Imogen Discovered in the Cave

Cymbeline

William Shakespearec. 1610
Influence11th pct
Popularity16th pct
Shakespeare

Read this if you…

  • are trying to read all of shakespeare (bottom of the barrel)
  • like the plot of a guy betting he can sleep with another guys' wife

Skip this if you…

  • haven't already read ALL the classic shakespeare plays
  • aren't willing to go slow, read notes, look up analyses of famous passages (only way to "get" shakespeare)
  • foolishly think shakespeare is overrated

The Groblé Take

Kinda fun scheming, the decapitation was a nice touch. But none of the characters were THAT interesting

Connections

The lineage through Cymbeline

Built Onwhat came beforeCymbelineThe DecameronMetamorphoses

  • The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio. Cymbeline built on it. - The bet that drives *Cymbeline* is Boccaccio's, lifted nearly whole - Day 2, Story 9 of *The Decameron* gives Shakespeare the wager on a wife's fidelity, the trunk smuggled into her bedroom, the intimate mole "under her breast" produced as false proof - Reading the tale first lets you watch Shakespeare graft a romance's forgiveness and reunion onto a sharper, crueler medieval story
  • Metamorphoses by Ovid. Cymbeline built on it. - *Cymbeline* names its source out loud: the page Imogen falls asleep on is the Tereus-and-Philomela tale from Ovid's *Metamorphoses* - Read Ovid's version first and Iachimo's intrusion turns sinister before he lifts a finger — Shakespeare casts him as Tereus, the rapist who silenced his victim - The dog-eared leaf 'where Philomel gave up' is the whole scene's omen, and only Ovid supplies its weight
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Gallery

Depicted in Art

Belarius and the boys discover Imogen lying apparently dead in their cave after she has taken the potion.

George Dawe, 1809

Imogen sleeps in her canopied bed seen from Iachimo's vantage as he memorizes the room.

Wilhelm Ferdinand Souchon, 1872

Belarius and his sons find the disguised Imogen inside the cave, eating their food.

Edward Penny, 1770

Iachimo produces the stolen bracelet before Posthumus and the assembled men to prove his false claim on Imogen's chastity.

Richard Westall, 1796

Imogen sleeps on the ground while Belarius, Guiderius, and Arviragus stand over her, mourning her as dead.

James Smetham, 1874

Portrait of Ellen Terry in costume as Imogen for Henry Irving's Lyceum production, gown designed by Alma-Tadema himself.

Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1896

Editions

Recommended Editions

#1Top Pick$9.99$9.31

Folger Shakespeare Library

2003

Folger's the readable one. Text on one page, notes on the facing page, written in plain English instead of textbook-speak. Catches every word and reference you'd otherwise google, without breaking the scene to do it.

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Notable Quotes

Fear no more the heat o' the sun, Nor the furious winter's rages; Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages: Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.

Guiderius, the funeral dirge for Fidele, Act IV, scene 2
All 14 quotes, with sources →
Adaptations

Screen & Stage

Posters via The Movie Database (TMDB)

AcclaimPraised by 2 notable voices
  • George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, Nobel laureate (Literature, 1925): "The act is genuine Shakespear to the last full stop."
  • Harold Bloom, American literary critic, Yale University, 1930–2019: "Imogen … is represented with something of the inwardness that had been the playwright's greatest strength."

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