# Scene I explained — The Two Noble Kinsmen

> Chapter companion for The Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare.

## What happens

The Gaoler and the Wooer discuss a marriage arrangement for the Gaoler's Daughter, which is postponed until after the court festivities. The Daughter enters and speaks admiringly of the two imprisoned princes, Palamon and Arcite, praising their noble patience and cheerfulness in captivity. She corrects the Gaoler's identification of the princes as they appear above, showing her close observation of them.

## Themes in this chapter

### Suffering and Redemption

The prisoners' noble endurance of captivity, turning misery into mirth, exemplifies the theme of suffering transformed into virtue.

### Friendship vs. Romantic Love

The Gaoler's Daughter's admiration for both princes hints at the tension between her personal feelings and the bonds of friendship between Palamon and Arcite.

## Character check-ins

### Gaoler

Discusses marriage terms with the Wooer and comments on the prisoners.

### Wooer

Seeks to marry the Gaoler's Daughter and agrees to the Gaoler's terms.

### Daughter

Expresses admiration for the imprisoned princes and corrects her father's identification of them.

### Palamon

Seen above; the Daughter identifies him as the one looking out.

### Arcite

Seen above; the Daughter identifies him as the lower of the two.

## Key lines

> I may depart with little, while I live; something I may cast to you, not much. Alas! the prison I keep, though it be for great ones, yet they seldom come: before one salmon, you shall take a number of minnows.

I can only give you a small portion of what I have while I'm alive. Unfortunately, the prison I run is for important people, but they rarely come; you catch many small fish before you ever catch a salmon.

_The Gaoler uses a fishing metaphor to explain his modest means and the rarity of high-status prisoners._

> I do think they have patience to make any adversity ashamed: the prison itself is proud of ’em; and they have all the world in their chamber.

I believe their patience is so great that it shames any hardship; the prison takes pride in them, and they possess the whole world within their room.

_The Daughter praises the princes' extraordinary composure and how they transcend their confinement._

> Yet sometime a divided sigh, martyred as ’twere i’ the deliverance, will break from one of them; when the other presently gives it so sweet a rebuke, that I could wish myself a sigh to be so chid, or at least a sigher to be comforted.

Sometimes one of them lets out a sigh that seems torn from him, but the other immediately offers such a gentle reproach that I wish I were that sigh to be so scolded, or at least the one sighing to receive such comfort.

_The Daughter describes the tender mutual support between the two prisoners, revealing her emotional fascination with them._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_two_noble_kinsmen_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-i
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_two_noble_kinsmen_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_two_noble_kinsmen_se/chapters