool / To love himself” when so many women were after him. Emilia instantly catches Palamon and Arcite’s attention. They listen for her to continue speaking. Emilia and her Woman joke about Narcissus and good looks, and Emilia cautions her servant to be wary of men, who “are mad things.”
Emilia's comment about Narcissus refers to the myth of Narcissus, a beautiful mortal who was so in love with himself that he leaned in too close to see his reflection in the water and drowned. Narcissus's vanity and love drove him to feel an irrational degree of self-worship. When Emilia remarks that men "are mad things," she suggests that Narcissus isn't so different from any man: they all let their passions drive them to act foolishly, irrationally, and—in many cases—self-destructively.
Themes
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Arcite notices something is up with Palamon and asks what’s bothering him. Palamon replies, “Never till now I was in prison, Arcite,” and proclaims Emilia to be “a goddess.” Arcite laughs, but Palamon doesn’t budge. Emilia continues to browse the flowers with her Woman and remarks how she likes roses best, because they are “the very emblem of a maid.” She explains that “when the west win courts her gently,” she responds “modestly,” and “with chaste blushes.” However, when the north wind jostles her briskly, “then, like chastity, / She licks her beauties in her bud again.” Now Arcite is intrigued, and he admits that Emilia is very beautiful.
The winds have shifted in a matter of moments. Although the friends just declared their cell a sanctuary, their confinement is now torturous because they’ve both fallen for the "goddess" Emilia. Emilia uses figurative language here, comparing maids (virgins) to roses. She makes the essential point that roses bloom "with chaste blushes" when approached gently but close their petals to bolder, more aggressive advances. Applied to women, she's saying that a woman is more likely to entertain a wooer who treats her gently than a wooer who is rude, aggressive, and presumptuous.
Themes
Emilia and her Woman move inside. Palamon and Arcite rave about Emilia’s beauty. When they both admit to falling in love with her, Palamon insists that Emilia is his to love because he saw her first. Arcite claims this is irrelevant and cleverly proposes an arrangement for them both to love Emilia: Palamon will “worship her” as “a blessed goddess,” and Arcite will “love her as a woman.” Palamon refuses. He maintains that Emilia is his and that Arcite is a traitor if he tries to make a move.
Palamon's assertion that he deserves Emilia because he saw her first is juvenile and petty, since the cousins practically saw her at the same time. Moreover, that either of the cousins could reasonably lay claim to her is irrational and ludicrous because neither has met Emilia. In fact, Emilia doesn't know that Arcite and Palamon even exist at this point in the play.
Themes
Arcite insists that he has just as much a right to love Emilia as Palamon does. He claims that he’s always been a faithful friend to Palamon and insinuates that Palamon’s rage is unjustified. Furthermore, since, as close friends, they experience each other’s emotions, it makes no sense for one of them “to love alone.” In short, Palamon is behaving quite “unlike a noble kinsmen” when he insists that only he may love Emilia. Palamon tells Arcite that while he is free to feel love for Emilia, it would be wrong to act on that love. Arcite counters this, asking whether it would be acceptable not to charge an enemy and lose one’s honor because another soldier spotted the enemy first. Palamon refuses to play along and tells Arcite that if he pursues Emilia, he “Be as that cursed man that hates his country, / A branded villain.” Arcite tells Palamon he’s behaving childishly and illogically.
This scene is essential in developing the personality traits that set the cousins apart. Arcite relies on crafty wisdom to make his point, using logic to try to manipulate Palamon. Here, Arcite shrewdly claims that the fact that the cousins are close enough to be the same person justifies their loving and pursuing the same woman, too. In contrast to Arcite's cool cleverness, Palamon is passionate and volatile. Suddenly, he's willing to go against everything he knows about being noble and virtuous and chivalrous out of sheer jealousy, not wanting Arcite to have the woman he wants for himself alone.
Themes
Palamon wishes he and Arcite were free so they could engage in a duel. He threatens to kill Arcite if he looks out the window at Emilia one more time. Arcite smugly tells Palamon he’ll jump out the window and into Emilia’s arms—just to anger Palamon.
The once brotherly friends are now willing (or at least, Palamon is) to fight to the death over a woman they have only glimpsed from afar. Palamon’s instinct to settle their differences with violence is unhinged, irrational, and far too extreme for what the situation warrants. Arcite, in turn, seems to take pleasure in egging Palamon on. All in all, things have decidedly taken a turn for the worse.
Themes
Palamon continues to fume. The Jailer enters and tells Arcite that Theseus expects him. They depart. Alone in his cell, Palamon anguishes about why Theseus has sent for Arcite. He wonders if Theseus has noticed Arcite’s noble appearance and selected him to marry Emilia. Palamon directs his attention toward the garden outside his cell and longs to be a tree that could bear fruit for Emilia to eat.
It is highly illogical of Palamon to assume that Arcite has gone from imprisoned enemy soldier to the prime candidate for Emilia’s husband in such a short span of time. Already, love has caused him to lose his grip on reality. Palamon’s longing to be a tree that bears fruit for Emilia to eat symbolizes how consumed he is by his love for her.
Themes
The Jailer enters above and tells Palamon that Theseus has released Arcite on the condition that he never steps foot in Athens again. Palamon bemoans Arcite’s luck: now that he’s free, he can prove himself “a worthy lover” of Emilia by exhibiting bravery in battle—all out of spite toward Palamon.
Palamon’s irrational thinking continues when he assumes that Arcite will risk his life by staying in Athens to pursue Emilia. However, Palamon’s anxiety also illustrates how invested he and Arcite are in defending their pride: it’s not unthinkable that Arcite might put himself in danger just to show Palamon up by wooing Emilia.
Themes
The Jailer interrupts Palamon’s brooding to order him to back away from the window. Palamon begs the Jailer to let him see the garden, but the Jailer says no and threatens to put him in chains if he doesn’t back away from the window. Palamon bemoans his wretched existence and longs for death.
Palamon continues to let his extreme emotions get the best of him. Over the past scene alone, he has experienced profound love, searing rage, and utter hopelessness.
Themes
