This play deals with questions surrounding human nature,
power, authority, and cowardice. After winning a war against the Armenians,
Arbaces, king of Iberia, takes Tigranes, king of Armenia, prisoner. Tigranes’s
lover, Spaconia, asks Bessus, a captain of Arbaces, if she can accompany them
and work for a lady of Arbaces house so she can be close to Tigranes and
convince him to not love Panthea, the princess of Armenia (sister to Arbaces).
We find out that Arane has attempted to kill Arbaces multiple times, but has
always been stopped by Gobrius, the lord-protector. There’s an interesting
scene, in Act II, where the “citizens” of Iberia show up and act both as a
comedic relief, but also to show that Arbaces is out of touch when he addresses
them as “united”. In spite of that, the citizens do appreciate Arbaces as their
king. Act III is when the crux of the play happens, as Arbaces finally sees his
sister after several years apart and falls in love with her. The rest of the
play deals with the consequences of this sinful love while simultaneously
questioning the nature of manhood (with Bessus’ cowardice) and other familial
ties such as father/mother and children (with Lygones wanting to disown Spaconia
and with the final reveal that Arbaces is Gobrius’ son and not related to
Panthea). At the height of their passion, Arbaces asks Panthea if it is only
the words “brother and sister” that stop them from loving freely, meaning, is
there something more intrinsic in their relationship.
Arbaces compares his sinful desire to that of beasts
frequently in the play. And nature is often used as a metaphor for his
emotional state.ac
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