The Tragedy of Arthur_ A Novel - Arthur Phillips [132]
CONRANUS, King of Scotland
ALDA, Queen of Scotland, sister-in-law to Loth, aunt to Mordred and Arthur
Duke of HEBRIDES, son to Conranus ALEXANDER, a messenger
DOCTOR
COLGERNE, chief of the Saxons
SHEPHERDESS
MASTER of the Hounds
The Master of the Hounds’ BOY
DENTON, an English soldier
SUMNER, an English soldier
MICHAEL BELL, a young English soldier
French AMBASSADOR
PHILIP of York
PLAYER KING
PLAYER QUEEN
Messengers, Servants, Huntsmen, Attendants,
Trumpeters, Hautboys, Soldiers, Players
SYNOPSIS
PROFESSOR ROLAND VERRE
ACT I: In sixth-century Britain, King Uter Pendragon rapes a noble’s wife. The product of that rape, Arthur, is raised in Gloucestershire, far from his father’s constant wars with the Saxons. When Uter is killed, Arthur inherits the throne, but his right is challenged. Mordred, heir to the crown of Pictland (eastern Scotland), asserts his claim to be king of all Britain (England, Wales, Scotland, and Pictland, as well as Ireland). Mordred’s father, King Loth, refuses to go to war for this title. Mordred decides to provoke a war. The English nobles torture a Pictish ambassador, offering Mordred an excuse to bring Pictland (and Scotland) into the fight.
ACT II: Arthur leads his men against the Saxons, Picts, and Scots at York, gaining his first victory. Mordred retreats to Lincoln to join hidden Saxon reinforcements. Arthur sends the Duke of Gloucester to lead his army in pursuit, vowing to arrive before any battle. Instead, the Duke of Gloucester, disguised as Arthur, wins a great victory against a surprisingly strong force. Arthur arrives late and allows his enemies to go home on the promise of peace, keeping Mordred’s brother for ransom. The Saxons attack again. Arthur, enraged, kills all prisoners, even the hostage brother. Mordred becomes King of Pictland and vows revenge against Arthur.
ACT III: Gloucester arranges a valuable marriage for Arthur with a French princess, guaranteeing wealth, allies, and strength to help him achieve his goal of a unified, peaceful, and prosperous Britain. Instead, Arthur marries Guenhera, the sister of a childhood friend, who has loved him since he was a boy. She miscarries twice. Arthur’s nobles complain that he is too solicitous of his wife and has lost interest in military matters, that he has turned the court into a place of effeminate art and recreation. One noble considers assassinating Arthur to save the endangered kingdom.
ACT IV: Arthur is overly submissive to his queen, who is pregnant again. He allows her to put knights on trial for acts of rudeness or chivalric misbehavior. In the midst of this, the Saxons attack yet again. Arthur realizes that he does not have the means to defend his kingdom and that he has, in his rashness, alienated the French and his nominal vassals, the Picts. Forced to negotiate, he secures Pictish aid by naming Mordred his heir. Mordred accordingly assists in the victory over the Saxons at Linmouth, but he suspects that Arthur is going to renege on his promise.
ACT V: While Arthur is fighting a rebellion in Ireland, Mordred travels to London and learns that Guenhera has miscarried again but that Arthur has promised the throne to young Philip of York, one of Arthur’s illegitimate children. Humiliated, Mordred kidnaps Guenhera and Philip. Arthur leaves Ireland and makes camp in a muddy field alongside the Humber River to fight Mordred. It is not clear who attacks first, ending the hopes of a diplomatic solution. Mordred then murders Guenhera and kills Gloucester in battle. Arthur, heartbroken and realizing his weakness as a king, sees that his only duty is to kill Mordred, ensuring the end of civil strife in Britain. He does so, dying in the process, and a new king of a unified Britain is crowned.
ACT I, SCENE I
[Location: A wood in Gloucestershire]
Enter Arthur and Gloucester [with spears, hunting boar]
GLOUCESTER
Arthur, by noble right your prey now waits.
Yet stay, my prince. Charge not alone in haste.
Her rump is pressed against an oak’s thick hide.
And so