3 Love, War, and the Cost of Winning: ‘The Knight’ Tale and The Two Noble Kinsmen is he chief misfortune of one who is consid= ring the relation of Chaucer to Shakespeare that there is no 37 foavoid that most distressing of plays, Te Two Noble Kinsmen Trough the play was written in collaboration with Fetcher,i ssl repreents Shakespeare most direct and unquestionable se fof a Chaucerian source—as the Prologue to the play proclaims itto be—and it would be dereliction of duty for me to ignore it’s noe that ie a bad play (hough I dont think #2 very good one), bat chat ite a very unpleasine one in wich the dark Side that Shakespeare sarin The Knigh’ Tale When be was \weting A Midaowmer Nights Dreom is flsomely te-enprestes Bur rereading the play along with ts source may enhance one’ appreciation of i, 38 Philip Edward’ brillant article “On the Design of The Ti Noble Kinomen” has demonstrated.* Ira both fortunate to have this article asa model of what good crt- ‘cism can do for the play and unfortanate that i has anticipated ‘my study ofthe Chaucerian connections, Iam gratefl also for ‘Aan Thompson's discussion ofthe play use of the Chaucerian boriginal? and to Cliford Leechs remarks in his introduction and note on the source in the Signet edition of the play” Pech ho play of Shakespeare's hss inspired a smaller body of crc Or one of higher quality. Uncertainty about which portions are Shakespeares and which Fletcher's has probably put many cite ‘es of. In my own study Laccept a Shakespeare those portions that Leech says ae acepted bythe majority of Shakespeareass," » i Love, War, and the Cost of Winning. and I confine my discussion mostly to these; I give notice when Thin ie necessary 10 ale about something of Fletcher's. Chaucer’ Knights Tle is often spoken of—right}, I think — a8 philosophical romance. Thats, thas the plot and charac fers proper toa romance (hough i Lacks 2 villain, but the a- thor’ interest ies less in thema than in the atiades toward a= mman life thas they offe. ‘The heroes ofthe sory are no more than moderately interesting people, Theie tory conceens the struggle between them to asere Ubi sight frst co love, an later to possess, Emily, ssterin-aw of Duke Theseus of Athens, from whose prison Palamon and Axcite first see their beloved, (On seeing her, they begin a quarrel that ends only after they have fought i ggeat tournament seeanged by Theseus to de~ fertnine tne issue of which should ave Emily, 3 eourmament that ‘Arcte wins only to be ftaly injured in an equestrian accident While riding around the lists in eriumph. Some years afer his dewth, Thesevs economically weds Enuly eo Palamon, 2 happy trent that Theseus ses as an excuse for 2 fine speech in which hr argees forthe existence ofa divine plan operating behind the fadonaness of such events as the death of the triumphant Ate te. Palamon and Emily are described as living happily ever afer The issue that semis to interest Chaucer in The Knight's Tale fs the dominaat cole of chance in determining the course of a= than life Although Palamon and Arcie have some individual iyi n0t large ehough 1 mst confess that [find more dis tinction betwen them than Ince did, as result of comparing thom to their descendant in the play. But even in Chaucer shere in as have sid, no moral difference between the two. They are both exponents of the highest kindof chivalric idealism. The Knight observes the destruction of their Hendship by thee amorous rivalry, but accepts it, as does the tolerant Theseus of The Knight's Tle, a8 at unsurprising operation of love's folly, something to regret, bu also t0 accept. While love is obviously thot the some as chance, the good-humored Knight almost takes it seem 30, becaute like chance i baifrs the young men Sormercesly. But itis pure chance that makes them prisoners to Theseus and lovers of Emly is chance that Thesets frendLove, War, and the Cost of Winning. o Pirithous, who had known Atcce previously, visite Theseus and, leaing that Aveite i his prisoner, obtains Atcite’s eer ddom. Chance brings it about chat when Pslamon finally escapes fiom prison, he hides outside Athens jn the same patt of the ‘wood 10 which Arcite comes eat) in the morning fo celebrate (May, so thar Palamon overheats Ait talking to hinself about his love for Emily, whom he serves under a disguise. Irs chance that guides Theseus’ hunt the nextday tothe spot whece Arcite zd Palamon ate fighting to the death over the right to love ‘Emily And finally, tis chance from she human point of view: jeisaewaly the operation of planee-dety-—that causes Arcites death, upserting Theseus’ caetlly ordered attempt to sete the {stue Of which should have Emily iu conretly chivalric way ‘Against his background, Theseus’ fal soggestion chat alli for fhe best has something of a hollow ring, nor does he argue that ‘Arcte was in any way less deserving of Emily than Palamon, Indeed itis possible to read Theseus’ speech not 32 philoropi ical consideration of the tole of chance in human events bit father as a matement of man’s need, in a work so hostile, 10 believe that «divine plan exists 0 believe otherwise sto give in Asie from desesbing the misadventures of the twa heroes surprisingly large pare ofthe narative given over to symbol Gescripton that reinforces the ides of x world of litle (lc. 1 khave mentioned the temples that Theseus bul o the thee deb ties of whom Palamion, Arte, and Emily ate voces, but | have not dwelt on how depressing these temples of Veni, Mas, and Diana are In Venus” temple (A 1914-66) there state of the maked goddess but, aside ftom that bit of allsremen, the decorations porteay her effect om humanity largely in terms of the pain, fll, corruption, and degradation that she causes * Mass temple (A 1967-2050) is fled with images of horrid lath by steel and fire—oar, murder, suicide, and acedents 35 awful asthe sow devouring the child lying in ts cradle. Disna (A 20sie88) too is associated withthe pain she has eased het fierce vengeance on Actacon, Callisto, and thi King whose tect of strifice brought on is land the Calydonian boar. In Addition to chese disagreeable depictions of haw the gods show Love, War, and the Cost of Wi 8 their power over humanity—which, let me repeat, the Knight {kes in stide—there i an unediying glimpse oftheir behavior in heaven, Venus and Mare quarreling when they lears of the conflicting promises they have made to thei votaies, so that both Palamon and Arcit sem to have been promised Emily. Te ie std that the gods quarel so pessstedy tha Juper is ard pot 0 keep order in heaven, and only the most baleful of the planet-detes, Saturn, can olfer solution to the dilemma (A Bai8-s2). Hefore he docs so, Satin goes out of his way to ox pin hs operation in the work of mortals,» descrprion even nove depressing than the wall paintings in the temples (A {5): he boasts that he is responsible Tor drowning, imprisone ment, stangling, banging, poisoning, rebellion, earehquakes, ‘onspiricy. and pestilence, 2 exalog he conchues by telling Ve dus to cheer up, for he wil finda way t0 allow bach er and ‘Mars to redcem thei promises. The device he uses, of course, is Arcit’s fatal horseback acedent This heavy stein of pessinsism underlying The Knight apparently sppealed to & Shakespeare who, nearing dhe end of| Ins active career, wae in a mood far different from that which produced A Mlduonmer Nigh’s Dream, although ‘The Knights Tale’ pessimism had not entirely escaped him then. But no play in the canon contains mote horid images than The Tuo Noble Kinamen-Shakespeare might be said to have plundered the Jrinings om the temple walls of The Knight Tale. Yee whereas {hc horrors in Chaucer seem mostly charged tothe gods above, ‘Shakespeare puis them back where they stated in the hearts of people Ii something ofan sriomaly that in The Knight’ Tale, ‘espe Palamon and Arcite'® disastrous quarrel over love, the Jhuman beings scom to behave somewhat better than the immor~ tals do, and ave at least partially independent of thems. Palzmon tnd Arcite ate both obviously followers of Venusin loving Em- iy, yet one fel that she has lee impact on their characters than on thet evental fate. ‘The gods, that, seem to contol fital machinery rather than human action. Thus they have an objec~ tive existence that they lack in Shakespeare. The characte in the ply do speak ofthe gods as having objective existence, but they ate noe pesmited to appear on stage--except for Hymen,Love, War, and the Cost of Winning 4 god of martiage, who has a nonspeaking ritualistic role in the first scene. But Venus and Mare and Diana are not seen ss mac nipulating mankind from above, bat from within, with the e- sult that the play’s characters themselves seem fo ha down from the Knights temple wall Yee itis wue awareness is dened che play’ characters and they pretend, ike {he characters in. The Knight Tle, to be moved by tease impulses dictated from above, though with fa less reason, ‘As several erties, most compellingly Edwards, have pointed owt, Ven isthe most powerfal malignant induenc in the play, bot im actual fact she shares her malignancy with Mars, from whose handiwork Shakespeare takes matiy of the play's most gruesome images, ‘Theseus, 3 mighty warrior who haste his bride-to-be, Fppolyta, by defeating hr in bate is totary of Mars; and Hippolyts also is a votary of Mar, having once bees a mighty warrior herself and Queen of the Amazons —a fact that Chaucer pastes over withthe merest of mentions (A 22). Asan Amazon, her sister Emilia should also bea votary cof Mars, bus Shakespeare hete fellows Chaucer’ lead and pic fresher almost entsely 3¢ 4 votury of Diana, who was oF course, an Amaron' second ctelary deity, Shakespeare’ Pla- ‘mon and Arcte as both gallant'nd chivalrous young knits, are Martian by profession and temperament, and while they fome under the sway of Venas, the erly way they can expeess the love in thir hears is by fighting one another tothe deat For this combination of the Martian and the Venerean (te abc trary assignment of one knight wo Venus and the other to Mars in both Shakespeare and Chaucer is 1 matter to which I shall retutn), the union of Theseus and Hippolyea provides an appro pate if inexact image: love results (fom conquest or contest Js necessary in order to open a path for love “Mars isthe supplier ofthe most horrid images. The Ekzabe- than seven, that war isthe great purgative, receives pechaps ‘over-eloquent expression in Att’ prayer to Mats © greatcoretor of enormous tines, Shaker of o'er sates, thou grand decider ‘Ofeaary an olde, ha ea with blood Love, War, and he Cost of Winning 3s Te carth when tis sick and cust be world Ot play of prope But if thsi only conventional horsidness, the spe tim of Mars, che widow of King Capaneus, one of the qucens ‘ho as Theseus for help in the play's fist scene, might make fh Elizabethan wince: Creon, she says, will mo allow them bodies, {S burn cei dead bosbands nor ta take hoes ‘Of mort loathsomense om the Bes eye ‘Of oly Phoctus, but ner he winds ‘Wt stench of our sii ods. © pity. Duke “Thos purge ofthe eat, (iat “Theseus” duty is, Hike Mats’, to purge the earth, Another of| Mars vies, the Second Queen among the widows, asks Hippotyta to kneel to Theses and pray him co help Lind ws slaee Dur ouch te ground fr uso longer time Then: doves mosion wien the Beals phak'So8. Li 96-o8] 1 don't know whether the special providence that governs the decapitation of a dove belongs to Mars or Saruen; probably Mars, forthe Queen continues her ples that Hippolyts should Importane Theseus to take martial engeanc Fein fe loosed days ‘Showrng the a his eth, genning 2 the moon, ‘Whar you would do, [igsi01} But noting in hs Hines of “ote Kings or uber queens” quite matches Hippolytas imagery when she ané Emi- TE ate bidding farewell Pirithous, off join bis fiend The seo campaign against Creo: ‘We hve bien solders, and we enor weep ‘When our feos don her elms, oF pat 04 Sen room elano woren “Tha hve to tee nf in and ere he wert at linge ears]Love, War, and the Cost of Winning. * This reminiscence of maternal cannibalism, outdoing anything of Lady Macbeth’s at her bloodiest, though emanating fra that Symbol of womanly medknes,a bride-to-be, ustrates all 00 ‘early the slmose grateitous preoccupation with hoerors that Shakespeare adopts from the statker side of his Chaierian source, Whereas Venus may be the most malignant influence fhe play, dhe woe in which she works is wholly Mars 'Ae [sid earlier, [find more distinction in Chauver between the chazactets of the two chief victims of Venus and Mary Po Tamon and Arcite, 28. resul of reading the play dan {had no- ‘ced before. That i because such diferences as Chaucer 0 in or inherited from Bosesceio, the dramatist vrote out. They did this largely T suppose, to prevent our taking sides inthe ‘gear and thos being diseracted rom the more isportant se ofthe sad destruction of thet fiendship: Shakespeare may have emembered the disastrous effect that hie differentiation of Vale fatine and Proteus had on the le of Giendship in The Teo Gentenon of Verona. ‘The rele of the changes in the play is badly co disappoint those who admire Shakespeae for his char acter portrayals. In Chaucer, Pslamon isthe more impetsous the more exeituble, of the to knights, jumping at decisions and teinsatng his ides ino scion at soon a8 they come tit, When ie frst sees Emly fromm his prion he decides at once that she is x goddest—Venvs, setully-and he falls om his kines to pay her to release Arcite and hig from this imprisonment (A Hoi-in), Whea Arete sees her a moment later and vows his “undying love for her, Palamon becomes furious and righty i somewhat prematurely, accuses him of voling his oat of Swor brotheshood by "binderig” Dlions love. Throagh= ‘out the tle, Palamon continues fo insist that Arcite’s loving Enaly isan inary to bim, Palamon, and when, years kter, he loverteas Arcit in the woods speaking of his love for Emly he Insists thar they fight eo the deats to decide who shall love rot, mind you, who shall have, but who shall love—Eaily ‘Whea Theseus discovers them fighting, Palamon sho i= forms him who they are—his enemies—and asks him t0 put sa word them both co death (A 1715-41). Poor Arcite never in edgewise inthe who Love, War, and the Coat of Winning 7 Palamom appests in Shakespeare and in Fletcher, who is = sponsible for many of his scenes, preity much as he does in ‘Chaucer, where he sready luserstes that chaotic inluence of Mars and Venus which the play is exploring. Arcte, however, suffers a good deal of change. In Chauees, he is the steadies, tore thoughtful, and more sensible ofthe two, and he even has touch of amor, When Palamos clams exclusive rights to loy= ing Erily upon firs sight ofher,Arcte perceives the absurdity oftheir fighting ower 3 woman neidhr is ever ike to stain ‘We struc a id the hounds forthe bo “Thar fought day & yo er put was one The cant cur whe dr they wer so wea ‘And bare aay the bone om he bod Wure-t9) Jes true that when Palamon bases his right to loving Emily on his having soon her frst, Arcite responds with a quibble of his ‘own he points out that Pulamon thought she was 2 goddess, tind chim that his ov recognition of her asa woman means that loved her fist. But Acct is soo sensible to be persaded by his own argument, and he drops ito fall ack on one he had advanced eae Soppose thar thow loud hee Before: Wont dou noe well the old cress" That wha sal pe louse ay? [A 263-65] Arce’ non-courly and down-to-earth manner of speech (ehowld one compare one’ lay 4 dogbone? s redeemed by his common sense, He does not mind s¢Palamon loves Emily, st least from the same safe dneance 28 he: and inthe woods he Seems io acteptPalason's challenge out of obligation co knight hood rather tan as an opporinity to get rid OF rival. But be pulls no punches in his ighting. Te play's design assimilates Arcite to Palamon. When, ina seene by Fletcher, Palamon forbids Arcite to love Fai because Palamon bd soon her fret Aeite is allowed his rather unwor= thy quibble about Palamon's having tstaken her fora goddess, butt deprived of hs forbear’ detachment and common sense "You shall not love at all” Palamon exclaims, "Not love a alP™Love, War, and the Cost of Wining ss Arcite answers belligerendy. “Who shall deny me?” (Ha.x65- 66). When the plays Palaton, like Chaucer's before him, in- wokes friendship and Kieship 2s detcrents to Arcte’s loving Ennis, Arlt reply smerely rade: "Yes, Hove her that wll love ye, fiewel, Palamon be goes on to dim vo be as “worthy and 28 fee 2 lover.” and to have as true ale to her as “any Palamon or any living / That is man’ son (akon #77, 78-2) Arciteb ego has been insted to match Pala that we may have leur picture ofthe egotism of love ds ing fiends. ‘Sectfced in the pay are the more choughtfl sides of both Palamon and Arcte: When Chaucer's Palamon lesms of Arie’ tclease from prison dhrough che intercession of Pethous, he de~ livers slang sllogay in which he express his envy for Arcite and then complains, mos eloquently, of the cruelty of dhe gods ‘wlio gover the world. asking them, "What i mankind more ‘nto Jou shold / Than isthe shepe that rowkeh in dhe fa? (i r307-08)-—an image of man ae duh beast hat Shakespeare also ses” The speech pat of Chaucer complex irony, fort isPalamon whom tae gods ultimately fvor, though that hardly alfect his charge that they ate cruelly iniferent. But the play— ihre weiten by Fletcher ie interested only in Palamnon’s envy for Arcte, and the more thoughtful porons of the soliloquy disappear On the same oceasion, Chaucer Arcite speaks a40- logy in which he envies Aveite for remaining within eyeshot of Ely, from the possibility of seeing whom Arcite has been banished. Arcit sslso allowed to reahze wryly that only a few hours before he had been praying to be relesed, and now no longer wishes fo be. He concludes that men de not know what they ought to pray for, for they do not know whae is best fOr them: and he even anticipates Theses’ Tater conclusion that Providence may know what is good for us beter chan we do, Aeite comes t illstate, ironically, is own insight, for later ihe prays to Mats for vietory in the toummamentchinking that will bring him Emily and victory he gets, but not Eraily. He fies aking, What his world? Whar do maen ask ro ave? (A 2777), having got, sadly, what he asked for. OF this ieonically ttclers wisdom Arcite shows when he is teleased from prison, ‘Love, Was and Cost of Winning »” the play in this scene by Fletcher gives us nothing: Arcite is ‘merely jealous of Palamon, a Palamon was of Ait inthe pre= “A scene (Li) feom Shakespeat’s pen wholly devoted 10 Pa- famom and Acct i, from the point Of view of characterization, tone of the most disappointing scenes inthe whole canon, This Sa scene added tothe plo, showing the two knights st home in Thebes before Theseus" expedition against Creon. They are thoven to be disgusted withthe decline of common morality in ‘Thebes under King Creon, and dheyeeslve to abandon the cy. Their uninteresting dilogue suggests Tile more abou them than tht they are very moral, very innocent young men, fst fiends who share 1 certain priggines, perhaps mote notico= able in Arcite, who i afraid of bing morally contaminated by ie m Thebes. Bu, like the good knights they are, when they hear that Theseus a war with Thebes, they at once agree 10 stay and defend their ity. Ar te scene ends Shakespeare allows ‘Bevte one speech that reflects the philosophical depth that Aré cite in general lose n his traniion from the poem to the ply Plamon wonders how they will ae in a battle in which thee hears are notin the fighting. Arcite replies, Le event, That neverrsag aebirato, ell as ‘When we know a ouree, and lt Cllow The becking of ue chance, ttikass-16) | have mentioned that Chaucer's Arcite anticipates Chaucer's Theses’ conclasion that Providence Knows whats best fr us. Fer a Eve pid on, Step Ace the conchiding speech in the play by Theseus (to which 1 ‘all return bur even more serkingly, he defines the poston from which Chaacers Theseus had spoken: that i after the event, the neverfaling arbitrator, which he is now able to rar tionalize, Shakespeare's Arcite allowed inthis way 0 make bis ‘comment on the poem that Shakespeare i ltering to ft new specifications, a kind of backward glance 2 dhe pocm that furs several mes in the pla. 1, asin A Midsonmer Nights Dream, the male Tovers intheLove, War, and the Cost of Winning © ply are even less interesting than they ae in Chaucer's poem, gun the loss is partly made up for in Shakespeate characte tation of a wonian, Ena, She has to receive fuller sing out {nthe play, for inthe poem, 261 pointed! out, she is hardly more than a pocte image,» lovely object without character oF indie vidual who speaks nevera word excep in her prayer to Diana before the tourament, Chaveer's Knight, indeed, docs a scam to have been mich ofan expert on women: one fel th afer his own murrage he must have stayed home just long fenough eo beget the Squire and then took off for distant wars ‘where he has been ever sinc, safe n the company of men. He Scems co regard women as chiefly distinguished for weeping: is Theseus obherves at one point that women “wepen euery it fone” (A 1798), that i, consinually, and ll the women in The Knights Tile produce 2 portion of ters. Only once docs the Knight face Emily directly. When Arcite bas won the tours ent and is siding around the Hts, the Knight sys Emily yen him et ey oye (For women a0 spake i commune They fllowen ll te fo of fort). (A 2080-83 Generations of my female students have held cis remitk to be + cheap insult on the Knight's pat, an onbecoming and infrie ding slur on women, And i surely sounds cynical to sy that ‘women commonly follow fortunes favor Yee the adapebiity ‘of women, chet ability to fllow fortunes fvor and ditsvor by making the best of even a very bad sitition, i something ‘Chaucer himself semis greatly to have admired, and its char istic of women a iffrene ts his Griselda and his Wife of There are indications that Shakerpeare too admired th ability, for he gives some of i to his Ema. And, indsed, 1 Suppose that Shakespeare and Chaucer woeld have agreed that in the society shey were describing in these works, no mater how lke or bike ic may have been to thei own societies, in fotder to survive # woman would have to be able to adapt faraune' vor Like Emily the play's more filly developed and more inter esting characte Emilia is foread to follow the favor of forcane, Love, War, and the Cost of Winning. 6 or of misfortune. As a votary of Diana, she does not want + hhusband, and Shakespeare goes great lengths ro show us that her noe wanting one is not just a girlish whim but a sincere ‘womanly desire, Inthe frst scene in which she speaks at lengch Ui}, she and Hippolye ar decussing the gre friendship be- toween Theseus and Pirithous, who has just lft to join Theseus! fxpedicion against Thebes, Hippolyts says something chat Ens iis takes as expressing ansery that Theseus loves Pirithous ‘ore than he dacs his Sride-to-be, Emilia tactily, though not ‘ery confidently, reassures Hippalyta about Theses’ love. Bat Ihsving got on th subject of tendehip berween members of te same sex, Eras eellt of her own childhood lve forthe gil Fhvina, now dead ic was so intense that Emilia now believes that “heer love ‘tween maid and maid may be More than in fee dividual” Hippolyta takes this to mean that Emilia will never love “any hats eall'd man” in the way she loved Flaina, tind Emilia replies, "Cam sre [shall nt” Hippolyess rejoinder begins with the scorn one might expect of a bride: she calls Em- lia “weae ser" witha "sickly appetite." whom one must not boiewe. But then she concedes that Ema believes what she is saying, and adde most choog Bataure, my sce IE were spe for your persarion, you Have enough to stake me from the rm Oftheal-woble These ik go-g foe whote good fortune she is going tothe temple to pray, now assured, she says, that it she and not Purithous chat Theseos loves most. This ea fagrane non-requitue—the deft of rnin’ remacks might well have weakened rather than strengthened Hippalyeasconfidence--and i pechape suggests that Emilia really shaken her. Emmi ends the seane withthe firm dedlat tion to Hippolyt: “Tam not / Agninse your ith, yet I continue "The scene develops the opposition of love within each sex and Joye between them. The friendship of Theseus and Pisthous i, ‘ofcourse, 1 model against which one may jodge the destruction (ofthe frendship of Palamon and Arcie. This much ShakespeareLove, Wa, and the Cost of Winning. 6 took over from Chances, where itis not emphasized, But the theme ofthe friendship of Theseus and Pieithous aba thtea 20 the love of Theseus and Hippolyta isan ation, and disear= ing one, thats made even mare disturbing by the mirror image provided by Enis description of her love for Fvina, and by hice derogation of intersex love. Edvard sce one ofthe eye desigas af the play asthe necessary passage from the innocence of fiendship between members of the sume sex 10 the experi fence of love beswieen the opposite sexes, and the loss that if en- tailed inthe transition {athe play] we are given, carly enough, 2 Lien ewo sages: youth eich te pun of pn enh 9 dn ‘ant and the sper age in wie there ia dominant setal poo? fon leading to marriage hereto. Th oveset fom one ‘age to the net, de raveible proces of growth, i move sone sy for innocence aay fom jo.” ‘Wich this fine summary I disagree in ewo important points. AI though the play does indeed depict an unavoidable process of| change, tht is not necessanly growth; and though the move- ‘ent is away fom joy, lt may not necerarly be away from innocence: may simply be away from one experience tai other that is less pleasant, Edwards is right in pointing ost Shakespear’ continuing preoccupation with lost innocence; yet 1ido not sce that the postion in The Tov Noble Kinsmen is eo tirely equivalent to that in The Winer Tale, wen Polixenes ‘speaks of his youthful fiendship for Leonts, orto that in A Midsummer Nights Dreom, when Helena speaks of her yout fiendship for Hermia. As Clilfrd Leech rematks, in Emus’ talk of Hlvina, “Shakespeare is no longer offering + merely pene picture of two girls together” I prefer to see what hap- pens to Emilia a the forced exchange of ane kind of experince for another And though the rendship ofthe innocent Palamion and Arcite is destroyed by thet love for Emilia, that love iselT Scams to me an expression of another kind of innocence rather than of growth. To quote Edwards’ splendid image, Shake- speare "had ls own dark vision to present of mien moving into their future as ehrough thick fog." ® Yee the fueare may not ; a Love, Whe, and the Cost of Wining. 6 represent growth but merely the hardening of immataiy, At {Er nila Shakespourc hough not Heche) seems 0 Suggest that her resistance to semua love i mature and valid 2d that the enunglemen of marrage i not an ineitable prescription forall womens happines. i The Krights ele Enis wises arent consulted on any mater unl some yar fe the death of Arte, These sks Hero marry alamon, and even then hea er to macy hin, hot fshe wll mary him, Inthe play, Ema’ wishes are com- Tate, but only that she must make a cue choice In the Scene lv), eaten by Fletcher, in which Theses finds the isco fighting inthe woods and scatenes chem to death, Eri Tike Emu, sone ofthe women who pray Theseus € spar thems and in the ply ics her prayer tht filly moves The Sous He sjecs, however, her suggestion that te knights. be Femina om i com he seal somewh h Jan they reject wel Theses net asks Erato choose be Freon ten he loser to be pat to death She efuses, though the knights agree enthusiastically Theseus hen devises the plan for a tourmment beeween them, ech suppored. by tee Togs Gast of Chaar andres), The oterament els Sppurenly to be nom mortal, but the losers all four of them ll be put to death, andthe winner ail ge Evia, Asked This plat contents hee she replies tha it mst, “Else both mie tarry ici gor). Apparently, fore to retuse to serve spre ‘Gocld cause Theseus to camry out hi orginal sentence of eth on both Apart fom one silly scene by Fletcher (Vin which Em ss Gosiders wheter is posible for her to choose ane ofthe nights over the ober-a choice the plot has suggested sno Tonger open tohee-hor pat forte rest ofthe pay writen ty Saktpesre The theme e sisaes snot the possibly Pos the aspects of her enforced union with ene of the krights, but hat one must de because of ee Wenext ce hein he {envle of Dian, praying tothe gods before te vourament. Hr prayer dices inseveea ays from Emly’ ie he Kright Tal Tor Emily, the posit Of romaiing 2 vorary of Diana Inity sl eens eal and she pray Best that she may remattLove, War, and the Cost of Winning oy unwed. She adds to her prayer however the wish chat if she must wed one of the knights, she may wed the one who loves best For Emilia ficed with the prospect of marrying one Jznight or having both be put to death, the possity of cote tiauing in the service of Diana is wo longer real she dressed as bride, and her prayer "is the last of veal oc" i am idee, | ‘Bue maidenhead. A hand The pointed : Bat donot know im. Ou of ewe snl Choose one ard pay frie secs, but ‘Am gules of elec, Weias0-s4 1 do not intend to call Emil’ sincerity into question when 1 point out the slight ambiguity of her statement: by resing to choose between Palamon and Arcite she ie gilless of having ‘made choice of her appointed husband, and hence has broken to la of Diana, She has nor, however actully cefused & his band, Perhaps afai that Diana wall be displeased with this mild quibble she restates the isu in the negative: OF ain eyes Were to Joe one hey ae el precios Toul doom sete that wil pris should ‘The choice that i offered her heart dass not produce preference {or one, bu sorrow that either must de. fn this predicament she repeat Emily's wis that the knight wi loves her best should ‘win er, but adds the request that he should also have “the test tile” to her. She is eaking the advice of Chaucers Theseus and ‘aking whatever vireo she cin of necessity. ‘Diana's answer to Emilia teases her for 8 moment: the hind | accompanying Emilia disappears under the altar, and "inthe place sends ose ee, having one rose up on it” Seeing this Emin ‘wonders whether ‘his ate shal confound Both tha bere knight an gin Aw, ; Mast grow aloue unplacd Iii se6-6e Love, War and the Cost of Winning, 6 But the roe falls From the tee and Emilia knows she must not sn unplicked. Her use of muti charming, af though the wishes eo remain unvved, after al these elaborate prepati- tions ie might be too sudden a reversal of forte’ favor if she did, But as Bom the earlier see between Hippolyta and Ei lis, one comes sway with a strong sense that Diana's appeal fas its own large valdity"The godless chilly charm is marvelously Invoked by Bria atthe beginning of her prayer © sized, shadowy, col, andconstane queen, Abandoner a revel, make, contemplative St, sltary. wit chaste, ad pure ‘Aswind-find Vise} Enilis docs not follow hee marital fortune with enthusiasr Despite the urging of Hippolyta and Theseus-the viral come mand ofthe latter—-she refutes to watch the tournament. Het thoughts ae always withthe loser, and what her Maran sister and brother-in-law regard as 2 wonderful opportunity t0 see brave deeds done in her honor she regards a8 punishment When, with the toumament in progres, she is let alone, she les, for the frst mein Shakespeare’ handling of hee, consider the relative excellence of the evo knights, but ean bring hersell to prefer either (Wili4i~104). Her mind constantly returns the face that one must de. When she hears showte svggesting that Palamon is orining, her fist thought is of Arcite: "Poor Servant, thou hast lost" And when she hears that itis Arete who has won, she prises his excellence, but concludes, “Als, poor Palzmon'” One wonders whether, if she had been placed fina sitation in which she was Forced to choose one, with the ther going free she would not have chosen Arcte. But the position she is in ensures che death of oe man, which vo choice ‘fers can prevent, ‘That she finds herself inthis cruel position isthe real oF the cdice by Theseus, who is much altered fom what he was ia Chaucer. The extier Theseus, thowgh he takes most seriously the responsibilty of iuposing his Hea of order on the anrly ‘worl, and shows himself 2 times to be both hothesded and ruthless, has both humor and folerance, and an ability eo entereLove, War and the Cost of W tain second thoughts. But from the very fist see ofthe play ‘when the widowed qscensimportne him foraid, Shakespeare’ Theseus appears a harsher, more remote, more pridefUl, ore bullheaded figure than his forebear. The later isa first angered by the procession of queens interrupting his triumphant home- ‘coming, and accuses them of envy of his honor but when be Jeaens sho they are and what hey want, heat once accedes 10 their request and lead his army against Thebes (A. 905-74) Shakespeare’ Theseus, though he shows sympathy forthe wi ‘owed queens hat no intention of deferring his marrage fii ‘hos on thir behalf The fac that he and Hippolyta are still un rmarsied, ss in A Midannner Nights Drea, ives Theseus some feason for his behavior, hough iis a reason thc illustrates the ‘cbilitating power of Venas on civilized behavior Theseus says that he considers his fordhcoming marrage “greater than ay ‘wan adding Than ll the actions sat I ave foregone, Oefiely en cope (nisreag) ‘Apparently this Thescus has never toyed with Ariadne’ affec- tions or been assisted in his amours by Titania. But even itis tnareage sa novel experience for him and ane of great urgency, his reftal to aid the queens ntl thei case has boen eloquent pleaded by Hippolyes and Enis makes him seem ikea cold tnd self-centered person. Ifthis is Ven’ power a ork, then folate him from humanity, a ie does Palamon and Arete. The impression of his isolation reinforced by sich speeches s that in which he tells the widow of King Capanens hovr "grief and tine" have withered hee beauty (L439-70), which he remem= bers from her wedding. He sem 3 living statue of Mars, utr ‘ouchable by human feelings Talmost every scene in which he appears, the plays Theseus surpass his Chaucerian predecessor in expressing his power dnd ruthlessness, He greatly admires the way Palatton and Are tice Taught agnnst hin in the bate at Thebes, and when he finds them wounded on dhe field, he instructs his erald wo ere ploy the beat doctors in Athens to heal thet injuries, But this Love, Wat, sid the Cost of Winning, o apparent bit of hurnaniy ie spoiled when he glats aver the fat tit he has them in his pow, che power of life and death. In ‘Chaucer, che politieal necessity to imprison the knight i simply taken for granted. Shakespeare Tescus makes the knights ex ‘lence contribute ro the pride he ha in being their captor: Much more dan Thebes worth Rather han Bae em Fred of ts plight, and in ther moeing sate Sound ands ery) Toa em dea Bt fry thousand fold we ad her have om ‘eons co than death, liven] ‘There is in tie speech dhe same stench of sickness that chee x in ‘Troilus nd Creda when Achilles feels Hector’ limbs and aumires che srength that he intends to destroy. There is some imcersinty over whether the Is scene I was discussing in The Tia Noble Kinnen ie Shakespene’s or Fetch- rs." but om Theseus che two playwrights agtec, cach emphy ‘Suing his euthlesmes, may have been Fletcher who decided thar the order should be given, presumably by Theseus, that Palamion be moved to 2 more remote par ofthe prison afer Anite release, with the rele shat Palamon could no longer sce Ena, a gratuitous touch of ervey, Like Chaucer, Feteh- cfs Theseus condemns Palamnon and Arcite co death at once ‘when he finds them fighting inthe woods (Mlvi; bus unlike Chacers Theseus, who changes his mind after dhe Indies" ine tercosion aad his own chitming meditation onthe absureity lovers (A 1742-1835), the Theseus of the play once again yields ‘ont reluctantly to others’ entreaties, and finally gives in only bocnase he had once promised Eras that he would grant her anything she wanted. He had given his word thatthe knights trol be pot to death, and he apparently chinks that cheir death ‘Sloss important than keeping his word. We recall that, in Cha er, Ven was abe to ep her word to Palamon by the deat Of Arete: Theseus is imitating the arbitrariness of the Chauce fan immoral "The play’ Theseus is excessively touchy about chivalic basis, ad thinks cha any Knight should be a touchy as he, HeLove, War, and the Cost of Winning o assumes, without making inguiry, thar not only dhe loser in dhe fournament berween Palamon and Arcite, but also the losers three companions would rather be pat to death then co goon living afer the detest, a curious notion by which be makes honor responsible for increasing manlsithumanity co man™ At the lee minute, Chaucer Theseus forbids the ase of certin = thal weapons inthe tournament in order to reduce the danger of death to the contestants (A 2537-60). Shakespeare Thescts, on the other hand, ensures the dea of half of the contestants He is mercilessly alor-nothing, Venus or Mars, love or death When Arete wins the (oumament, Shakespeate'’s Theseus sswatds Emilia to him and in the seme bresth says ofthe four Sefeed knights, "Give them our pretent justice, since [know ‘Theie ives but pinch them” (Vi 133-33). This seeme a curious tse ofthe word jute nor iit clear thatthe knights” lives do pinch them, Palamon faces impending execution with graceful Soicism=—not quite the same thing a enthusasin—and uses 2 par of the consolation that Chaucers Theseus had used to stop Ennly and Palamon fom mouing Arcite's death: that itis well to die when one is innocent of wrong and, #0 t0 speak, ahead ofthe game, before age Brings moral or physical coreup- tion (Viv.tat4; of A 304736). But one does not fel that, if Theseus ad suddenly nd uncharacteistcally reversed himself Palamon and his companions would have insisted thatthe sen tence be eared out ‘Shakespeare’ Theseus, Plamon and Arcite, and Hippolyea all represent Mars come dow from the temple walls in Chavter aad into their hearts. They contol their world by the sword alone. But ofcourse, st Edward has 3 elealy shown, Venus is a danger to human behavior and no less a one than Mass. At the end ofthe Fist scene Theses realizes he as hesitated eo help the widowed queens Because of his eagerness for Venerean pur- suits, admitting, in a moment of self-awareness cht | wish he ‘would have mote often, that “being sensaally subdu'd [that is, overcome by senssabty),/ We lose ove hexan vile” (Li.252~ 43). The fight that maintained beeween Palamon and Arcite because of Venus” influence deprives them of humanity, Theit eagerness to ll one another in claiming the eight to love Emk Tiss-on in the scene by Fletcher loosely based on Chances to be Love, War, and the Cost of Winning, ® put to death rather than o stop fighting for tha right—is bodh Tiperhuma and subbuman. And, of course, the destructive power of Venus is the chief mot lserated by dhe sub thejailer’s daughtey, handled almost exclosively by letcher, and hence not included in my discussion. This subplot also intro- ddces the theme ofthe exchangeabilty oflves, implicit in The KKnightr Tale and developed is A. Musunmer Night Dream: [Love's exchangeability is nota morif that adds to Venus stature ‘Since Palamon and Azcite ate equally dedicated to love and fighting, co Venus and Mar, iti only symametey that demands that one must bea voray of ane of the gods, and the other of| the other Even in Chaucer, Artes ssignmient to Mars seems arbitrary, for Palamon is actually the more quartelsome of the two, Chaucer did what he could to smoothe over the abitear- ness by having Avcit, in his praje, remind Mars of his liaison with Venus, which her husband Valean bad so embarrassingly Deblicized. But the gel reason that cite had to pray to Mare Inthe oer form ofthe story was that heh to fail is char acter by prying forthe wrong thing, victory instead of Exaily (dt 2420) Thiet a relatively minor need in Shakespesee's vere Sion ofthe story from which suc ironies have been exadcated, ‘The prayer hie Arcite makes e straightforward bloody peise the god: Emilia isthe prize thar must be “dragg'd out of Blo. (Weg) and, hence, Areite needs Mars’ help. the ugliness of Arsite’s prayer to Mars (cre I gave a specimen of it ugliness) is sucpsied by the ugliness of Pala- fon’ prayer to Venue-—the most amazing passage nthe play fiom any point of view: Ie is a fPalamon had sted the Wal paintings im Venu’ temple in ‘The Knights Tale and decided that fhe vas to be prised most for her ability 10 eormupt oF make fools oF men of any age, His mose striking image is that of the senile lover, “the pol'd bachelor” whom Veni en catch at sev= And make hit, to the som of his hoarse hat, ‘Abuse young ys of love [viss-so) (One thnks of The Merchants Tale—how in the morning old Janacy “chaunteth” and "cracketh” to May while the "lacke skin about his necke shaketh (E1849~so). What part of Pala-Love, Wis, and the Cost of Winning n rmonis prayer is not devoted to Venus’ power to humiliate and corrupt is devoted to praise of himsll for never having com Splzed sexually against women or made lewd jokes sbout them, constantly reminding himeel, Ike a good Boy, that he had & ‘mother. But even this prim protestation is modified by his story of having himself known an eighty-yearold man whose foure teenyeatold wife had given bizh to a boy, and by his dim the he, Palamon, believed the child was the husband's beeuse the wife had sworn ie yas, Either Palanan is unbelievably ine nocent or his account ofthis marvel comes very close tothe kind of joking he boasts he has exchewed, In any case, his praise of the goddess almost wholly for her power to debase. He does thot tention the strife she lus caused between himell and Aré tite, but then no charscer inthe play apart from Ena scents to have the self-awareness that uch an admission would require Palamon gets Emilia, and is snatched from te jaws of deat to do so. Ateite, having won the tournament and having been awarded Emilia, rides around the city on a hosse Emaia bad fiven ims (an itony’ that she play ad to te story), and Piith= fs deseribes othe astounded Pelamnon the of-stage acide in ‘which Arce is mortally injured. In Chace ee 3 fry sent by Plato at Sats request on behalf of Vena that causes the horse to rea in such a way that Arcte’s brent smashed agains the saddlebow (A 2684-1, Tn Shakespeare we do not kaow what gods, if any, were invalved. Arcite's hore is fightened by 3 Spark caused by its own hooves, and Saturn has heen reduced spurt ofan image: Piithous does not know wha envious fin, Gold aso Satur, and ike him posses With re maeroese, ew ares) raised the spark that fightened the horse so that i reared and fell backward upon its rider In The Knight Tale, Arcit takes along time adying, and an even longer time being buried inthe splendid funeral Theses Srranges for him, Yenes pass before Theseus samimons Plarnon back fom Thebes and marries him offto Emily after delivering bis sententious speech onthe operation of Divine Providence ‘Love, War and the Cost of Winning n ‘The equivalent ation in The Tov Noble Kinoen takes but a few minutes, fifty-two lines as opposed to more than five hundred in the poem. All but sateen nes ofthe play's scene in which ‘Arste delivers his dying speech and Emilia s forthwith tans- {erred to Palsnon ate assigned to Theseus. In Chavcers core sponding scene, Thescus argues that because we are governed by 2 divine plan—for whose existence he provides no evi ence—it is “wisdome” Fo make yee of reese Andale wel tate may aot eschew [a s00-43) But, agsn, he does not argue thatthe divine pln corresponds torans ide of justice, that Plamon deserved Fry more than ‘Rect, oe that Aite deserved death; what he argues is that itis fost economical, a it were, €0 take what comes with good tee, The wisdom of being prepared for anyching in a world ‘where chance seems co rule supreme had earier been averted by the Knight himeelt (A 1533-24). But the play has no su ‘ought messages has, indeed, no mors, except that the ‘world dousinated by Mars and Venus ia messy one: nor, a8 1 bve sid, are Mars and Venus objective figures asin The Knights ‘Tal, bat merely oman impulses objecified only in poetic image. Theseus does try to find some higher principle 2 Hie fel chat in Atctes aecident things have come out for the best and Arcite himself asers the same principle: Areite admits tht he wae “Gls” to Palamon, “yet never treacherous” (Wiv.g2-03)—a distinction 50 fine a to be scarcely visible, has this dows ie allow cite to die with bis chivalry vztally unsulid, while allowing Palamon’ claim to Emilia to ha been jst, Theseus ie detighted with the opportunity offered him to promote the quibble that Palamon had seen Eris fist ito 2 Tegal principle asserting Palamon's beter tle. With equal re~ fat for niceties if not substantial, Theseus aso observes that the "dives / Have show'd duc justice” (Wiv.108~0p), in that Mars and Venvs kept their promises of success tothe wo v= taries-—that thi includes a classic example of divine equivoca- tion snot mentioned, But because Theseus has always thought SF human action in the simplified terms of the ltematives ofLove, War, and the Cost of Winning n 3 death, in the world in which he ives justice has indeed imped, Indeed the death of Arete andthe good fortune of Palimon even enable Thescus co perform 4 humane sct—he calls of the execution of Palamon’s companions in rms. As he cbserves, ‘The gods my just “ake from my hand, nd hey themacvor Deore The exectiner, and more mereifal ones than he, I might add ‘Shakespeare most have been aware that his ply, unlike Chau cers poet, was not about the chance-laden interaction of gods Sind mortals yer he allows Theseus to pretend that twas, and gives him 2 final address to the gods which wosld splendidly [Become Chaucer's Theseus in Chaucer's poem © you heavenly chater, What things you make of wl For what we bce ‘Welaugh foe what we kave ae sorry, ll Ire chen n some kind. et wy be hank or that wh i and wi you ene pute ‘Thera above os qx, Wises] Bt against thie gracefilafimation and acceptance of things at ‘hey ate, one sil hears in one's mind a speech Emilia made jst a8 Theseus awarded hee the riamphant Acie, whom he (oid {fo “arm [his] prize” The prize addresses the pods © atlyoa beavenly powers, whereis your mercy! Bet eat your wils have sad mt be 9, ‘Aad charge me live to comtr hisuniende, Thi miserable rnc, sat cus sy Ate more worthy tory his than ll women, should and would di so. ‘The heavenly powers that Emilia addresos are of couse in che bears of Theseus, of Hippolyt, of Plamon, and of Arcite, and itietheiswils that have sid irra be 3, Edwards finde in The Too Noble Kinnnor ome ofthe same "irony of the way in which is shaped by chance and caine ‘in The Knight? Tle,” but i seems to me tat Love, War, and the Cost of Winning n in the play ic is acally only Emilia who is helpless before chance in the same sense that the heroes of The Knight Tle ae ‘Whae is in Chaucer the dsistrous flly of thet courtship, an spect of their youth, becomes in the play the index of thir mature characte: chey become fully Martan-Venerean, and no farther growth can occur in 2 world willing to sete ungues- sloningly for such second-rate deities Tilia does question the principles of sucha word. Her de- scription of herself as having to ga on living in order to coming ‘husband wretched in the fost of fiend who wat more wo thy than any woman is maidenly-modest to a high dogecs nevertheless very modesty reiterates Enis’: eather stte= sient tht, fOr hes friendship between persons of the same sx i ofa higher quality than love between the sexes, Ie xno mee self-deprecation when se says that Arcite has Tose more in Pale mon than he could ever find compensation for in Emi. The ‘den reversal of che situation, with Arcte dead and Emilia transferred to Plamon rather than changing an iota ofthe sense fof Emilia’ speech, reinforces its validity. She could speak in she ‘ew situation just a5 she spoke in the old, and she could begin ber speech by addressing tothe tiumphant Palamon, as she bad tothe eiumphane Arcite, the question that provides an excellent oblique commentary on the py: "Is this winning?” Tats tioning ofthe way things are, Emilia ving despsicin The “To Noble Kinimen i 8 poigaant a the dying Arcits despair in The Knight’ Tale when he asks, What is the wand? What aken nn to ae? aar