Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

HIPPOLYTA

in The Two Noble Kinsmen — Fletcher, John; Shakespeare, William

Metadata

PlayThe Two Noble Kinsmen
AuthorFletcher, John; Shakespeare, William
Year (catalogued)1634
First performance1613
Decade1630s
GenreTragicomedy
Play typeAdult Professional
CompanyKing's Men
TheaterBlackfriars;Indoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)Hip. | Hipol. | Hyp. | Hypol.
Words715
Characters3718
Typicality0.32 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA00969
BritDrama no.1724
ClusterCluster 5 — Romantic leads (high style)

Important excerpts

No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).

Full speech

Poor Lady, say no more: I had as leife trace this good Actium with you As that whereto I am going, and never yet Went I so willing, way. My Lord is taken Heart deep with your distress: Let him consider: I'll speak anon. Though much unlike You should be so transported, as much sorry I should be such a Suitour; yet I think Did I not by th'abstayning of my joy Which breeds a deeper longing, cure their surfeit That craves a present medicine, I should pluck All Ladies scandal on me. Therefore Sir As I shall here make trial of my prayres, Either presuming them to have some force, Or sentencing for ay their vigour dumb, Prorogue this business, we are going about, and hang Your Shield afore your Heart, about that neck Which is my , and which I freely lend To do these poor Queens service. Sir farewell; repeat my wishes To our great Lord, of whose success I dare not Make any timorous question, yet I wish him Excess, and overflow of power, an't might be To dure ill-dealing fortune; speed to him, Store never hurts good Governors. In's bosom: We have been Soldiers, and we cannot weep When our Friends done their helms, or put to sea, Or tell of Babe, broachd on the Lance, or woman n That have sod their Infants in (and after eat them) Though brine, they wept at killing they; Then if You stay to see of us such Spinesters, we Should hold you here for e for. With much labour: And I did love him fort, they two have Cabind In many as dangerous, as Po e a Corner, Peril and want contending, they have skift Torrents whose roaring tyranny and power I'th least of these was dreadful, and they have Fought out together, where Deaths-selfe was lodged, Yet fate hath brought them off: Their knot of love Tide, weaved, entangled, with so true, so long, And with a finger of so deep a cunning May be out worn, never undone, I think Theseus cannot be umpire to himself Cleaving his conscience into twain, and doing Each side Like Justice, which he loves best. It Flaviam. You're ont of breath And this high speeded-pace, is but to say That you shall never (Like the Maid Flavina ) Love any that's called Man. Now alack weak Sister, I must no more believe thee in this point (Though, in't I know thou dost believe thy self,) Then I will trust a sickly appetite, That loathés even as it longs, but sure my Sister If I were ripe for your persuasion, you Have said enough to shake me from the Arm Of the all noble Theseus, for whose Fortune's, I will now in, and kneel with great assurance, That we, more then his Pirotho , possess The high throne in his heart. I admire him, I have not seen so young a man, so noble (If he say true,) of his sort. Never so pleased Sir. By that faith, That fair hand, and that honest heart you gave me. By valour, By all the chaste nights I have ever pleased you. By your own eyes: By strength In which you swore I went beyond all women, Almost all men, and yet I yielded Theseus. Next hear my prayers. Mercy. What will become of they? I wish it, But not the cause my Lord; They would show Bravely about the Titles of two Kingdoms; 'Tis pity Love should be so tyrannous: Oh my soft hearted Sister, what think you? Weep not, till they weep blood; Wench it must be. You must go. Farewell Sister, I am Like to know your husband before your self By some small start of time, he whom the gods Do of the two know best, I pray them he Be made your Lot. Infinite pity That four such eyes should be so fixed on one That two must needs be blind fort. Asas the pity, now or never Sister Speak not to be denied; That face of yours Will bear the curses else of after ages For these lost Cosens. Sir by our tie of Marriage. But his Body And firy mind, illustrate a brave Father. He's well God sure. Stand up.

Plot summary

Plot — The Two Noble Kinsmen
Theseus’ wedding to Hippolyta is interrupted by three widowed queens, whose husbands have fallen in battle against Thebes. Creon, the victor, has denied them the right to bury their dead, so they request Theseus’ help in forcing his hand. At Hippolyta’s request, Theseus postpones the wedding feast and leads an army against Thebes. It is a bad moment for the Theban princes Palamon and Arcite: they are on the point of leaving Creon’s corrupt court, but now feel a patriotic duty to defend their city. Theseus wins the war, Palamon and Arcite are taken prisoner, and the dead kings are buried. Palamon and Arcite are imprisoned in Athens. Their cell overlooks a garden where Emilia walks; they both fall in love with her and quarrel jealously. Arcite is released, on condition that he never returns to Athens, but he stays in disguise and performs with distinction at a. sporting festival for Emilia’s birthday. Meanwhile Palamon is moved to a cell without a garden view. The jailer’s daughter falls in love with him and, aware that they are of markedly different rank, seeks to win his regard by engineering his escape. Palamon meets Arcite in the woods the following morning; Arcite agrees to bring him food, clothing, and weapons so that they can fight out their quarrel. In consequence, Palamon fails to turn up at his appointment with the jailer’s daughter, and she is driven mad by a combination of disappointed love and fear that her father will be blamed for the escape. The fight between Palamon and Arcite is interrupted by Theseus. Though one has broken banishment and the other broken prison, Hippolyta and Emilia beg that their lives be spared, but the kinsmen will not consent to Emilia’s proposal that they should be banished from Athens and_.swear never again to see either her or one another. Theseus proposes to execute only one of them if Emilia will agree to marry the other, but she cannot decide between them. Theseus resolves on a trial by combat, with each kinsman supported by three knights: the winner will get Emilia, and the loser will die. Palamon exonerates the jailer concerning his escape and gives his daughter a dowry. A doctor treats her by dressing her fiancé as Palamon and encouraging him to play up to her, even if it entails pre-marital sex. It does, and she is cured. The kinsmen return to Athens with their knights to participate in the combat. Arcite prays for victory to Mars and Palamon to Venus; both receive signs of their respective deities’…