Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
All characters reduced
The Two Noble Kinsmen - cover

The Two Noble Kinsmen

William Shakespeare, John Fletcher

Publisher: Memorable Classics eBooks

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

The Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare is a Jacobean tragicomedy, first published in 1634 and attributed jointly to John Fletcher and William Shakespeare. Its plot derives from "The Knight's Tale" in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, which had already been dramatised at least twice before. This play is believed to have been William Shakespeare's final play before he retired to Stratford-Upon-Avon and died three years later.

Formerly a point of controversy, the dual attribution is now generally accepted by scholarly consensus.

A prologue informs the audience that the play is based on a story from Chaucer.

Three queens come to plead with Theseus and Hippolyta, rulers of Athens, to avenge the deaths of their husbands by the hand of the tyrant Creon of Thebes. Creon has killed the three kings and refuses to allow them proper burial. Theseus agrees to wage war on Creon.

In Thebes, Palamon and Arcite, cousins and close friends, are bound by duty to fight for Creon, though they are appalled by his tyranny. In a hard-fought battle Palamon and Arcite enact prodigies of courage, but the Thebans are defeated by Theseus. Palamon and Arcite are imprisoned but philosophically resign themselves to their fate. Their stoicism is instantly destroyed when from their prison window they see Princess Emilia, Hippolyta's sister.
Available since: 06/03/2022.

Other books that might interest you

  • Poems Written Abroad - The Lilly Library Manuscript - cover

    Poems Written Abroad - The Lilly...

    Stephen Spender

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Poems Written Abroad is the first publication of the earliest collection of poetry by the famous poet, novelist, literary critic, translator, and radical, Sir Stephen Spender (1909-1995). Spender wrote and compiled this manuscript in 1927, when he was living in Nantes and Lausanne. In tone and diction, Spender's poems range from creatively traditional to unexpectedly innovative. They reflect his reading in Shakespeare and French poetry, as well as his absorption in music and modern art. They also document his struggles with his sexual identity and his emerging desire to devote his life, at whatever cost, to the writing of poetry. 
    This beautiful facsimile edition, authorized by the Spender estate, faithfully reproduces the features of the original manuscript now held by the Lilly Library, including the frontispiece, an ink drawing by Spender himself, and little-known photographs of the poet. The editor's extensive introduction and detailed explanatory notes situate Spender's juvenilia in the context of his life and work and the history of modern poetry. The volume will appeal to readers with interests in modern poetry, gender studies, and fine books.
    Show book
  • Do You Believe in Fairies? - Compositions of Truth & Nature in Art & Poetry - cover

    Do You Believe in Fairies? -...

    Ashley Anne Strobridge

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    This is an audio journey through a collection of original Nature photography paired with original poetry & prose. Within you'll find lyrical audio descriptions of photos spanning the landscapes of my home state of Vermont, as well as a curated selection of photos from Virginia. This art is paired with whimsical & impactful poetry in themes of ecology, fantasy, social justice (BIPOC, LBGTQIA+ & Women's Rights, aging & disability), literature, conservation, history, family trauma, healing, & never forgetting pure Fascination with the Wonders of the Universe.This work is intended to create access to the wonders & benefits of Nature to those who may have mobility issues, disabilities (including visual impairment), or who otherwise lack access to the healing power of Nature due to financial hardship; racial, social, or fat-biased exclusion; or other circumstances.Art, Science, Magic, Nature, Truth, Justice, Love, & Creativity: through Astrobridge Artistry, I aim to Communicate the Magic & Wonder of Nature, hoping to make the beauty & healing powers of the natural world accessible & inviting to all. As someone with multiple disabilities & limited mobility myself, I pride myself on taking photos of, & being inspired by, beautiful & whimsical scenes in natural places that are easily accessible. Whether I'm on a dirt road 2 steps from my car door, on an accessible nature trail, or even right on my own balcony in Montpelier, VT in my Magic Garden in the Sky, illustrating that the beauty of Nature can be more accessible than you think, & that you don't need to have the ability to climb a rocky mountain trail to witness the majesty of Nature, is one of my main missions. It is important to me to share my photos & writing with a world with ever diminishing access to the truth & natural surroundings.2 photos are credited to my Mother, Diana Whittington (the Rainbow's Daughter & There & Back Again), & another is in Public Domain; the remainder of the photos were taken by me.
    Show book
  • Francesco Petrarch - cover

    Francesco Petrarch

    Francesco Petrarch

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    This 14th-century Italian poet was a model for many who followed him. His passionate sonnets to Laura became the epitome for love poetry. Over some 40 years he wrote 366 sonnets to Laura, whom he probably never even spoke to, and they remain immediate and affecting even now. Called Rime Sparse (Scattered Rhymes), they influenced Chaucer and many others. This is an unusual addition to ‘The Great Poets’, but part of the intention of the series is to cover the major stepping stones of world poetry. Translated by Joseph Auslander.
    Show book
  • Duck Duck Goose (NHB Modern Plays) - cover

    Duck Duck Goose (NHB Modern Plays)

    Caitríona Daly

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    When his friend becomes embroiled in a rape allegation, Chris Quinn offers his support. Only the rules keep changing, nothing is clear-cut, and Chris finds himself caught in a tussle between loyalty, love and doubt.
    Caitríona Daly's Duck Duck Goose is a viscerally charged play examining the nature of consent, trust and trial by social media. Full of moral ambiguity and psychological complexity, it was developed as part of Fishamble's A Play for Ireland initiative, and first performed by the company in the 2021 Dublin Theatre Festival.
    Show book
  • Rhyme A Dozen A - 12 Poets 12 Poems 1 Topic ― Ballads - 12 Poets 12 Poems 1 Topic - cover

    Rhyme A Dozen A - 12 Poets 12...

    Michael Drayton, Ivor Gurney,...

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    ‘A dime a dozen’ as known in America, is perhaps equal to the English ‘cheap as chips’ but whatever the lingua franca of your choice in this series we hereby submit ‘A Rhyme a Dozen’ as 12 poems on many given subjects that are a well-rounded gathering, maybe even an essential guide, from the knowing pens of classic poets and their beautifully spoken verse to the comfort of your ears. 
     
    1 - A Rhyme A Dozen - 12 Poems, 12 Poets, 1 Topic - Ballads - An Introduction 
    2 - The Ballad of Agincourt by Michael Drayton 
    3 - Ballad of the Three Spectres by Ivor Gurney 
    4 - The Ballad of Persse O'Reilly by James Joyce 
    5 - The Ballad Which Anne Askew Made and Sang When She Was in Newgate by Anne Askew 
    6 - The Water Ballad by Samuel Taylor Coleridge 
    7 - The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear 
    8 - Ballade of An Omnibus by Amy Levy 
    9 - La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats 
    10 - John Barleycorn, A Ballad by Robert Burns 
    11 - Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe 
    12 - A Ballad of Hell by John Davidson 
    13 - A Ballad of Death by Algernon Charles Swinburne
    Show book
  • Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency - cover

    Your Emergency Contact Has...

    Chen Chen

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    What happens when everything falls away, when those you call on in times of need are themselves calling out for rescue? In his highly anticipated second collection, Chen Chen continues his investigation of family, both blood and chosen, examining what one inherits and what one invents, as a queer Asian American living through an era of Trump, mass shootings, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Always at work in the wrecked heart of this new collection is a switchboard operator, picking up and connecting calls. Raucous 2 a.m. prank calls. Whispered-in-a-classroom emergency calls. And sometimes, its pages record the dropping of a call, a failure or refusal to pick up. With irrepressible humor and play, these anarchic poems celebrate life, despite all that would crush aliveness. Hybrid in form and set in New England, West Texas, and a landlocked province of China, among other places, Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency refuses neat categorizations and pat answers. Instead, the book offers an insatiable curiosity about how it is we keep finding ways to hold onto one another.
    Show book