Act I
A Prologue precedes the start of the dramatic action. It praises the literary source of The Two Noble Kinsmen: Chaucer's "The Knight's Tale," a narrative poem set in legendary Greece. The play itself begins with an elaborate procession accompanying Theseus, duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, the Amazon queen, to their wedding. The ritual is interrupted by the sudden appearance of three queens, dressed in mourning clothes, who fall on their knees and beg Theseus to help them. They report that their husbands were slain in battle by Creon, king of Thebes, and that...
Source: Shakespeare for Students, ©2012 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
(The entire page is 1538 words.)
Want to read the whole thing?
Subscribe to eNotes for access to this content as well as thousands of study guides and critical materials. SUBSCRIBE
