The Shakespeare Book

322

Servant to

Pisanio

Married to

Posthumus

Leonartus

Lord Cloten

wild Wales—the British court. It is
as if Cymbeline, or Britain, must
make a choice between the two.
In the end, Cymbeline doesn’t
have to make a choice. He makes
peace with Rome and welcomes
his Welsh-raised sons back into the
fold. The queen, who fomented the
discord by encouraging him to defy
Rome and trying to set up her son
Cloten in place of the lost twins, is
dead. Reconciliation may be the
message of the play. Its relevance
would not have been lost on
audiences when the king says:
“Let / A Roman and a British
ensign wave / Friendly together...
Never was a war did cease, / Ere
bloody hands were washed, with
such a peace” (5.6.480–486).

Contemporary resonances
The purpose of the play may
become clearer if it is seen in its
historical context. The battle for
the soul of Britain was still fierce.

The Protestant Reformation had

the upper hand, but Catholicism

still had an immense presence, and

there was a real threat of a Catholic

comeback, as the Gunpowder Plot

of 1605 had demonstrated. In

Rome, Posthumus is played upon

by a Frenchman, a Spaniard, and

an Italian (Giacomo)—one man

from each of the major Catholic

countries—and the Dutchman, from

the largely Protestant Netherlands

then fighting for independence

from Catholic Spain, remains silent.

There is every chance that

Cymbeline would have been

performed in front of King James I

of England (James VI of Scotland),

and the resonances would surely

not have passed him by. James,

like Cymbeline in the play, was

king of all Britain, uniting England,

Scotland, Wales, and Ireland for the

first time under a single monarch.

He also, like Cymbeline, had two

sons and a daughter. And James,

at that very moment was, like

Cymbeline at the close of the play,

entering into negotiations with

Rome to find peace.

Contemporary audiences would

not have missed the point that the

crucial intervention in Cymbeline

CYMBELINE

Kneel not to me.

The power that I have on you

is to spare you,

The malice towards you to

forgive you. Live,

And deal with others better.

Posthumus

Act 5, Scene 6

Father to

Cymbeline

The court of Cymbeline

Innogen

Disguises herself

as Fidele

Married to Queen

His second wife

Arviragus

Disguises himself

as Cadwal

Guiderius

Also known as

Polydore

Mother to

Takes in Belarius

Banished Lord,

calling himself

Morgan

Friends

Giacomo

Friends

Filario

Friends

Kills