The Glove and the Lions Summary & Analysis - Poem by Leigh Hunt

The Glove and the Lions by Leigh Hunt- Summary

Glove and the Lions is simply about an incident that took place at a royal arena where the king, the nobles and their ladies had gathered to watch a show of combat between the royal lions. The king was a cheerful and sporty person who loved to watch these battles. The noblemen and their ladies also gathered there with pride of being part of this special gathering. There was a fine young nobleman seated among them with the lady whom he longed for. His name was Count de lorge.

In between the king and the beasts were a man with great bravery and the woman he loved.

Lions’ Combat

The fighting lions created a fierce scene. The lions rolled on each other and the pit was covered with wind. The sound of roars was equally terrifying. The blood with foam came whistling out from the pit. Looking at all this, the king makes a comment of reassurance to himself shaken by the ferocity. “Faith, gentlemen, we’re better here than there!” He is glad that they are seated up and far from the pit where the bloody combat was taking place.

Count de Lorge and the lady he longs for

The beautiful lady who is appreciated by Count de Lorge, overhears the comment by the king and thinks of a scheme through which she can show others how much she is sought after by the young man and to be glorious in front of the huge gathering. She thinks that it is the best time and place for her plan. Accordingly, she deliberately drops her glove to the fearful pit where the lions were in combat and looks at the face of the young man and smiles.

Count de Lorge’s reaction

Realizing her intentions, Count de Lorge jumps into the pit and quickly returns with her glove in his hand. His actions were proof of his bravery and the crowd was amazed. The crowd gets even more amazed when he throws the glove in the lady’s face with no love at all.

King’s Comment

What was happening was seen by the king as well and he again makes a comment on what he sees. This time he rises from his seat and applauds the actions of Count de Lorge; “By Heavens!” , “rightly done!”, “No love but vanity, sets love a task like that”. He also despises the act of the lady.

The Glove and the Lions - Analysis

The Glove and the Lions is a narrative poem. It relates an incident with elaborative information to discuss on a universal theme to convey an important message to the reader. The poet starts the poem by creating the background to his narration. Description and the visualization of the scene of combat and its audience communicates several aspects of human nature.

The Narrator and the Narration of The Glove and the Lions

It is a narration from a third person point of view. NArrator basically focuses on two happenings. The fierce combat of the lions in the pit and the combat of love and vanity in the relationship of Count de Lorge and the lady.

The comments made by the king on these two events play a vital role in the poem. These comments portrait a vivid picture of the king’s character whereas they do the work of a social critic.

The Setting of the poem The Glove and the Lions

The poet takes us back to the times of kings, queens, brave heroes, beauties and monsters. The king, noblemen and their ladies are seated round the arena watching royal lions fighting in the pit. One whole stanza is dedicated to establish the background in an effective and meaningful way.

The king’s fabulous royal presence, watching the combat from the highest position of the arena and the gathering of the noblemen and ladies seated below with their elegance and pride makes quite a scene. At the sametime, the fierce lions fighting in the pit creates quite a contrasting picture of blood and violence. Above all, the combat of love and vanity and expression of valour and rejection between a young nobleman and the lady is quite fascinating.

The poet says that it is a truly valuable and rare show which is not for just anyone to view. The poet becomes ironic here referring to the show of the lions and at the same time to the incident between a couple in love.

The Plot of the Poem The Glove and the Lions

The movement of the plot through the stanzas is quite interesting and methodical in this poem. The first stanza describes the atmosphere of the arena, the king, the noblemen and ladies and how they are seated. The characters of Count de Lorge and the lady are also introduced therein. It also mentions the event to which they all have gathered.

Stanza two creates a vivid picture of the combat between the royal lions, how they fight, how fearful they are and everything about the violent atmosphere there. The entire stanza is dedicated for this purpose and it serves its purpose. The king is enjoying the show and makes a comment about his experience.

The plot moves forward taking a different direction as the king gets distracted by the show of valour and vanity of two young lovers; Count de Lorge and the lady for whom he sighed.

The king and everyone who had gathered there witnessed how the lady threw her glove to the pit where the royal beasts were fighting expecting her lover to bring it back to her showing his love for her and thinking that she would own the glory of it. Everybody could witness the quick reaction of Count de Lorge who leaps to the pit and returns with the glove to throw it on her face showing his disapproval of her deeds. Having witnessed it all, the king again makes a comment. He approves the reaction by the young Count and despises how vanity could set love in such a position.

The focus of the poem

Even Though the very first two stanzas of the poem have been dedicated to describe the royal gathering at the arena and the combat between the royal beasts, the focus of the poem is not the royal sport.

It analyzes the absurdity of human nature in hunger of glory in any given circumstance. People can go beyond the basic values of life for their pride.

The combat between the royal beasts is secondary to the combat going on in the minds of the audience who have gathered there. They are seated in their pride. They try hard to prove to themselves and to the rest of the noblemen that they are superior to the others who are gathered there. Each and every nobleman tries to win over the king. Ladies in particular, try to outshine each other.

There’s a much fierce combat going on in the mind of the lover of Count de Lorge. It is the battle between love and vanity and finally vanity wins, setting love at a difficult position.

Similarly, there is a battle between the feeling of love and realization of truth in the mind of Count de Lorge having to face the actions of his lady. Finally, his realization takes power to reject the unworthy. Accordingly, the focus of the poem is on the battles that are taking place in the human minds rather than the combat between the royal beasts.

The Climax of the Poem The Glove and the Lions

The climax is a surprising twist because Count de Lorge responds to the request of the lady without a word and just as she pleases. At the next moment, he frankly showcases his true feelings about her actions which no one would have expected. This scene is quite dramatic and creates a vivid visual imagery.

TheTone of the Poem The Glove and the Lions

The tone of the narrator is courteous and well-nurtured. The narrator does not use harsh words nor the characters utter hate speech. There is no in depth criticism, yet mild criticism through the comments uttered by the king. However, most of the time, actions speak more than words do.

The message of the Poem The Glove and the Lions

The Glove and the Lions poses a question about the real meaning of civilization / humanity. The first two stanzas focus on the blood sport and the poet looks down upon the idea of entertainment through the sorrow of others. Hunting is still considered a sport in some parts of the world and the poet raises the question whether it is humane to seek entertainment by killing a living being. There are several other sports which are meant for hurting the opponent for victory.

The poet seeks the attention of the reader here and is cynical about how people could be so selfish that they think of their own safety, comforts and enjoyment at the cost of the lives of others.

There is also a hidden message in this poem which again poses the question of real glory. When the poet refers to the “royal beasts below”, one can refer to the nobles who fight for the king’s favour, nobles who fight for beautiful women, nobles who fight for their nobleness or vanity.

The incident between the lady and Count de Lorge hints us that it is in vain that one puts someone whom she loves at a task that threatens his life for the sake of mere glory.

The poet needs the reader to question themselves whether it is really necessary to become superior to others. Why do people consider themselves superior to others? Is it worthwhile proving oneself superior to others ?

Character Analysis

The character of King Francis

He is portrayed as a hearty king and a sports lover and not very different from the kings we have known in our history books. His occasional comments in the poem give the poet a voice to highlight certain facts and incidents in the plot.

The character of De Lorge

The character of Count de Lorge is portrayed as a person who is not lacking in valour. He is a man of action and a gentleman. He is also an intelligent person who is capable of understanding the sentiments and the real motive of the lady in this poem. Infact, he is capable of understanding the reality beyond the charms of the fine lady.

The Lady

The lady is portrayed as someone who has all the outward beauty that one can get attracted to but lacking in the inner spirit that attracts a man with a heart. She is an indifferent, heartless and arrogant lady who is too confident of herself for someone who chooses her pride over the lover.

This poem exposes a daring character of a beautiful lady, equally daring young lord and a daring story of love and valour.