After reading · Section 14

Section 14The Tournament and Arcite’s Fall

Summary

Athens wakes to the clatter of tournament preparations. Theseus revises the contest to limit deaths: certain weapons are forbidden, a captured knight must remain at a stake, and the fight must end when either leader is captured or killed. Arcite’s and Palamon’s equal companies enter from the gates of Mars and Venus. The orderly spectacle becomes a brutal melee until Emetrius and twenty men capture Palamon. Theseus stops the fight and awards Emily to Arcite.

Venus weeps in shame at the result, but Saturn promises that she will soon be satisfied. As Arcite rides triumphantly before Emily, a fire sent by Pluto at Saturn’s request startles his horse. Arcite is thrown and badly crushed. Theseus reassures the company, treats the wounded, honours both sides equally, and dismisses the visiting kings after three days of feasting; Arcite remains alive and conscious, calling for Emily.

Who’s who

• Theseus — ruler and judge of the tournament, who modifies and enforces its rules.
• Palamon — Venus’s knight, captured after Emetrius wounds him.
• Arcite — Mars’s knight, declared victor before his horse throws him.
• Emetrius and Licurgus — allied kings fighting respectively for Arcite and Palamon.
• Saturn — the god who arranges the sudden accident after Arcite’s victory.