A Game at Chess Literary Elements

drama; comedy

English

The action of the play takes place in the 17th century, on a chess board.

There is no singular narrator or point of view, though the play is introduced by the bitter Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order.

whimsical, ironic, strategic

The protagonists in the play are the white chess pieces and the antagonists are the black chess pieces.

The major conflict in the play is between the White House and Black House, who represent Protestant England and Catholic Spain respectively.

The climax of the play occurs when the White Knight travels to the Black House to dine with the Black Knight. He eventually convinces the Black Knight that he wishes to join the Black House, deceiving the Black Knight into confessing his crimes and sending all the black players to the bag.

When the Black Bishop's Pawn gives the White Queen's Pawn reading material about obedient women, it reflects his misogynistic perspective and foreshadows his eventual attempt to rape the White Queen's Pawn.

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As an allegory for historical events, the play makes frequent allusions to the conflict between England and Spain as well as the attempted political negotiations that occurred between the two countries when Prince Charles was supposed to marry the Spanish Infanta, Maria Anna.

Important imagery in the play includes the "spark" associated with the black pieces, the darkness ushered in by Ignatius Loyola, the disparity between black and white, and the status implications related to individual chess pieces.

One of the central paradoxes of the play concerns the Black Queen's Pawn's bed trick, in which she convinces the Black Bishop's Pawn that he slept with the White Queen's Pawn when in reality he spent the knight with the Black Queen's Pawn. It is unclear why the Black Queen's Pawn would attempt to deceive one of her own, but this moment emphasizes the inherent scheming of the Black House.

The chess pieces on the board are allegorical parallels for historical individuals including King James I, Prince Charles, and Elizabeth of Bohemia.

The entire play could be seen as the personification of chess pieces.

The play announces itself not as a performance but as a chess match, likening the stage to a chess board. Scholars believe there was even a large prop bag on stage to which characters would retreat upon defeat. The play is unique in that it uses the space of the theater to emphasize how political dealings are often no different from strategic games.