18 September, 1594 - Palamon and Arcite

Here's what the Admiral's Men performed at the Rose playhouse on this day, 424 years ago...

Henslowe writes: y^e 17 of septmbȝ 1594 ... ne ... R at palamon & a^rsett ... lj^s 

In modern English: [18^th] September, 1594 ... New ... Received at Palamon and Arcite ... 51 shillings.

Today, the Admiral's Men performed a new play! Palamon and Arcite is lost, but its title tells us that it retold a well-known legend in which best friends are torn apart by love.

Emily watched by the prisoners from their cell
window; from a 15th-century manuscript of
Boccaccio's Teseida

The legend of Palamon and Arcite originates in the Italian writer Boccaccio's Teseida (c.1340), but it was made famous in English thanks to Geoffrey Chaucer, who retold it as "The Knight's Tale" in The Canterbury Tales. No doubt that is where the author of Palamon and Arcite read it.

The Knight's Tale takes place in a version of Ancient Greece filtered through the Age of Chivalry. The title characters are two soldiers captured by the forces of Theseus during his war against Creon. They are imprisoned in a cell with a view of a garden, and endure their suffering with fortitude. But when the beautiful Emily, sister of Theseus's wife Hippolyta, walks through the garden, both men fall instantly in love with her, and their camaraderie turns into rivalry.

Arcite is exiled from from Athens on pain of death, but he returns in disguise and becomes a servant to Emily. Meanwhile, Palamon escapes from prison. He bumps into Arcite in the woods and the two are about to fight when they are interrupted by Theseus and his entourage, who are out hunting. Theseus thinks they should both be executed, but Hippolyta and Emily beg him to spare them. Hearing the young men's story, Theseus agrees that in order to decide who will win Emily, the two will fight a massive formal combat, each commanding a hundred knights.

Arcite, Emily and Palamon pray to the
gods; from a 15th-century manuscript of
Boccaccio's Teseida

Before the combat, Palamon prays to Venus (goddess of love) and Arcite prays to Mars (god of war). Emily, whose opinion on the whole situation has thus far not been asked,  prays to Diana (goddess of chastity); she tells the goddess that she hopes to become a nun but that if she has to marry one of the young men, she prays he will be a good husband to her.

The outcome of their prayers is bittersweet. During the combat, Palamon is unhorsed and so Arcite wins the fight and Emily's hand. But the god Saturn then intervenes, causing Arcite to be thrown from his horse and mortally wounded. As he dies, Arcite tells Emily to marry Palamon, which she does.

The death of Arcite; from a 15th-century
manuscript of Boccaccio's Teseida

The tale of Palamon and Arcite lends itself very well to the theatre, as the leading roles undergo an amazing range of emotions and the roller-coaster climax can be moving. This can be seen in The Two Noble Kinsmen (1613), an adaptation by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher that follows Chaucer's tale closely.

The version staged at the Rose may not have been as good as Shakespeare's: it received a very disappointing 51 shillings, well below the usual amount for a premiere. But this lost play might have had some impact on English Renaissance drama: just a year or two later, Shakespeare would create A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which Theseus and Hippolyta hold court once again, and encounter while young people in love in a forest while hunting. Yes, Shakespeare might simply have been inspired by Chaucer, but the coincidence of dates makes one wonder whether Shakespeare was sometimes inspired by the lost plays of his rivals.

FURTHER READING

Palamon and Arcite information

• Misha Teramura, "Palamon and Arcite", Lost Plays Database (2012). 
• Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 966.

Henslowe links

• Transcript of this page of the Diary (from W.W. Greg's 1904 edition)
• Facsimile of this page of the Diary (from the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project)

Comments?

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