# Scene IV explained — The Two Noble Kinsmen

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

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### Daughter

The Gaoler's Daughter appears alone, lost in the forest, speaking in a feverish and disjointed manner.

## Key lines

> 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._

## Links

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