King Cymbeline retains power despite what appears to be a long history of lamentable rulership. To modern audiences living in a global civilization, the pattern of geographical escape presents an inadequate political solution. George M. Harley Granville-Barker, Prefaces to Shakespeare, vol. Granville-Barker, Prefaces to Shakespeare, p.
Quoted in Cymbeline, ed. You can get your own copy of this text to keep. Download it to get the same great text as on this site, or purchase a full copy to get the text, plus explanatory notes, illustrations, and more.
Cynthia Marshall Cymbeline shows an unusual, even perverse, interest in sleeping characters. Or less? At first? But kiss, one kiss! But my design: To note the chamber. Get even more from the Folger You can get your own copy of this text to keep. Download this text. Buy a copy with notes. While she mourns the banishment of her husband and moans about having a "foolish suitor" Cloten , she doesn't wallow in self-pity 1. Just about everyone recognizes Imogen's beauty.
Of course her husband thinks she's hot, but even cynical Iachimo calls her a rare "Arabian bird" 1. Cloten wants her, Iachimo steals her, and Posthumus wants to die without her.
She's one catch all right. But she's not just a pretty face. Beneath her beautiful exterior is an honest and intelligent woman. She's also faithful: she keeps her vows to her hubby even while he's off betting on her, and even after Iachimo tells her that Posthumus is getting a little too friendly with the local ladies.
Unlike her husband, Imogen trusts in her marriage vows and won't break them. It's her desire to help her husband by hiding the chest of jewels that even presents Iachimo with an opportunity to steal her bracelet.
He believed, then, in such love, so impassioned, so immovable, so humble — believed in it now? He had, then, observed or encountered such a love — encountered it at this point of his life? Even a poet has scant enough opportunities of observing love. Love is a rare thing, much rarer than the world pretends, and when it exists, it is apt to be sparing of words.
Did he simply fall back on his own experiences, his own inward sensations, his knowledge of his own heart, and, transposing his feelings from the major to the minor key, place them on a woman's lips? Or did he love at this moment, and was he himself thus beloved at the end of the fifth decade of his life?
The probability is, doubtless, that he wrote from some quite fresh experience, though it does not follow that the experience was actually his own. It is not often that women love men of his mental habit and stature with such intensity of passion. The rule will always be that a Moliere shall find himself cast aside for some Comte de Guiche, a Shakespeare for some Earl of Pembroke.
A Roman army invades Britain; Imogen falls into the hands of the general Lucius and becomes his page. The Britons defeat the Romans, thanks to the superhuman valour in a narrow lane of Bellarius and his two sons aided by the disguised Posthumus. However Posthumus, pretending to be a Roman, is subsequently taken prisoner and has a vision in gaol of his family and Jupiter, who leaves a prophetic document with him.
She asks that Iachimo be forced to tell how he came by the ring he wears. Posthumus learning from this confession that his wife is innocent but believing her dead is in despair till Imogen reveals herself. The king's joy at recovering his daughter is intensified when Bellarius restores to him his two lost sons, and the scene ends in a general reconciliation.
Subjects: Literature — Shakespeare studies and criticism. View all reference entries ». William Shakespeare — playwright and poet. View all related items in Oxford Reference ». Search for: 'Cymbeline' in Oxford Reference ».
0コメント