The Two Noble Kinsmen In 500 Words
Three Theban women come to ask Duke Theseus of Athens for help. The tyrannical King of Thebes, Creon, has killed their husbands and is refusing to give the men proper burials, despite the women's protests. Theseus is so angry with his fellow king that he follows the women's advice and wages war on Creon.
Despite their disapproval, the cousins Palamon and Arcite fight on Creon's side, and are taken prisoner in Athens when Creon is defeated, staying together due to a vow they made as children to always stick together. They also make a vow to accept their fates once they are imprisoned. However, those vows are both instantly forgetten when through the prison window, they see the beautiful Emilia, the sister of Theseus's wife Hippolyta, and both instantly fall in love and begin to argue over who should have her for bride, turning on each other within minutes of seeing Emilia. Because that's what friends are for.
Arcite relative intervenes, and he is freed, but banished from Athens. He envies Palamon, who gets to be near Emilia. Palamon, however, envies Arcite, believing Arcite can simply return to Athens in disguise to be with Emilia. Arcite does indeed disguise himself as a peasant bodyguard so as to be much closer to Emilia, whilst the jailer's daughter falls in love with Palamon, letting him escape. Palamon is still besotted with Emilia, however, so ignores his rescuer as she follows him around in the woods of Athens. Wandering around, Palamon finds Arcite, who nurses him back to health whilst the two renew their bickering, eventually deciding to duel to the death of Emilia.
Theseus, Hippolyta and Emilia come across Palamon and Arcite duelling and are Theseus orders their immediate arrest and execution. However, when they explain their live for Emilia, Emilia and Hippolyta beg Theseus to reconsider. So, as a result, Theseus announces that both cousins will have a month to prepare for a public test of determination, courage and strength, whereby the winner will marry Emilia and the loser will be executed. Meanwhile, the jailer's daughter is nursed back to health by a doctor, who suggests that the girl's fianceé pretends to be Palamon.
The day of the tournament arrives, and Arcite wins. He is, however, fatally wounded when his horse throws him off halfway through a victory lap of the arena, just before Palamon's execution. On his deathbed, Arcite reconciles with Palamon and gives him his blessing, letting Palamon marry Emilia, before Arcite dies.
This play was actually not entirely written by Shakespeare; he worked on it with John Fletcher, and it is heavily based on the Knight's Tale from the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Seriously, the Prologue to the story actually tells the audience that the story came from Chaucer. So you can expect me to give you another full run-down on those once I've finished Shakespeare's plays.