Cymbeline (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
At a glance:
- Author: William Shakespeare
- First Published: 1623
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Tragicomedy
- Time of Work: First century b.c.e.
- Genres: Drama, Comedy, Tragedy, Tragicomedy
- Subjects: Ghosts or apparitions, England or English people, Kings, queens, or royalty, Italy or Italians, Greek or Roman times, Wales or Welsh people, Braggarts
- Locales: Wales, Rome, ancient, Britain, ancient
Places Discussed
*Great Britain. Island of which Cymbeline is the king during the reign of Roman emperor Augustus Caesar and which is nominally governed by Rome, thanks to the earlier military incursions of Julius Caesar, whose name is invoked in the verse. Shakespeare deliberately refers to Cymbeline’s realm as “Britain” rather than “England,” which he uses routinely in his medieval history plays. Clearly, Cymbeline’s primitive Britain resembles the pre-Roman Britain of Shakespeare’s earlier King Lear (1606); however, the insistent use of “Britain” may...
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