Student Question

Is there a record of how character names in Cymbeline were pronounced?

Quick answer:

There is no definitive record of how character names in "Cymbeline" were pronounced during Shakespeare's time, as audio recording technology did not exist. However, scholars have made educated guesses based on historical linguistics. Common pronunciations include Cymbeline (SIM-BAA-LEAN), Cloten (CLOTTEN), Imogen (IMM-OH-JEN), Posthumus (POSS-CHEW-MESS), Iachimo (YACK-EE-MO), Belarius (BELL-AH-REE-US), Guiderius (GID-AIR-REE-US), and Arviragus (ARE-VIG-ARE-US).

Expert Answers

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In a word, no! John Barton (in his book "Playing Shakespeare") talks about original pronunciation, and I've put a link below to an audio excerpt which gives you an idea of how scholars think that actors in Shakespeare's day might have spoken. But it is all theoretical: obviously, Shakespeare lived long before the age of the tape recorder.

Cymbeline's character names, though tend to be fairly uniformly pronounced. I've put below what is most usual - say it as it's written in the brackets:

Cymbeline (SIM-BAA-LEAN)
Cloten (probably CLOTTEN [to rhyme with "rotten"], though you sometimes hear CLOA-TEN)
Imogen (IMM-OH-JEN)
Posthumus (POSS-CHEW-MESS)
Iachimo (YACK-EE-MO)
Belarius (BELL-AH-REE-US)
Guiderius (GID-AIR-REE-US)
Arviragus (ARE-VIG-ARE-US)

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