Summary
The White Queen's Pawn reads the book that the Black Bishop's Pawn gave to her, which is about how women should remain obedient to men. The Black Bishop's Pawn enters with a letter from the Black King. The Black King expresses his desire to seduce the White Queen's Pawn, but the Black Bishop's Pawn says he intends to seduce her first. The Black Bishop's Pawn attempts to seduce the White Queen's Pawn but fails, and the White Queen's Pawn escapes.
The Black Queen's Pawn arrives along with the Black Bishop and Black Knight. They all scold the Black Bishop's Pawn for the failed seduction. The Black Knight instructs the Black Bishop's Pawn to flee, ensuring that they will cover his tracks. The Black Knight orders the burning of files that would reveal a number of misdeeds within the Black House.
Meanwhile, the Fat Bishop enters and brags about his life. He is a traitor from the Black House, and the Black Knight and Black Bishop swear to exact revenge on him.
The White Queen's Pawn, having escaped, tells the White King about the Black Bishop's Pawn's attempted rape. The Black Knight says that the White Queen's Pawn is lying and provides false documents to support his claim. The White King decides that the White Queen's Pawn is guilty of slander and hands the White Queen's Pawn over to the Black House for punishment. The Black House declares that the White Queen's Pawn must fast for four days and kneel for twelve hours a day in front of erotic pictures.
Analysis
Act Two of the play follows the conflict between the White Queen's Pawn and the Black Bishop's Pawn. Having been successfully fooled by the Black Bishop's Pawn into thinking that women should be obedient to men, the White Queen's Pawn makes herself vulnerable to the Black House. This conflict emphasizes three major points about the respective houses: first, the White Queen's Pawn is morally righteous but ignorant of how much corruption surrounds her. Second, the Black House is, despite their loose morals, quite strategic in their game-play. And finally, the Black House is associated with misogyny and a transactional understanding of women's role in political matters. All of these points operate within the context of the broader allegory, suggesting that the Spanish-Catholic threat to England is both morally reprehensible and entirely formidable. The play portrays the Black House as a force skilled in deception and falsification, suggesting that the Spanish Catholics pose a real threat to English prosperity.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the unfortunate fate of the White Queen's Pawn, who appeals to the White King (King James I) to protect her after she was nearly raped by the Black Bishop's Pawn. The White King condemns the White Queen's Pawn to punishment by the Black House after consulting the false documents provided by the Black Knight. This is a surprising decision, and likely one of the reasons that the play was shut down after only nine days: the play presents King James I in an ambiguous light, suggesting that he is both loyal to truth (or perceived truth) in his acknowledgment of the documents but also, crucially, easily duped by falsehood. Once again, the play presents the White House as morally righteous but nonetheless ill-equipped to spar with the Black House in the very strategic game of chess. As such, while Act Two of the play continues to associate the Black House with villainy and corruption, it also offers its own critique of the White House (England) for its benevolent and trusting nature.
