What is the Shakespeare play Cymbeline about?

Cymbeline Summary. King Cymbeline of Britain banishes his daughter Innogen’s husband, who then makes a bet on Innogen’s fidelity. Innogen is accused of being unfaithful, runs away, and becomes a page for the Roman army as it invades Britain.

Why is Cymbeline a tragedy?

By William Shakespeare 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 feel like mini-tragedy, while the play’s second half feels like a comedy.

Why is the play called Cymbeline?

By William Shakespeare It’s about a guy (in this case, a king) named Cymbeline. It could be because Shakespeare doesn’t name his plays after chicks. The best they ever get is to share a title with a guy (Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Troilus and Cressida), and even then they never get top billing.

Is Cymbeline written in verse?

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).

When did Shakespeare write Cymbeline?

1610
Cymbeline was probably written in 1610. Scholars have said that the play probably belongs to the months where the theatres were reopened in spring 1610, after a long period of closure due to the plague.

Is Cymbeline a history?

Of the two kings of ancient Britain used as themes by Shakespeare, King Lear is purely mythical, but Cymbeline, or Cunobeline, to give his name its contemporary form, is an historical character well vouched for, and an important one in the story of this island.

Is Cymbeline written by Shakespeare?

William Shakespeare
Cymbeline/Playwrights

Who has written Cymbeline?

Cymbeline/Authors

Cymbeline, comedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, one of his later plays, written in 1608–10 and published in the First Folio of 1623 from a careful transcript of an authorial manuscript incorporating a theatrical playbook that had included many authorial stage directions.

Was Cymbeline a real king?

In Shakespeare’s original version, however, Cymbeline is a male monarch. If Shakespeare’s Cymbeline is a little known play, the historical figure is even more of an unknown monarch. Many of Shakespeare’s plays are based on existing sources or history, and Cymbeline, too, is loosely based on Cunobeline, a Celtic King.

Is Cymbeline a comedy or tragedy?

Although it is listed as a tragedy in the First Folio, modern critics often classify Cymbeline as a romance or even a comedy. Like Othello and The Winter’s Tale, it deals with the themes of innocence and jealousy. While the precise date of composition remains unknown, the play was certainly produced as early as 1611.

What is Cymbeline in Shakespeare’s play?

Cymbeline. Cymbeline /ˈsɪmbɪliːn/, also known as Cymbeline, King of Britain, is a play by William Shakespeare set in Ancient Britain ( c. AD 10–14) and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobeline. Although listed as a tragedy in the First Folio,…

Who is Cloten’s stepson in Cymbeline?

Cymbeline: Summary | SparkNotes Imogen, the daughter of the British king Cymbeline, goes against her father’s wishes and marries a lowborn gentleman, Posthumus, instead of his oafish stepson, Cloten. Cloten is the son of Cymbeline’s new Queen, a villainous woman who has made the king her puppet.

What is the first page of Cymbeline?

The first page of Cymbeline from the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays, published in 1623.

What happened to Cymbeline’s son and daughter?

Long ago, the two sons of King Cymbeline were abducted, leaving Cymbeline with a daughter, Imogen. Cymbeline’s stepson, Cloten, is now his heir, and Cymbeline expects Imogen to marry him.