The Two Noble Kinsmen · Chapter
Scene IV explained
The Gaoler's Daughter, alone in the forest at night, is cold and delirious.
What happens
The Gaoler's Daughter, alone in the forest at night, is cold and delirious. She hallucinates a shipwreck, speaks of her hunger, and sings a folk song. Her mind wanders to her father's fate and her love for Palamon, before she exits.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Madness
The Daughter's fragmented speech and hallucinations illustrate the madness induced by her love for Palamon.
Nature and Artifice
The natural setting of the forest contrasts with the Daughter's artificial, delusional visions of ships and fortunes.
Characters to notice
- Daughter
The Gaoler's Daughter appears alone, lost in the forest, speaking in a feverish and disjointed manner.
Key passages
“I am very cold; and all the stars are out too, The little stars, and all that look like aglets: The sun has seen my folly.”
I am freezing, and the stars are shining like tiny ornaments; daylight has revealed my foolishness.
The Daughter expresses her physical discomfort and shame, linking the cold night to her regret.
“Yonder’s the sea, and there’s a ship; how’t tumbles! And there’s a rock lies watching under water; Now, now, it beats upon it; now, now, now, There’s a leak sprung, a sound one; how they cry!”
I see the sea and a ship tossing violently; a hidden rock is tearing a hole in its hull, and the sailors are screaming.
The Daughter hallucinates a shipwreck, reflecting her inner turmoil and sense of impending disaster.
“O for a prick now, like a nightingale, To put my breast against! I shall sleep like a top else.”
I wish for a thorn, like a nightingale presses against, so I can rest; otherwise I'll spin restlessly like a top.
She longs for a physical pain to match her emotional suffering, hoping it will bring sleep.