THE
KING WHO LIMPED - MONICA THORNE
Monica Thorne is a successful playwright. She
has written number of plays. Most of her plays are based on humorous themes. “The
King Who Limped” is also a humorous play in which the author criticizes the
sycophancy of the officials in the palace.
The main characters in the play are The
King, The Prime Minister, The Chancellor, a Courtier and two ladies in waiting.
The sub characters are two Heralds, two neighbors, a page and a dog.
A nation was waiting to welcome its new
king. No one had any idea about the new king. At last the king came. He was
followed by two men and a page with a dog in his hand. Later the king informed
that he had caught the two men for fighting in the street.After his arrival the
members of the court greeted the king. The king came limping. To everybody’s
surprise he wore a bowler hat on his head. The king said that it was hot
outside so he wore a bowler’s hat. The Prime Minister, The Chancellor and The
Second lady – in – waiting were sycophants so they gave up their crowns and
wore bowler hats.
It was the custom in the court to kiss the
hand of a new king. The Prime Minister went limping and said his leg was
cramped. The Chancellor too limped and said that he had rheumatism. The second
lady –in- waiting also limped and said that her ankle was sprained. But the
first lady-in-waiting and the Courtier were not sycophants so they didn’t limp
like others.
The king’s first administrative function
was to solve the dispute between the two men each who claimed a dog being his. In
order to solve quarrel, the first lady suggested the king to cut the dog into
two and share it between the two men. To please the king, The Prime Minister,
The Chancellor and the Second lady agreed with this idea. The first man agreed
but the second man withdrew his claims because he didn’t wish his dog to be
killed. The wise king concluded that the second man who withdrew his claims was
the real owner of the dog.
After
this the king dismissed The Prime Minister, The Chancellor and the Second lady for
blindly imitating him. He said that he couldn’t give space to sycophants in his
court. He promoted the honest Courtier as his new Prime Minister and the honest
lady in waiting to a higher post.
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