The play opens with the Chancellor entering the throne where the king lies asleep. He come to inform the “old trouble” to the King. The King tells the Chancellor that he told the Queen last night that “uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” meaning that the King has a huge responsibility on his shoulders and he is always in an uncomfortable position. They were talking about how grand the King’s thought was that can have an influence for the next posterity. Then they move to the serious issue which is the “matter of Her Royal Highness wedding”. The Chancellor addresses him that Prince Simon , who has been travelling in distant lands is coming today to see Princess Camilla. The King is worried about her daughter’s wedding and wonders if Prince Simon has heard anything about her daughter because she appears to be monotonous and not physically attractive to a lot of men and the Chancellor states in a pun about her daughter appearance but the King directly calls him out stating whether he is trying to justify his daughter as being ugly.
Ironically , the both agrees that the beauty of Princess Camilla has eluded everyone including the court painter whose last words were “well, I did my best” and the successor of the painter is now painting the Princess across the water meadows near the West Turret near the landscape since the doctor has advised him. The Chancellor is unable to comprehend how it happened to Princess Camilla and despite being not beautiful yet she has a great character. The King tells him that they are not addressing her character but her chances of getting married which is important at this time. The King is concerned as he tells from the suitor’s point of view that a beautiful girl will have tucked the beautiful character inside her but it’s impossible for an unattractive girl to do the same. He agrees. Princess Camilla is the nicest person in the kingdom the king states. The Queen enters in the middle of the conversation.
The Queen knows that they are talking about Princess Camilla. The Queen interrogates about Prince Simon and his age. Nobody has seen him except a fleeting glimpse of him. The Queen then narrates about the Tournament of Love that whoever will win shall marry Princess Camilla. Ironically, the Chancellor was absent from the Tournament and it was the other fool. The Prince who fought in the tournament came around in their horses and they decided to engage in a fight but they fell off their horses in defeat. One of the Princes was quick and the King decided to proclaim him the victory. Then the Queen invited them to the Feast or Betrothal and the Chancellor announced that the Prince would have to pass the further test and he would have to answer the riddle. The riddle was created by the Queen and the riddle was a question “What is it which has four legs and barks like a dog? “ and the answer is a dog itself. The Prince gave various answers but he could not find the answer so. The Prince disappeared under the table and he was found in the moat next morning. It looks so strange for the Chancellor that Princess Camilla lacks physical beauty out of all the invariable attribute of Royalty.
They have a conversation about how Princess Camilla acquired the ugly appearance. They talk about the king”s great aunt Malkin who wished him an extreme happiness but it was the other Princess Camilla’s godmother , from the Queen’s side promised the dazzling beauty for her which was quite famous in their family. The queen then asks the King what Great Malkin said about Princess Camilla and the King narrates a poetic verse. The Queen explains that his aunt has stolen the beauty and there shall never be a wedding day for her. Then Princess Camilla enters the room.
The Princess greeted them and eager to leave if it is matter of state affairs. The Chancellor pleaded to leave. Princess Camilla informs them that the Prince has come and he is at the drawbridge that requires a lot of time to be pulled down. The Queen tells the King to tell Camilla about something and she leaves. The King talks with Camilla about marriage and the plan he has planned with the Queen. The plan is to disguise her maid Dulcibella as Princess Camilla when Simon will come. The King tells Camilla to return back to her apartment and Dulcibella arrives. The King is teaching her how to behave when the Prince is near her. The King tells her that to imagine that he is Prince Simon and she is Camilla, the most beautiful woman ever seen and Dulcibella starts to giggle at his statement. The King tells her if the Prince graciously held her hand and compliments her then what would she say? She says “Coo” . The King disagrees and tells her to say with passion “Oh, Prince Simon”. The King teaches her to be calm and soft with the voice. The King asks her if she has a young man before and she tells her that it is Eg, who is smart, archer and works in the armoury but they are unable to marry till he becomes a real soldier. The King (getting up)tells her to be conscious of her mouth if she is thinking about “Eg” all the time and her mouth is not partially open. He leads her way out and he goes his way.Prince Simon arrives. Camilla and Prince Simon are going to have a conversation.
Prince Simon and Camilla have a conversation where he sits on the King’s throne and finds it uncomfortable. The Princess ask him who he is and he says that he is Carlo. Prince has arrived unannounced in disguise lying to her as Carlo and she also reveals that she is Dulcibella. She asks him where is Prince Simon and he tells her that the drawbridge is taking time and it makes a terrible sound so he came here unannounced across the moat by the beech tree. He is exhausted because of the dangerous route he took to get there. They have a conversation about the moat and he is shocked to see her able to take the route by the moat since she is lighter. Even if she falls on the moat , she can swim. She is surprised to see that he cannot swim but she acknowledges that he is brave since he is able to cross by the beech tree without being able to swim. He holds her up to to see if she’s light and he compliments her.
Prince Simon is making his own move by trying to hold her. He puts her down but what he means is that he wants to hold her for ever. They exchange their secrets. She told him about how her godmother promised that she would be very beautiful. One of her godmothers told her one day when she was tenth and it is the secret that he only knows. She narrated the same story that the Queen told about one of the godmother’s gift to Princess Camilla that everyone will be ignorant of her beauty and consider her plain till her wedding day only because she didn’t want Camilla to grow up vain and spoilt. The Prince thinks that it is Dulcibella’s story but it is Camilla’s story. The Prince also tells her the secret. The Prince tells her that Prince Simon is supposed to meet Camilla but he made his attendant Carlo to pretend to be a Prince to win her heart. The Prince is also self conscious about his own appearance.She is laughing all the time and she asks how are they going to do it. He states that he will marry her with his visor down. She tells him that she has another secret to tell and he has one too. She tells him to start first. He tells him that he is not Carlo but Prince Simon. He lied to her initially that he is Carlo. She tells him that she knows and the Prince wants to know how does she knows. She tells him that his attendant Carlo is declaring his passionate love for her maid Dulcibella and she is Princess Camilla. Carlo has a girl whom he calls “the little woman” and Dulcibella has Eg so they are both fine. Prince Simon and Princess Camilla are real and they were pretending to be Carlo and Dulcibella initially.
Prince asks Camilla’s hand and she tells her that it is the moment she knew he is Simon when he tells her how lovely she was initially as her godmother says. Prince also tells her that even if she was Dulcibella , he would have married her. He would be marrying her when she would be lifting her veil till now she is Dulcibella when her face is in veil. The voices are heard outside and the Prince bids goodbye. The King , Queen , Carlo and Dulcibella and The Chancellor while Prince Simon supporting the Chancellor as an accident seems inevitable and enters having a conversation.
The King asks what are all these and Carlo (in disguise) tells him that his attendant Carlo will prepare him for the ceremony and the Queen tells Dulcibella (in disguise) that her maid Dulcibella is going to prepare her for the ceremony. They sat on their thrones and the Chancellor asks to proceed their constitutional proceedings for the marriage. The proceeding is the riddle and the answer is the dog initially. The Chancellor tells them that they cannot proceed with the same question that by the historical constitution of the country, the same riddle cannot be asked on two successive occasions. Since the first one was unable to answer the riddle and fell into a moat, the same riddle cannot be asked for Prince Simon. The Chancellor then gives a riddle “what is it which has four legs and mews like a cat” and the Prince (in disguise) answers it as a dog. The Chancellor then was about to give the answer and Prince Camilla (in disguise) tells Prince Simon (in disguise)to say something quick. The answer that Carlo (in disguise) said is not dog and Prince Simon(as Carlo) asks permission if he is allowed to speak. He answers that there is an animal which is named a dog that purrs and sits by the fireside. Carlo appreciates the answer. The staple food is the milk and it has four legs and he further adds that in some distant country it is called hippopotamus says the Prince. Carlo appreciates the answer and he was trying to be humorous. The King agrees to the answer and the Chancellor declares that he answers the riddle accurately. The King agrees and he stands up to prepare for the ceremony. The Prince asks his highness that it is the royal blood of Princes to get married in full armour. The King agrees to it and he compliments Dulcibella for her work and she and Eg will not be forgotten. Dulcibella curtsies and she “coo”. The King thinks that he and Dulcibella make a handsome pair but the Queen find it stupid. The Queen tells Camilla to go and prepare herself for the ceremony and she is happy since he adores Prince Simon. The King wonders about Camilla that she is not plain as she used to be but the Queen thinks that it is just the excitement of the marriage and the King agrees.
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Critical Analysis of Nicolas Guillen Fusil Poem
Summary of Ruskin Bond Life at My own Pace
J.M Synge Riders to the Sea as a Tragedy
Themes in A.A Milne The Ugly Duckling
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