Life Is a Dream

Rossaura, a lady dressed as a man, opens the first scene from the top of a mountain in Poland, where she curses the horse that has just thrown her off: “you’re as ill-conceived as a bolt of lightning without flame” (91). She laments her situation to Bugle, her servant with whom she is traveling, and he responds with a reminder that together, they make “two unlucky wretches” (91), who “left [their] fatherland to seek adventures” (91). As Rossaura and Bugle commiserate in their misery and frustration, they spy “a palace so insignificant that even the sunlight barely reaches it” (92). They investigate the tower, which is so crudely built, it “could pass for a boulder that rolled off the mountaintop,” (92), and enter its open door. When they hear “the sound of a chain,” (92), they believe that the building is haunted, until further exploration reveals a “a dark prison that serves as grave to a living corpse […] a man bound in chains and accompanied only by the light” (93). Rossaura and Bugle listen to the man, speaking to himself, and they learn that he does not know the reason for his imprisonment. In his confusion, he compares himself to birds, beasts and fish that all enjoy freedom to live as they wish. His anger is directed towards the “powers of justice or reason [that] are capable of denying men the sweet privilege, the fundamental license that God grants to crystalline waters, to fish, to beasts, and to birds” (94). Rossaura comments out loud in pity for the man, and the man hears Rossaura and threatens her with violence, until her respectful words alter his attitude towards her: “Each glimpse of you increases my amazement, and the more I look at you the more I desire to look” (95). Rossaura tries to empathize with the man with her own story of misfortune when Clothold, the man’s jailer, enters the scene, accompanied by soldiers. Clothold and the soldiers confront Rossaura and Bugle, who have trespassed. Sigismund comes to their defense, claiming he will “tear [himself] to shreds […] before [he] allow[s] any misfortune to befall these strangers” (96). The soldiers lock Sigismund away for his impudence, and they blindfold Rossaura and Bugle in preparation for their removal from the building so that “they won’t see how or from where they’re leaving” (97). Rossaura explains that she has “come to Poland to avenge a dishonor” (98), removing her sword and turning it over to Clothold, who has a strange reaction to the sight of Rossaura’s sword. He asks Rossaura from whom she received the sword, and when Rossaura responds, Clothold exclaims, in an aside, that Rossaura must be “[his] son” (98). Clothold’s loyalty to the king of Poland, to whom he must bring the intruders, conflicts with his sense of family honor towards Rossaura. Clothold promises himself that the “will help him avenge his dishonor” (99), and takes Rossaura and Bugle to the king’s palace.

The second scene opens with Aistulf, the Duke of Muscovy, murmuring words of courtship to his cousin, Stella, a princess of Poland. The presence of soldiers gives Stella reason to “defiantly resist” (99) Aistulf’s pretty words, and she responds to Aistulf by pointing out that “it’s a base action […] to flatter with the mouth and kill with the mind” (100). Aistulf defends himself, but speaks more honestly about the fact that their uncle, King Vasily of Poland, “is widowed and childless” (100). Because both Aistulf and Stella “aspire to his throne” (100), Aistulf suggests that they marry as a way to resolve the matter. Stella’s “love is not altogether satisfied by [his] intentions” (100) because Aistulf wears a locket about his neck containing the portrait of another woman. The arrival of King Vasily and his attendants interrupts their discussion, and he “greet[s] [them] with open arms” (101).

In a lengthy monologue, the king announces that he must speak to relieve “the heavy burden of [his] years” (101), and “the subject matter itself will solicit your amazement” (101). King Vasily goes on to explain that he “had an unlucky son, upon whose birth the heavens ran out of appalling signs even before he had passed into the beautiful light of day from the darkness of the womb” (102). The stars foretold that this son “would trample [him] underfoot” (103) so the king “announced that the prince was stillborn” (103) and built a tower “among the crags and bluffs of those mountains” (103) in which to house his son, Sigismund. The king admits that his plan to hide his son away was flawed, and he has “come up with a solution that is sure to bewilder [the] senses” (104). The king explains that he plans to bring Sigismund to court tomorrow, “without his knowing that he’s my son and your king” (104), to carry out an experiment. If Sigismund is “prudent, rational, and benevolent” (104), then “you all will enjoy the reign of your rightful prince” (104). If Sigismund turns out to be the menace the stars predicted, King Vasily will “return him to his cell not out of cruelty but out of punishment” (104), and Stella and Aistulf will unite their “two claims to the throne” (104) and marry.

Aistulf speaks for all of the king’s subjects when he says, “let Sigismund come forward” (104). Before the king leaves, Clothold approaches him with Rossaura and Bugle, explaining that “[t]his handsome young man, through either boldness or ignorance, entered the tower […] where he saw the prince” (105). The king reassures Clothold that he has just “revealed the tower’s secret” (105) and pardons them for their intrusion. Clothold releases the prisoners, and Rossaura swears to be his “eternal slave” (105) for granting them their lives. Rossaura repeats her commitment to avenging her dishonor, and Clothold insists on knowing to whom she has sworn revenge, so as to “keep him from helping [her] enemy” (106). When Rossaura explains that her enemy is Aistulf, Clothold denies that Aistulf is capable of dishonorable behavior. Rossaura explains to Clothold that her “external trappings are but a riddle” (107), suggesting that she is not a man. Clothold asks the heavens to “show [him] the way out” (107) of his confusion.