Enhancing Plot through Setting in Life is a Dream

COLTADO: At your royal feet
I kneel, knowing my penalty is death.

SEGISMUND: Rise, rise, my foster father, from the ground,
For you must be the compass and the guide
In which I trust.  You brought me up, and I
Know what I owe your loyalty.  Embrace me!

COLTADO: What's that you say?

SEGISMUND: I know I'm in a dream,
But I would like to act well, since good actions,
Even in a dream, are not entirely lost.



This revelation is one of the major turning points of the entire play.  Segismund's change of heart shows that he can overcome the negative destiny that his father predicted for him and that he's fit to take over the throne.  It's proof that he's not a savage.

But, interestingly enough, Segismund shows his first tendencies of chivalry where he was taught to be a savage.  This dialogue with Coltado happens at the site of his old prison, a place Segismund definitely has a lot of emotional ties.  Whether he's dreaming or not, he remembers this place as where he's been unfairly trapped for an eternity, where he was treated poorly by all the guards, and where he has been denied his birthright of throne.

The savage tendencies Segismund showed during his first chance at ruling were practiced here.  The fact that he's overcome his old nature in the exact location where the habits were formed highlights the maturity necessary for him to overcome this obstacle.  Segismund is now stronger than the adverse conditions he has come from and is able to live in the luxury of the palace.

It's extremely interesting that, the second time that Coltado admits Segismund's royalty to him contrasts so greatly with the previous time in the Castle as well.  On the first occurrence, Segismund finds out he has royal blood in the grand manor of the castle, while simultaneously enjoying the spoils of royalty and responds with Arrogance and pride, while the second time when he learns of this in the much more modest conditions he accepts the news much more humbly.  His surroundings surely show that he has come of age against all odds, and now Segismund can escape from this prison to claim what is rightfully his.