Cue for Treason

Kit is the supporting protagonist, Peter’s companion through most of the book. The changing relationship between them forms a major part of the narrative’s progression and character development. At first, Peter is suspicious of Kit and jealous of her acting, but their growing trust and honesty represents important growth for both of them. They come to understand each other’s circumstances as fellow runaways and share their differing experiences of social injustice, fostering one another’s empathy. Peter educates Kit about the social treatment of lower class people when she suggests they sell their horses: They will be treated as thieves. Kit points out the unfairness of life for women when Peter learns of her disguise. Peter agrees with her indignation that women aren’t allowed onstage and keeps her secret.

Kit is seen through Peter’s eyes in his first-person narrative. Her gender is kept hidden until Chapter 8, creating a reveal for both the reader and Peter simultaneously. Through Kit’s convincing adoption of a male persona, the book challenges the reductive assumptions about binary gender difference. Kit’s gender has had a hugely controlling influence in her backstory but is shown to play very little part in her personality and talents. Even when she is with those who know her gender, she chooses to remain in boy’s clothes at Peter’s family’s house, and continues to be proactive in every adventure. The narrative shows her to be Peter’s equal in every respect, and she displays characteristics usually celebrated in boys but often criticized in girls: She is adventurous, physically skilled, and brave. For example, she dives into water to save Desmond, and turns her horse back for Peter when he is ambushed, risking her own capture. Like him, she has a strong sense of right and wrong, even when this goes against her class interests. She is also kind and loyal, asking the Desmonds to take Peter to London even though they haven’t yet developed a good relationship.

Though Peter and Kit end up married, Trease keeps this reveal very short at just two sentences, keeping the book is an adventure story rather than a romance. For the majority of the book, Kit’s role in the story is not as a love interest, but as an active secondary protagonist in her own right. Although the narrative reflects how sexual maturity can change relationships between men and women, it also shows that Kit’s fundamental qualities have not changed: She is outside, teaching her children to climb trees, a rebellious act for both women and children.

Sir Philip is the primary antagonist. Trease rounds his character out with the detail of his love of theater, but otherwise he is presented as a villain without redeeming qualities. He is the mastermind and ringleader of the conspiracy, and the plotters hold him in great esteem due to his ambitious, manipulative nature. Peter overhears them saying that the Queen remarked “the Devil’s come to Court!” (151) when he arrived. This elevates him above the other conspirators, making him Peter’s arch-nemesis.

Trease presents Sir Philip’s greedy, scheming character by showing that he is consistently selfish and tyrannical. His power means that his bad character is felt at all levels: personally, in trying to force Kit into marriage; regionally, as he misuses his power to make a land grab in Peter’s community; and nationally and internationally through the conspiracy and planned Spanish invasion. Sir Philip uses his social status and wealth to his advantage, threatening that he’ll have the magistrates ban the theater troupe if they don’t cooperate through his corrupt ties to them.

It is part of the story’s moral arc as well as its historical accuracy that Sir Philip is executed for plotting treason: “Sir Philip’s wall went down even before his head under the axe” (341). He is a classic villain, and his downfall follows the traditional punishment pattern of antagonists in adventure stories for children.

Trease draws on the world-famous figure of William Shakespeare to add literary gravitas, historical detail, and fun to his narrative. Shakespeare’s presence in the story adds to its excitement, showing an imagined side to Shakespeare that is different from the kind of contact readers in the 1940s would have had from school lessons. In bringing Shakespeare and his plays into a fun story, Trease also encourages his young readers to have enthusiasm for Shakespeare and his work, and to recognize the compassion, excitement, and humor in his plays.

Historically, William Shakespeare (c. 1564-1616) was a renowned playwright and poet London during the reigns of Elizabeth I and her successor James I. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon into the middle classes; little is known about his early life, temperament, or his family life, although it is known that he did marry and have children. Although he did not receive the kind of high-status education that was usually necessary for literary career, he became highly successful and received noble and royal patronage. His work was widely performed and, because of this, a great many of his works survive. Shakespeare is now widely regarded as the greatest ever writer in the English language.

In his fictional narrative, Trease is able to flesh out the character of Shakespeare with freedom, as so little is known about him. What is known of Shakespeare links him closely to Peter, especially that he is from the provinces seeking a theatrical career and that he comes from the newly educated middle classes. Shakespeare bonds with Peter over his love of his rural home over London, and he shows self-deprecating humor about his writing, saying, “They all make fun of me, you know, because I never invent my own stories” (130). Trease adds to the subversive appeal of his book by making this legendary historical figure a modest, friendly supporter of the book’s protagonists. Trease portrays Shakespeare as astute and progressive: He works out Kit’s secret and promises to look out for both her and Peter.

Trease uses humorous irony to acknowledge Shakespeare’s position in literature. Mrs. Desmond predicts that he will never compete with Marlowe, asking, “[W]hat’s Shakespeare done or likely to do compared with him?” (63). To demonstrate the lasting influence of Shakespeare’s work, Trease peppers the book with quotes lifted from Shakespeare’s plays. These quotations and their original contexts bring a deeper meaning to the novel and encourage the reader to look up the original works.

Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was the monarch of England, Wales, and Ireland from 1558 until her death. The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, she was placed out of the line of succession aged three after Henry divorced and executed her mother to remarry, and she grew up in a position of great political and personal danger. Elizabeth was extremely intelligent and had an excellent Renaissance education. She was astute and avoided numerous plots to kill or implicate her. After Henry’s death, the throne was held by two of his other children in turn, Edward II and Mary I until, on Mary’s death, Elizabeth succeeded. Mary had sought to reimpose Catholicism and had married Prince Philip of Spain, making her nation a vassal state to her husband. On Mary’s death, Elizabeth’s succession ended a decade of instability and political and religious violence and brought the country back under the rule of an English monarch. Elizabeth resisted political pressure all her life to marry and have heirs, eventually giving rise to the cult of the “Virgin Queen.” Although she was the target of multiple uprisings, assassination plots, and invasion attempts, she reigned for 45 years, by far the longest of any monarch until Queen Victoria (1837-1901). After her death, the throne passed to her cousin James VI of Scotland, who united the nations of England, Wales, and Ireland with Scotland. Elizabeth I’s reign is considered a time of great peace and prosperity, and she is an iconic figure of English and British pride and identity.

Trease presents Queen Elizabeth I in line with the popular historic view of her, referencing the cult of personality she built, making herself a legendary figure even in her own time. He juxtaposes Peter’s distant impression of her with his meeting of her in reality: He used to see her as “a distant, unapproachable, and almost immortal goddess” (92) but after spending time in London she becomes “a flesh-and-blood, high-spirited old lady, with a sharp tongue and a gutsy laugh” (92). Even this real-life version, however, wields theatricality as a tool to enhance her presence and status. Peter describes her impressive clothes and notes that she “could have acted all the men out of the theatre” (93), adapting her persona to serve her purposes, much as Kit changes between gender presentations to suit hers. Elizabeth’s theatricality parallels the theater itself: Trease explores the ambiguous line between performance and other human social interaction.

Trease creates a portrait of the queen as a human being who successfully negotiated the challenges of her position and gender with shrewdness. He presents her as careful with money and humorous, balancing sympathy with pragmatism: She grants Peter’s wish, as it costs her nothing, and correctly predicts their marriage. She is taken by Kit’s boldness, laughing “her harsh laugh until her earrings shook” (339) and addressing her teasingly as “Miss Impudence.” Elizabeth is not an active ally to Peter and Kit, but is a benign presence: Each helps each other to their mutual benefit. To Peter, she is an emblematic figure who symbolizes the well-being of the realm and its people, motivating his loyalty.

The Desmonds are allies to the protagonists, leading the theater troupe that Peter and Kit run away with. They take on parental roles: Mr. Desmond directs them to get along with each other, and Mrs. Desmond nudges them to write home. They also become theatrical mentors before they meet Shakespeare, offering encouragement and support. Their openness and kindness to the runaways save Peter and Kit by giving them an escape. Later their bravery and faith in the power of theater allows them to face down Sir Philip, allowing Peter and Kit to get to London in time.

Tom is a secret service agent who becomes an ally and guide to Peter and Kit as they face the conspiracy. Trease presents him as a round character who does not conform to the clichéd idea of a spy, with his strong Somerset accent and his humorous assessment of his past missions. His background and personality are expressed through his use of rural, especially coastal, imagery. He is relaxed, noting that spying is mostly about waiting around and “like fishing” (195). He is kind and open, accepting Kit’s presence on the mission after he knows she’s a girl and respecting her as much as he does Peter. These qualities add shock value to the twist of his death, which represents the first incident of real violence in the book.

Trease introduces three secret service agents other than Tom: Sir Robert Cecil and Sir Francis Bacon, both real figures, and Sir Joseph Mompesson, an invented character. He gives each one distinct characteristics. Sir Joseph is friendly to Peter and Kit, bonding with them over their shared Cumbrian roots and memories of local food. Francis is unpleasant, with “an air of pleased superiority […] cold, clever eyes” (168). Cecil, despite being the head of the secret service and one of the most powerful people in England, is “not at all imposing – very ordinary” (169) in his appearance, and inscrutable in his manner. All three characters are real historical personas used as supporting characters to enrich the story’s historical setting and detail. Trease differentiates between them as individuals, avoiding a simplistic portrayal of good vs evil: Between them, they suggest the diversity of human characteristics, even working in the same arena.

These characters represent secondary antagonists who follow Sir Philip’s leadership. They include Vicars, Anthony Duncan, and his two brightly dressed pursuers. Vicars is presented as duplicitous and cold-hearted; when Peter confronts him in the street about the stolen script, he pretends he’s never seen him before and uses his superior social status to have him arrested. The conspirators are all noblemen, emphasized by their rich clothes and horses. Their status and cruelty to those beneath them shows that their treason is motivated by greed rather than by a desire for a more equal social regime. Most of the conspirators are unnamed and unknown by Peter, showing that they inhabit a separate world to Peter due to their social background, representing anonymous threats to him and the country.

Peter’s family embodies his loving upbringing and his connection to his Cumberland home. They are flat characters who support the reader’s understanding of Peter’s journey away from home. These characters show how his origins have shaped him: He shares their hardiness and bravery. Trease presents his father and mother as developing these qualities due to life in the mountains: His father faces dangers head on and his mother “is used to her menfolk coming home half-dead […] it took a lot to send her into a panic” (250). They are pragmatic but loving, sending him away when he is danger and relieved when he returns. Trease presents the family as close: Peter’s brother teases him fondly, and his sisters cry when he leaves. They also show how he changes through the book. Initially, they represent a safe haven, but as the stakes increase, they are under threat, and it is Peter who must help them, reflecting his hero’s journey.