"I have heard the fortunes
Of your dead lords, which gives me such lamenting
As wakes my vengeance and revenge for ’em."
The opening scene of the play reveals the major conflict, an ensuing war between Athens and Thebes, because of the cruel behavior of the King Creon, who shamelessly refuses to give a proper burial to the three queens' husbands. This information enrages Theseus, who is committed to notions of honor and duty. Here, Theseus empathizes with the queens and promises revenge.
"Th’ impartial gods, who from the mounted heavens
View us their mortal herd, behold who err
And, in their time, chastise."
Theseus, as Duke of Athens and a mighty warrior, is constantly having to reconcile the horrors of war with his victorious outcomes. In order to do so, he turns to the concept of fate. Here, Theseus argues that the gods – who remain impartial compared to humans – observe humanity and determine for themselves who is moral and who is not. For Theseus, this notion that his victories are sanctified by the gods allows him to make sense of the otherwise chaotic world of warfare.
"This world’s a city full of straying streets,
And death’s the market-place where each one meets."
When the three queens interrupt the wedding celebration between Theseus and Hippolyta, they entreat Theseus to wage war against Creon because Creon has refused to give their husbands a proper burial. Here, the queens speak aphoristically about death as the "great equalizer," suggesting that everyone – even Theseus – will die, and in that death everyone deserves a proper funeral.
"Nay, most likely, for they are noble suff’rers.
I marvel how they would have looked had they
been victors, that with such a constant nobility enforce
a freedom out of bondage, making misery
their mirth and affliction a toy to jest at."
While Palamon and Arcite are imprisoned in Athens, the jailer's daughter falls in love with Palamon and continues to pursue him until she is driven mad by her unrequited love. Here, she remarks that the two cousins display such nobility and chivalric value that she cannot imagine what they would look like had they actually won the battle between Thebes and Athens. The jailer's daughter suggests that Palamon and Arcite, despite their imprisonment, are still dedicated to the chivalric standards to which they hold themselves and each other. Furthermore, the jailer's daughter – despite being in love with only Palamon – showers equal praise on both cousins, showcasing how closely entwined the two friends are.
"Yet, cousin,
Even from the bottom of these miseries,
From all that fortune can inflict upon us,
I see two comforts rising, two mere blessings,
If the gods please: to hold here a brave patience,
And the enjoying of our griefs together.
Whilst Palamon is with me, let me perish
If I think this our prison!"
While they are imprisoned (but before they see Emilia), Palamon and Arcite refuse to lament their miserable situation. Instead, Arcite tells Palamon that as long as they are imprisoned together, they are not actually in a prison. Arcite essentially argues that the friendship between him and Palamon is its own type of refuge, highlighting the intimacy between the cousins and the extent to which they rely on one another. Of course, these expressions of undying devotion are immediately extinguished when the cousins lay eyes on Emilia just moments later.
"I saw her first."
When the two cousins fall in love with Emilia, they immediately turn from best friends to enemies, vying for Emilia's hand in marriage (even though she does not know who either of them actually is). As they begin to fight with one another, Palamon uses the logic of first-come, first-served to explain why he should be the one to pursue Emilia. Here, the play emphasizes the childish behavior that Palamon and Arcite engage in while simultaneously depriving Emilia of any agency in choosing a husband of her own.
"Here, Palamon. This hand shall never more
Come near thee with such friendship."
As Palamon and Arcite prepare to duel, they shake hands to establish the beginning of the fight. Here, Arcite tells Palamon that the handshake is the only friendly behavior he will ever extend toward his cousin again. Arcite's words are ironic, as the cousins used to be best friends, and the handshake is simply a formality rather than a true expression of friendship. However, this handshake between the two friends showcases how dedicated they are to maintaining their chivalric code, even as they prepare to kill each other.
"It is a falsehood she is in, which is with falsehoods to be combated."
The subplot of the play, in which the jailer's daughter falls in love with Palamon and is driven mad by her unrequited love, ultimately ends with a tragicomic conclusion. Here, the doctor that examines the daughter tells her father that the only solution for her insanity is more insanity – that is, her madness must be cured with the equally absurd enterprise of dressing her former lover up like Palamon. The plan eventually works, highlighting one of the play's more lighthearted elements.
"Is this winning?
O all you heavenly powers, where is your mercy?"
Arcite wins the jousting competition between him and Palamon, but he is thrown from his horse and mortally wounded. Upon Arcite's death, Emilia asks these questions of the gods, wondering whether the "victory" – Arcite's in winning the joust, and Palamon in winning Emilia's hand by default – is really a victory at all. Emilia's doubts appear in stark contrast to Theseus's calm acceptance of the tragicomic ending as a manifestation of the gods' will.
"O you heavenly charmers,
What things you make of us! For what we lack
We laugh, for what we have are sorry, still
Are children in some kind."
At the end of the play, Theseus reflects on the events of the joust by speaking aloud to the gods. He amusedly announces that the gods are always one step ahead of humanity, and that in the divine presence of the gods men are still very much like young children. While Theseus expresses his belief in fate, he also encourages the audience to question why the tragic events of the play may have occurred in the first place.
