William Shakespeare, Cymbeline

Ros King (University of Southampton)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1608 - 1611

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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Originally listed amongst the tragedies in the First Folio of 1623,

Cymbeline

is an archetypal example of English tragi-comedy in which both hilarity and pathos are found in the most gruesome and appalling of events. In keeping with this genre the repeated and often ridiculous use of disguise in both speech and clothing allows considerable comment on the corruption of courts, and the stupidity and cruelty of ruling classes. The story of British resistance against Roman invasion, and in particular the choice from this four hundred year struggle of Cymbeline, King at the time of the birth of Christ, also raises an analogy with the relations between the Britain of James I and the Holy Roman Empire. Historical names and details are taken from Holinshed's chronicle history of England, in which…

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2657 words

Citation: King, Ros. "Cymbeline". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 June 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5778, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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