{"id":307,"date":"2024-04-14T06:24:57","date_gmt":"2024-04-14T13:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ajdrake.com\/shakespeare\/?page_id=307"},"modified":"2025-10-10T09:39:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:39:29","slug":"cymbeline-king-of-britain-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ajdrake.com\/shakespeare\/cymbeline-king-of-britain-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Cymbeline, King of Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Questions on
Shakespeare’s Romance Plays<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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HOME<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
OLLI<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
QUESTIONS<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
COMMENTARIES<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
AUDIO<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
GUIDES<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
LINKS<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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ACT 1<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
ACT 2<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
ACT 3<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
ACT 4<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
ACT 5<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Cymbeline.<\/em> (The Norton Shakespeare: Romances and Poems,<\/em> 3rd ed. 220-301.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACT 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1. In Act 1, Scene 1, what story does the First Gentleman tell the Second about the reason for the bad feeling at King Cymbeline\u2019s court? What has his daughter and heir, Imogen, done to vex him? Moreover, what disharmony has arisen at court between the King and his courtiers? What does this disagreement have to do with differences regarding the true nature and worth of Posthumus Leonatus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. In Act 1, Scene 1, Cymbeline\u2019s Queen speaks with Imogen and her husband Posthumus Leonatus. What does she appear to be up to\u2014what is she promising to the couple? Are her words to be taken as sincere, or grounded in the desire to deceive? Explain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. In Act 1, Scene 1, Imogen clashes with her father the King when he arrives. By what arguments does he try to get her to see things his way regarding her marriage, and how does she respond? Also, if you are familiar with King Lear, <\/em> how does the disagreement between Cymbeline and Imogen compare to that of King Lear and Cordelia? What additional similarities and\/or differences can you find between the current play\u2019s opening scene and the beginning of King Lear?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. In Act 1, Scene 2, what is the purpose for us, the audience, of the First and Second Lords\u2019 mockery of Cloten, who has drawn his sword against Posthumus Leonatus and not come off very well in the encounter? How do the Lords cue us in on what actually happened between the two men? How does Cloten, by contrast, perceive the encounter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. In Act 1, Scene 3, how does Imogen reveal by her words and attitude her genuine love for Posthumous Leonatus? In responding, attend to the metaphors and other figures or devices she employs. How does Posthumus, too, according to Pisanio, convey his affection for her even as he departs on the ship taking him to Rome?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. In Act 1, Scene 4, at Philario\u2019s house in Rome, how does Posthumus\u2019 \u201cring wager\u201d come about? What are the terms of the wager between Giacomo and Posthumus? Why does such a bet seem unfair and even absurd to our modern sensibilities? Yet, on what grounds might a medieval or early modern man have defended it? What assumptions about women underlie the placing of the wager between Posthumus and Giacomo?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. In Act 1, Scene 5, how does the Queen try to advance her plot against Imogen\u2019s match with Posthumus? What does she ask of the doctor, Cornelius, and how does he respond in word and deed? What is the Queen\u2019s use for Pisanio at this point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. In Act 1, Scene 6, how does Giacomo attempt to traduce Imogen? What virtues does she demonstrate in responding as she does? Based on all you have seen of Imogen thus far in Act 1, what seems to be the guiding principle by which she speaks and acts? Why does Giacomo\u2019s plot almost backfire, and how does he recover the situation on the fly, as he speaks with Imogen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACT 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

9. In Act 2, Scenes 1 and 3, what anxieties and ambitions does Cloten manifest in his conversations with the Lords, with Cymbeline and the Queen, and finally with Imogen? How does he understand his own situation at Court and with regard to Imogen, whose affections he covets?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. In Act 2, Scene 2, what details does Giacomo gather in order to convince Posthumus that Imogen has been unfaithful? What significance do the Italian’s classical allusions (to Tarquin, Tereus and Philomela) add to this wicked scene?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. In Act 2, Scene 4, Giacomo lays out his \u201cevidence\u201d against Imogen\u2019s chastity. What is that so-called evidence? What makes the pitch effective as a piece of rhetoric? What weakness in Posthumus does Giacomo shape his unveiling of the evidence to exploit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12. In Act 2, Scene 5, now that Posthumus is alone, what specific complaints against Imogen does he set forth for his own (and our) consideration? Through such complaints, what general view of women does Posthumus proclaim? To judge from what Posthumus says in his anguish, why was it so easy for Giacomo to dupe him with the flimsy \u201cevidence\u201d he presented in the previous scene?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACT 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

13. In Act 3, Scene 1, what attitudes do Cymbeline, the Queen, and Cloten express towards Augustus Caesar\u2019s demand that the Britons pay tribute? How can we best characterize the diplomatic relations between Cymbeline and Caesar\u2019s Rome through ambassador Lucius? It would help to add brief background on relations between the Romans and the Britons around the time frame Shakespeare\u2019s play refers to. (See, for example, the Brittanica.com or Worldhistory.org entries on \u201cRoman Britain.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14. In Act 3, Scenes 2 and 4, how does Imogen react first to the news that Posthumus is in Wales (Cambria) at Milford-Haven and then to the knowledge that he believes she has been false to him? What is Pisanio\u2019s plan to redeem the situation, or at least to avoid the worst that might happen? How does Imogen react when she hears this plan?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15. In Act 3, Scene 3, we meet Belarius and the two young men he has raised, Guiderius and his younger brother Arviragus. What is Belarius\u2019s story\u2014why was he banished from Cymbeline\u2019s court? What sort of life do he and the two young men lead, and in what setting? In what ways do their perspectives on this unusual situation differ? How does this new \u201cBelarius subplot\u201d relate to the play\u2019s main plot?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16. In Act 3, Scene 5, how does Cymbeline react to the news that his daughter Imogen has fled the court? What more do we learn about the Queen and Cloten\u2019s respective plans in this scene? In particular, what is Cloten\u2019s rationale for the attempt he plans to make against Imogen, and the murder of Posthumus he intends? How does he justify these actions to himself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17. In Act 3, Scene 6, how do Belarius, Guiderius and Arviragus receive and treat Imogen, disguised as \u201cFidele\u201d? What seems to be the basis for the young men\u2019s instant love for the disguised Imogen? How does the reception offered to \u201cFidele\u201d deepen the contrast already established between the rural life these three men lead and the life others lead at the court of Cymbeline?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACT 4<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

18. In Act 4, Scene 1, how does Cloten detail the plot he has devised to kill Posthumus and rape Imogen? What comparisons does he make between himself and Posthumus, and why does he think he comes off as superior to the man who has won Imogen\u2019s love? What factors does Cloten identify as working against his own suit for Imogen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

19. In Act 4, Scene 2, what does Belarius apparently think of Guiderius\u2019s courageous deed in killing Cloten\u2014what concerns him most? What do Arviragus and Guiderius think of this deed? According to Belarius in his private thoughts, how have Guiderius and Arviragus both shown their quality as young aristocrats? To what extent does the play (up to this section and indeed the whole of 4.2) validate the idea that noble birth portends innate goodness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20. In Act 4, Scene 2, what happens to Imogen as \u201cFidele\u201d when she drinks the potion that Pisanio gave her? How do the young men react to \u201cFidele\u2019s\u201d supposed death, and what sort of funeral do they offer him, along with Cloten, since Belarius insists on decent rites for the Queen\u2019s son? When Imogen awakens after the funeral rites to find a headless body next to her, what confusions set in that the rest of the play\u2019s unfolding will have to resolve?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

21. In Act 4, Scene 2, how does Imogen-as-Fidele\u2019s behavior impress the Roman ambassador Lucius? What offer does Lucius extend to him\/her, and how does he \u201cpackage\u201d this offer in terms that make sense in the context of a comic play or a romance play?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

22. In Act 4, Scene 3, what problems rapidly drag Cymbeline into a state near despair? How do matters stand with the Queen, with the King\u2019s knowledge of the whereabouts of Imogen and Cloten, and the status of the war with the Romans? How does Pisanio, now alone, assess his own knowledge or lack thereof regarding Posthumus, Imogen, and Cloten?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

23. In Act 4, Scene 4, now that the fighting between the Britons and the Romans is drawing near to the rural home of Belarius, Arviragus, and Guiderius, what counsel does Belarius offer regarding their safety? What counter-perspective do the young men offer Belarius? Why does he end up agreeing with them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACT 5<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

24. In Act 5, Scenes 1-3, what role do Belarius, Arviragus and Guiderius play in saving Cymbeline and Britain from defeat by the Romans? What motivates Posthumus to join with these three against the Roman army? What self-critique does he offer in the process of making this decision?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

25. In Act 5, Scene 4, Posthumus\u2019 departed parents and brothers appear to him in a dream. What is the dream about, and what is its significance for Posthumus? How do the ghosts (\u201cshades\u201d) who appear to Posthumus in his sleep address Jupiter, and how does the god respond to their address? What does Posthumus learn, or in what way does he benefit, from this strange dream? What wider meaning might the dream hold for the present war between Rome and Britain?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

26. In Act 5, Scene 5, by what means are the respective identities of Imogen and Posthumus finally revealed to Cymbeline and the others at court? What semi-comic plot device involving Giacomo does Shakespeare employ to accomplish this revelation? (Why is the term \u201csemi-comic\u201d appropriate\u2014why might Shakespeare\u2019s staging of Giacomo\u2019s confession provoke laughter even though its purpose is serious?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

27. In Act 5, Scene 5, what further difficulty does the revelation of Posthumus and Imogen\u2019s identities lead to with respect to Belarius and Guiderius, and how is the new problem resolved? What about the fate of Lucius the virtuous Roman, and the devious Giacomo\u2014what happens to them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

28. Act 5, Scene 5 concludes with Cymbeline\u2019s commands to praise the gods and reaffirm a strong friendship between Britain and the Romans. If you are familiar with Shakespeare\u2019s bleak tragedy King Lear, <\/em>contrast the ending of that playwith the concluding scene of Cymbeline:<\/em> what makes it possible for the latter play (a romance) to end with forgiveness, concord, and security while the tragedy King Lear<\/em> ends in crushed hopes and death? What assumptions are operative in Cymbeline<\/em> that are not viable in King Lear?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

29. If you aren\u2019t familiar with King Lear, <\/em>apply the previous question to Cymbeline <\/em>in its own right, which will still allow you to address the \u201cromance\u201d quality of that play. Consider, too, how the Soothsayer expounds Posthumus\u2019s dream\u2014how does he apply the dream to clarify the play\u2019s concluding events?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edition.<\/strong> Greenblatt, Stephen et al., editors. The Norton Shakespeare: Romances and Poems + Digital Edition.<\/em> 3rd ed. W. W. Norton, 2016. ISBN-13: 978-0-393-93862-3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9 2012, revised 2025 Alfred J. Drake<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Document Timestamp: 10\/10\/2025 9:40 AM<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Cymbeline. (The Norton Shakespeare: Romances and Poems, 3rd ed. 220-301.) 1. 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