Cymbeline, King of Britain Analysis

Cymbeline is set in super-ancient, pre-Christian Britain, just like King Lear, and Cymbeline was actually a king who ruled in those way-back days. We see glimpses of the fact that Britain was pre-C...

Cymbeline is often called a "problem play" because it defies traditional categories of genre. Many Shakespeare critics settle on calling it a "tragicomedy" since the first three acts of the play fe...

Like other Shakespearean romances, Cymbeline's tone jumps back and forth throughout the play. At first, the play is obsessed with death and punishment: the first two-thirds of the play are filled w...

Cymbeline, like Shakespeare's other plays, is written in a combination of verse (poetry—some of it rhymed) and prose (how we talk every day).In most of Shakespeare's plays, a lot of characters sp...

The title seems pretty straightforward on the surface. It's about a guy (in this case, a king) named Cymbeline. Or is it? We're not so sure this is really Cymbeline's story. He's not exactly the pr...

This one is a head-scratcher. In the final scene, Cymbeline and his lost children all reunite, Imogen and Posthumus make up, Cymbeline forgives Belarius for stealing his sons, and Posthumus tells I...

In the play, a lot of characters speak in a flowery, formal language that suits their noble status. These speech habits are notorious for making Cymbeline one of Shakespeare's more challenging play...

Imogen's evil stepmother pretends to be her friend and a calm counselor to the king, when she is really whipping up potions and planning their murders behind their backs (or paying people to at lea...

It seems like no one is happy at the beginning of Cymbeline. Imogen has to say goodbye to her husband for no real reason other than the Queen wants her to marry someone else. Posthumus has to lea...

Imogen is married to Posthumus but no one is happy about it. He is banished, Imogen is heartbroken, and the Queen unleashes her fool of a son on the princess. Imogen defends herself against his adv...

Ever think you could improve Shakespeare? Back in 1682, Thomas Durfey did. He rewrote the play and called it The Injured Princess, or the Fatal Wager (source).Shakespeare came up with the phrase "I...

We're giving Cymbeline a PG-13 rating, mostly because of what the characters talk about. No one actually gets down and dirty in the play, but there is a lot of talk about it, since Iachimo's bet wi...

Metamorphoses: 2.2: Imogen is reading this when Iachimo sneaks into her bedchamber. Parthian (1.7)Tarquin (2.2)Cytherea, a.k.a. Venus (2.2)Phoebus (2.3) Diana's rangers: women who were sworn to cha...