The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Israel Gollancz William Shakespeare [1241]
All that are here. Some come to take their ease
And sleep an act or two; but those, we fear,
W'have frighted with our trumpets; so, 'tis clear,
They'll say 'tis nought; others to hear the city
Abus'd extremely, and to cry 'That's witty!'
Which we have not done neither; that, I fear,
All the expected good w'are like to hear
For this play at this time is only in
The merciful construction of good women;
For such a one we show'd 'em. If they smile
And say 'twill do, I know within a while
All the best men are ours; for 'tis ill hap
If they hold when their ladies bid 'em clap.
THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN
Attributed to John Fletcher and Shakespeare, this play derives its plot from The Knight's Tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Written in 1613-14, the authorship of the play remained in doubt many years and only in recent times have most critics agreed that Shakespeare and Fletcher collaborated on the play.
The Two Noble Kinsmen begins with three queens pleading with Theseus and Hippolyta, rulers of Athens, to avenge the deaths of their husbands at the hands of the tyrant Creon of Thebes. Creon has killed the three kings and refuses to allow them proper burial. Theseus agrees to wage war on Creon. In Thebes, Palamon and Arcite, cousins and close friends, are bound by duty to fight for Creon, though they are appalled by his tyranny. In a hard-fought battle Palamon and Arcite enact prodigies of courage, but the Thebans are defeated by Theseus. Palamon and Arcite are imprisoned, but philosophically resign themselves to their fate. Their stoicism is instantly destroyed when from their prison window they see the Athenian princess Emilia. Both fall in love with her, and their friendship turns to bitter rivalry. Arcite is released after a relative intercedes on his behalf. He is banished from Athens, but he disguises himself, wins a local wrestling match, and is appointed as Emilia's attendant.
Shakespeare's main source text for this play is available via this link.
John Fletcher, who, after Shakespeare’s retirement, became one of the most successful London playwrights of his time
The 1634 Quarto title page
CONTENTS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Prologue
Act I, Scene 1
Act I, Scene 2
Act I, Scene 3
Act I, Scene 4
Act II, Scene 1
Act II, Scene 2
Act II, Scene 3
Act II, Scene 4
Act II, Scene 5
Act II, Scene 6
Act III, Scene 2
Act III, Scene 3
Act III, Scene 4
Act III, Scene 5
Act III, Scene 6
Act IV, Scene 2
Act IV, Scene 3
Act V, Scene 1
Act V, Scene 2
Act V, Scene 3
Act V, Scene 4
Act V, Scene 5
Act V, Scene 6
EPILOGUE
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
ANTIOCHUS, king of Antioch.
PERICLES, prince of Tyre.
HELICANUS, ESCANES, two lords of Tyre.
SIMONIDES, kIng of Pentapolis.
CLEON, governor of Tarsus.
LYSIMACHUS, governor of Mytilene.
CERIMON, a lord of Ephesus.
THALIARD, a lord of Antioch.
PFIILEMON, servant to Cerimon.
LEONINE, servant to Dionyza.
Marshal.
A Pandar.
BOULT, his servant.
The Daughter of Antiochus.
DIONYZA, wife to Cleon.
THAISA, daughter to Simonides.
MARINA, daughter to Pericles and Thaisa.
LYCHORIDA, nurse to Marina.
A Bawd.
Lords, Knights, Gentlemen, Sailors, Pirates, Fishermen, and
Messengers.
DIANA.
GOWER, as Chorus.
Prologue
Flourish. Enter Prologue
Chorus New plays and maidenheads are near akin:
Much followed both, for both much money giv'n
If they stand sound and well. And a good play,
Whose modest scenes blush on his marriage day
That after holy tie and first night's stir
Yet still is modesty, and still retains
More of the maid to sight than husband's pains.
We pray our play may be so, for I am sure
It has a noble breeder and a pure, ... [Pro.10]
A learned. and a poet never went
More famous yet 'twixt Po and silver Trent.
Chaucer, of all admired, the story gives:
There constant to eternity it lives.
Of we let fall the nobleness of this
And the first sound this child hear be a hiss,
Now will it shake the bones of that good man,
And make him cry from under ground, 'O fan
From me the witless chaff of such a