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