Plot

Cymbeline is the king of ancient Britain believed to be one of Shakespeare's final plays and is about deceit, pursuit and seduction.

Cymbeline is believed to be one of Shakespeare's final plays and is about deceit, pursuit and seduction. Cymbeline, King of Britain when Augustus Caesar was Emperor of Rome, has a daughter, Imogen, and two sons who were stolen in infancy. The Duke, her second husband, has a son, Cloten, whom Cymbeline wants Imogen to marry; but she has secretly married a commoner, Posthumus Leonatus. Cymbeline banishes Posthumus to Rome, where he meets Iachimo, who wagers with him that he can seduce Imogen. Arriving in Britain, Iachimo realises that she is incorruptible, but, hiding in her bedroom, obtains false evidence which convinces Posthumus that he has won the wager. Posthumus orders his servant Pisanio to kill Imogen at Milford Haven, but instead Pisanio advises her to disguise herself as Fidele, a page. In Wales, she meets her brothers, who were stolen twenty years before by the banished nobleman Belarius. Cloten pursues Imogen to Wales in Posthumus' clothes, determined to rape her and kill Posthumus. Instead, Cloten is killed by one of Innogen's brothers, and his decapitated body is laid beside Imogen, who has taken a potion that makes her appear dead. When she revives, Imogen/Fidele joins the Roman army, which is invading Britain as a result of Cymbeline's failure to pay tribute to Rome. Posthumus and the stolen princes are instrumental in defeating the Roman army. A final scene of explanations leads to private and public reconciliation.—Claire Bochenek.