Cymbeline (Folger Shakespeare Library)

Cymbeline is among Shakespeare's last five plays, four of which are romances: "Pericles," "The Winter's Tale," "The Tempest," and "Cymbeline." “Cymbeline" is the least performed of the four; the plot is complicated, and the characters are mostly one dimensional (except for the heroine Imogen and the Machiavellian Iachimo). The play is ambitious, too, and entails all of Shakespeare's favorite subjects: love, loss, treachery, the unequal conflict between the good and the evil, and the fragile balance between men and women. However, Imogen is one of the Bard's inspired creations, on the level of Rosalind, but put through a far more harrowing experience. Helen Faucet, the 19th century actress, suggested the play should be retitled "Imogen, Princess of Britain.” She has a point. The reason to read the play (so say the critics) is for Shakespeare’s particularly exquisite verse. “Cymbeline” is perhaps an acquired taste, but worth seeing for unsinkable Imogen, who has been played by a number of great actors down through the years, including Vanessa Redgrave and Dame Judi Dench. No less than Charles Van Doren has counted it among his five favorite plays by William Shakespeare. More about that later. The story is reminiscent of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs--with added pitfalls. Imogen’s stepmother, the evil queen, wants her to marry her son, clueless and irredeemable Cloten. Against the Queen’s wishes, and that of her father, King Cymbeline, she marries Posthumus. Posthumus is then banished from Britain. Before departing for Rome, he gives a bracelet to Imogen. In Rome, Posthumus meets the cunning interloper Iachimo, who tells him that his wife can be made unfaithful. Later, in Britain, in one of the play’s truly bizarre scenes, Iachimo hides in a trunk in Imogen’s bedroom. While she’s asleep, he emerges and steals her bracelet. Learning that Iachimo has the bracelet, Posthumus believes the worst and orders his servant Pisanio to kill her. Meanwhile, Rome demands tribute from Britain but Cymbeline refuses. Pisanio, faithful to the bewildered Imogen, tells her to disguise as a boy and seek refuge with the invading Roman army. She becomes lost in Wales and meets a long-ago banished lord, Belarius, and two youths who are the sons of Cymbeline, and therefore princes, and Imogen’s brothers. Belarius kidnapped them when he was banished and has raised them as his own sons, although Cymbeline doesn’t know this; he thinks they’re dead. Imogen, meanwhile, becomes ill and takes a drug that puts her into such a deep sleep that she appears to be dead. Cloten arrives on the scene dressed in Posthumus’ clothes, up to no good, and is killed by one of the princes. Imogen awakes and thinks Cloten’s headless body is that of her husband’s. Deeply grieved, she joins the Roman general, whose forces are ready to attack Cymbeline's forces. The courage of Belarius and the two princes win the day for Britain. All come before Cymbeline where, one revelation growing from another, the plot’s many twists are unraveled. Cymbeline is reunited with his sons and happiness returns to the kingdom, except for the evil Queen, who has died mysteriously. Even Iachimo the interloper and liar is pardoned. Imogen and Posthumous are reunited and presumably live happily ever after. Sound far-fetched? It is. The play’s saving grace is Imogen, ever faithful, ever pure of heart, ever plucky and resourceful, and allotted the play’s sublimest lines; and Iachimo, rat though he is, Shakespeare renders a three-dimensional character. The rest are one-dimensional cardboard characters--stiff, myopic, inclined to believe the worst. About Imogen, in his book “William Shakespeare,” George Branes writes: “We see her in the most various situations, and she is equal to them all. We see her exposed to trial after trial, each harder than the last, and she emerges from them all, not only unscathed, but with her rare and enchanting qualities thrown into ever stronger belief.” Finally, Charles Van Doren has this to say: “When you have written 30 players, and know everything about writing plays, and in particular know that your skill will not allow you to make any really bad mistakes, you may be willing to take some very big chances and try some things that have never been tried before. This is what Shakespeare does in ‘Cymbeline’ and it is the reason above all why I love the play.”

I really prefer Folger editions of Shakespeare’s plus. The larger size paperback makes reading easier; having notes on pages directly opposite from the script allows excellent access and understanding of the text.

This play is somewhat hard to categorize; I don't think it actually qualifies as a "history", any more than "Hamlet" is. It certainly isn't a tragedy; the ending is largely a happy one, but unlike typical Shakespearian comedies, there is little of the double-entendre and rude wordplay that we usually see, plus the villains of the piece actually are not alive and reformed at the end of the play. But however you categorize it, it is an interesting and well-written play. It has similarities to Romeo and Juliet, (star-crossed lovers who are kept apart by the disapproval of parents) Othello, (the lovers are married without bothering with the blessing, permission or even knowledge of the bride's father, and the husband is tricked into believing that his wife has been unfaithful and becomes murderously angry) Two Gentlemen of Verona, (the wronged lady dresses as a man in order to attempt to place herself next to her husband so as to make him see his error without leaving herself open to his murderous rage) and even The Winter's Tale (apparently uncouth mountaineers turn out to be of noble birth.) But unlike most of those plays, this one has a cheerful, comedy-style conclusion. If you're familiar with Shakespeare's better-known works and enjoy them, this one should certainly be on your list of plays to see or to read. The edition that I read (the Shakespeare Library Classic) had no notes whatsoever, and was still comprehensible, but there were the occasional sections that would have benefited from notes.

I LOVE SHAKESPEARE

I think you're all missing the point (or a bunch of ringers from digireads.com). What we have here is the basic text derived a scanned version of the play, with no background information on how the text came to be. It's a decent enough interpretation, but with absolutely no editorial assistance to understand the language or the context in which the ideas of the author are set forth. Definitely better than nothing, though.

When I am preparing to teach any of Shakespeare's plays, I start with an order for an Arden Edition of the play. They are complete, feature good introductions and a wealth of notes. At times, there are more notes than play. That, for a foundation, is a good thing. This edition seems to live up to Arden's standards.

Received as advertised and on time, thank you!

Not my favorite Shakespeare play but worth the read and worth seeing in a play after.

Designed for younger readers but I found it a wonderful exposition of what can be a really confusing play. The illustrations are excellent. A work of art.

Arrived sooner than expected and in great condition. Has a great introduction for the play itself and if you need it for essay writing

I enjoy using Arden and consider them a very good investment. This editor, however, seems to miss important details in his footnotes.

How can you review the classics. Cymbeline is one of the plays by the bard and it is therefore excellent

OK - the notes are complex. Get the RSC version!