Summary:
Typical
of Shakespeare’s dramatic style, the opening scene sets up the central
conflict of the play as well as some of the subplots. The exchange between
the First and Second Gentlemen, who serve as a brief chorus, is necessary
because of the complexity of this play. The First Gentleman tells us the
central issue: the princess, Imogen, has eloped with a servant, the orphaned
Posthumus Leonatus. In doing so, she has 1) married a man whose praises
cannot be sung loudly enough and 2) avoided marrying her stepbrother, “a
thing too bad for bad report” (ll. 16-17). The marriage, however naturally
right it might seem to the First Gentlemen, is subversive on several levels.
First, it goes against the wishes of the King and Queen, thus creating
familial discord. Second, a woman of a great family has married a man of
no family, with the suggestion that the marriage will somehow water-down
her lineage. Third, the action calls attention to the problem of succession;
we are told that the King’s sons were kidnapped as infants and have not
been seen since.
1-3our
bloods no more obey the heavens . . . the courtier’s moods are governed
by that of the King to the same degree that the “heavens” (astrological
relationships) control the characteristics (“bloods”) of individual humans.
Belief in astrology was fairly widespread among Shakespeare’s contemporaries.
Further commentary.
25I
do extend him . . . The Second Gentleman, probably from surprise rather
than skepticism, has commented on the First Gentleman’s praise of Posthumus;
the implication is that the praise is excessive. The Second Gentleman defends
the encomium, stating that his praise does not exceed its boundaries; within
Posthumus is room for far more praise if we “unfold his measure duly.”
Further commentary.
30-31
Cassibelan was the brother of Tenantius, Cymbeline’s father. Shakespeare
found the story of Cymbeline in Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England,
Scotland and Ireland. Further
commentary on Shakespeare's sources.
70
The 1623 Folio changes to scene ii at this point, probably because of the
entrance of the nobles. Most modern editors (Nosworthy the exception) have
combined the two into a single scene, as here. The action and setting are
continuous, so I see no reason to break the scene.
105-106I
never do him wrong . . . The Queen is a manipulator with an inflated
sense of her own abilities. Here she informs us that any time she wrongs
her husband, she causes him to believe that he has instead wrongs her,
then makes him “pay dear” to keep peace. Further commentary.
147-148Overbuys me almost the sum he pays: Cymbeline is enraged that Imogen has married beneath herself. She argues that Posthumus is worth more nearly twice what she is. His price—himself—is worth as much as she is, then he “overbuys” that much again. Further commentary.