"the birth of merlin" possesses a three-level plot, a structure common in plays of its era. on the first level, the main plot, the characters are royal and their concerns are those of statecraft and national welfare; in the second-level plot, the characters are aristocratic and genteel and their concerns are those of personal values and personal fulfilment; and on the level of the comic subplot, the characters are common and their concerns are largely sensual.