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Title: Cymbeline
Author: William Shakespeare
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Play
Pages: 272
Words: 79K
Title: Cymbeline
Author: William Shakespeare
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Play
Pages: 272
Words: 79K
Synopsis:
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From Wikipedia
Cymbeline, the Roman
Empire's vassal king of Britain, once had two sons, Guiderius and
Arvirargus, but they were stolen twenty years earlier as infants by
an exiled traitor named Belarius. Cymbeline discovers that his only
child left, his daughter Imogen (or Innogen), has secretly married
her lover Posthumus Leonatus, a member of Cymbeline's court. The
lovers have exchanged jewellery as tokens: Imogen with a bracelet,
and Posthumus with a ring. Cymbeline dismisses the marriage and
banishes Posthumus since Imogen — as Cymbeline's only child —
must produce a fully royal-blooded heir to succeed to the British
throne. In the meantime, Cymbeline's Queen is conspiring to have
Cloten (her cloddish and arrogant son by an earlier marriage) married
to Imogen to secure her bloodline. The Queen is also plotting to
murder both Imogen and Cymbeline, procuring what she believes to be
deadly poison from the court doctor. The doctor, Cornelius, is
suspicious and switches the poison with a harmless sleeping potion.
The Queen passes the "poison" along to Pisanio, Posthumus
and Imogen's loving servant — the latter is led to believe it is a
medicinal drug. No longer able to be with her banished Posthumus,
Imogen secludes herself in her chambers, away from Cloten's
aggressive advances.
Posthumus must now live
in Italy, where he meets Iachimo (or Giacomo), who challenges the
prideful Posthumus to a bet that he, Iachimo, can seduce Imogen, whom
Posthumus has praised for her chastity, and then bring Posthumus
proof of Imogen's adultery. If Iachimo wins, he will get Posthumus's
token ring. If Posthumus wins, not only must Iachimo pay him but also
fight Posthumus in a duel with swords. Iachimo heads to Britain where
he aggressively attempts to seduce the faithful Imogen, who sends him
packing. Iachimo then hides in a chest in Imogen's bedchamber and,
when the princess falls asleep, emerges to steal from her Posthumus's
bracelet. He also takes note of the room, as well as the mole on
Imogen's partly naked body, to be able to present false evidence to
Posthumus that he has seduced his bride. Returning to Italy, Iachimo
convinces Posthumus that he has successfully seduced Imogen. In his
wrath, Posthumus sends two letters to Britain: one to Imogen, telling
her to meet him at Milford Haven, on the Welsh coast; the other to
the servant Pisanio, ordering him to murder Imogen at the Haven.
However, Pisanio refuses to kill Imogen and reveals to her
Posthumus's plot. He has Imogen disguise herself as a boy and
continue to Milford Haven to seek employment. He also gives her the
Queen's "poison", believing it will alleviate her
psychological distress. In the guise of a boy, Imogen adopts the name
"Fidele", meaning "faithful".
Back at Cymbeline's
court, Cymbeline refuses to pay his British tribute to the Roman
ambassador Caius Lucius, and Lucius warns Cymbeline of the Roman
Emperor's forthcoming wrath, which will amount to an invasion of
Britain by Roman troops. Meanwhile, Cloten learns of the "meeting"
between Imogen and Posthumus at Milford Haven. Dressing himself
enviously in Posthumus's clothes, he decides to go to Wales to kill
Posthumus, and then rape, abduct, and marry Imogen. Imogen has now
been travelling as "Fidele" through the Welsh mountains,
her health in decline as she comes to a cave: the home of Belarius,
along with his "sons" Polydore and Cadwal, whom he raised
into great hunters. These two young men are in fact the British
princes Guiderius and Arviragus, who themselves do not realise their
own origin. The men discover "Fidele", and, instantly
captivated by a strange affinity for "him", become fast
friends. Outside the cave, Guiderius is met by Cloten, who throws
insults, leading to a sword fight during which Guiderius beheads
Cloten. Meanwhile, Imogen's fragile state worsens and she takes the
"poison" as a hopeful medicine; when the men re-enter, they
find her "dead." They mourn and, after placing Cloten's
body beside hers, briefly depart to prepare for the double burial.
Imogen awakes to find the headless body, and believes it to be
Posthumus due to the fact the body is wearing Posthumus' clothes.
Lucius' Roman soldiers have just arrived in Britain and, as the army
moves through Wales, Lucius discovers the devastated "Fidele",
who pretends to be a loyal servant grieving for his killed master;
Lucius, moved by this faithfulness, enlists "Fidele" as a
pageboy.
The treacherous Queen is
now wasting away due to the disappearance of her son Cloten.
Meanwhile, despairing of his life, a guilt-ridden Posthumus enlists
in the Roman forces as they begin their invasion of Britain.
Belarius, Guiderius, Arviragus, and Posthumus all help rescue
Cymbeline from the Roman onslaught; the king does not yet recognise
these four, yet takes notice of them as they go on to fight bravely
and even capture the Roman commanders, Lucius and Iachimo, thus
winning the day. Posthumus, allowing himself to be captured, as well
as "Fidele", are imprisoned alongside the true Romans, all
of whom await execution. In jail, Posthumus sleeps, while the ghosts
of his dead family appear to complain to Jupiter of his grim fate.
Jupiter himself then appears in thunder and glory to assure the
others that destiny will grant happiness to Posthumus and Britain.
Cornelius arrives in the
court to announce that the Queen has died suddenly, and that on her
deathbed she unrepentantly confessed to villainous schemes against
her husband and his throne. Both troubled and relieved at this news,
Cymbeline prepares to execute his new prisoners, but pauses when he
sees "Fidele", whom he finds both beautiful and somehow
familiar. "Fidele" has noticed Posthumus' ring on Iachimo's
finger and abruptly demands to know from where the jewel came. A
remorseful Iachimo tells of his bet, and how he could not seduce
Imogen, yet tricked Posthumus into thinking he had. Posthumus then
comes forward to confirm Iachimo's story, revealing his identity and
acknowledging his wrongfulness in desiring Imogen killed. Ecstatic,
Imogen throws herself at Posthumus, who still takes her for a boy and
knocks her down. Pisanio then rushes forward to explain that "Fidele"
is Imogen in disguise; Imogen still suspects that Pisanio conspired
with the Queen to give her the poison. Pisanio sincerely claims
innocence, and Cornelius reveals how the poison was a non-fatal
potion all along. Insisting that his betrayal years ago was a set-up,
Belarius makes his own happy confession, revealing Guiderius and
Arviragus as Cymbeline's own two long-lost sons. With her brothers
restored to their place in the line of inheritance, Imogen is now
free to marry Posthumus. An elated Cymbeline pardons Belarius and the
Roman prisoners, including Lucius and Iachimo. Lucius calls forth his
soothsayer to decipher a prophecy of recent events, which ensures
happiness for all. Blaming his manipulative Queen for his refusal to
pay earlier, Cymbeline now agrees to pay the tribute to the Roman
Emperor as a gesture of peace between Britain and Rome, and he
invites everyone to a great feast
My
Thoughts:
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This was much longer than the previous play or two and by the end I
was getting antsy and ready for it to be over. And honestly, there
are times I wonder about just reading the wiki page and calling that
a day.
This Shakespeare Experiment isn't going superbly. While not going off
the rails on a crazy train, I don't look forward to these at all. My
zeal is definitely flagging and I feel like I'm doing a lot of
slogging.
Next!
★★★☆☆
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