Summary
The Black Knight's Pawn asks the Black Bishop's Pawn for absolution for castrating the White Bishop's Pawn. The Black Bishop's Pawn says there is no absolution.
The Black Bishop's Pawn, still disguised as the wealthy husband, tells the White Queen's Pawn that they must have sex immediately. The White Queen's Pawn protests and says she must remain a virgin until marriage. The Black Queen's Pawn assures the Black Bishop's Pawn that she will sway the White Queen's Pawn.
Meanwhile, the Fat Bishop tells the Black Knight's Pawn that he must kill the White Bishop's Pawn if he feels guilty because murder is a forgivable crime and castration is not. The Fat Bishop hopes to profit from the payable fines associated with the murder.
The Black Queen's Pawn has sex with the Black Bishop's Pawn, but convinces him that he is actually going to bed with the White Queen's Pawn.
The White Knight and the White Duke attempt to negotiate with the Black House. The Black Knight tells the White Knight that he will do anything he pleases. The Fat Bishop attempts to capture the White Queen, but his efforts are thwarted by the White Bishop and White King. The Fat Bishop is sent to the bag.
Analysis
With more attempted deception under way, Act Four of the play becomes rather chaotic, as the Black House showcases how its members are not just interested in corrupting the White House but are also prone to in-fighting amongst themselves. The Black Queen's Pawn orchestrates a "bed trick" with the Black Bishop's Pawn, sleeping with him under the pretense that she is actually the virginal White Queen's Pawn. It is not necessarily clear at this point in the play why the Black Queen's Pawn dupes one of her own, but the action appears to comment more on the allegorical plot than the chess match itself. When the Black Queen's Pawn extends her deceptive ways to her own house, the play suggests that the Black House – a stand-in for the Spanish Catholics – are not simply a threat to the White House (England) but are inherently deceptive, even among one another. As such, the play suggests once more that the Black House is not to be trusted – not even in their relationships with members of their own "family." This is an important indicator in the play, as it precedes the negotiations between the houses and suggests that efforts of peace will be unsuccessful.
For the first time in the play, the White Knight appears on stage as he is sent to the Black House to begin negotiations. The White Knight is meant to represent Prince Charles, King James I's oldest son who would become King Charles I upon James's death. (Many years after that, King Charles I would be executed by supporters of the Commonwealth in the English Civil War.) In Charles's youth, James I was still faced with the Spanish Catholic threat to England, and attempts to broker peace were in the works in the form of a marriage between Prince Charles and the Spanish Infanta Maria Anna. When the White Knight travels to the Black House, then, early modern audiences would have recognized the political significance, especially considering that the marriage negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful. Until this point, the play has not necessarily made it clear which chess pieces represent which real-life political players. The White Knight, however, is explicitly referred to as Charles and the White King as James. At the time, it was illegal for plays to represent a reigning monarch on stage. It is likely, then, that the play was pulled from the theaters because of its representation of King James, Prince Charles, and the failed political negotiations between England and Spain, which may have cast James I in an unfavorable light.
