Cymbeline
Cymbeline, also known as The Tragedie of Cymbeline or Cymbeline, King of Britain, is a play by William Shakespeare set in Ancient Britain (c. 10–14 AD) and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobeline. Although it is listed as a tragedy in the First Folio, modern critics often classify Cymbeline as a romance or even a comedy. Like Othello and The Winter's Tale, it deals with the themes of innocence and jealousy. While the precise date of composition remains unknown, the play was certainly produced as early as 1611.
Cymbeline is grounded in the story of the historical British king Cunobeline, which was originally recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, but which Shakespeare likely found in the 1587 edition of Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles. Shakespeare based the setting of the play and the character Cymbeline on what he found in Holinshed's Chronicles, but the plot and subplots of the play are derived from other sources.
Excerpted from Cymbeline on Wikipedia.
Cymbeline
Author | William Shakespeare |
Country | England |
Genre | Drama, Romance, Comedy |
Copyright | Public domain worldwide |
Book cover | Posthumus and Imogen Image: John Faed | wikimedia |
Ebooks | Project Gutenberg |
Scans | Google-digitized |
Audio | Librivox | Internet Archive Reader: Group, Dramatic Readings 00 01 02 03 04 05 |
Read online | Cymbeline |