61 pages • 2-hour read
Cymbeline
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Act IChapter Summaries & Analyses
Act I, Scene 1 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes references to a threat of death.
One gentleman tells another about recent events: Cymbeline has discovered that his daughter Imogen has secretly married Posthumus. He is furious, as Posthumus is not of high birth. He has banished Posthumus and imprisoned Imogen. The Queen and her son, Cloten, both wanted Imogen to marry Cloten, so they are also upset. However, the courtiers are only pretending to sympathize with Cymbeline—they all believe that Posthumus is worthy and virtuous, and Cloten is wicked.
Posthumus’s family died fighting for the British against the Romans when he was a baby, and Cymbeline brought him up in his court. Cymbeline’s own sons, Imogen’s brothers, were kidnapped and vanished without a trace as babies. This is partly why he is so angry with Imogen: As his only heir, there is more pressure on her marriage.
Act I, Scene 2 Summary
The Queen promises Imogen and Posthumus that she will argue their cause to Cymbeline and go easy on imprisoning Imogen, but she advises Posthumus to obey his banishment for the time being. Imogen and Posthumus don’t trust her. They are distraught at parting and swap tokens: Imogen gives Posthumus a ring, and he gives her a bracelet. The Queen secretly directs Cymbeline to catch them. Furious, he drives Posthumus away, threatening to kill him if he returns. He berates Imogen and tells the Queen to lock her up.
Pisanio, Posthumus’s servant, finds the Queen and Imogen. He tells them that Cloten drew on Posthumus. Posthumus held him off easily but didn’t care to engage, so no one was hurt before they were separated. Imogen scorns Cloten’s ingratiating attitude to Cymbeline, and his unprovoked attack on an exiled man. Pisanio reveals that Posthumus has told him to remain with Imogen rather than accompany him, leaving him instructions.
Act I, Scene 3 Summary
Cloten asks two Lords how he did in his fight with Posthumus. The First Lord flatters him, saying he had the upper hand. The Second Lord privately refutes this, and notes Imogen’s wisdom in choosing Posthumus over Cloten.
Act I, Scene 4 Summary
Pisanio tells Imogen that when Posthumus sailed away, he cried out for her, and stood looking back toward England the whole time, gesturing his love for Imogen. She regrets that Cymbeline interrupted their farewell, as she had so much more to say to him. She looks forward to receiving correspondence through Pisanio.
Act I, Scene 5 Summary
In Rome, Philario, Iachimo, and a couple of others discuss Posthumus, who is now staying with Philario, as their fathers were acquainted. Iachimo disparagingly protests that his good reputation is unearned and he should not have married a king’s daughter. Posthumus enters. Iachimo baits him into a debate, arguing that there are many Italian women who are superior to Imogen. He questions why he is content to make do with a ring instead of Imogen herself. Posthumus argues that a ring is just an object; Imogen is a gift of the gods.
Iachimo says both can be stolen. He wagers that he could seduce any woman, including Imogen specifically, into infidelity. Though Philario tries to de-escalate the argument, Posthumus is offended, and says Iachimo should be punished for saying such things. They make a bet: Iachimo will go to England and Posthumus’s good word will ensure he can get Imogen to spend some time with him. If Iachimo can prove he has seduced her, then he will get the ring. Posthumus says that if this really happens, they will then become friends, as she is not worth their time. However, if Iachimo fails to seduce her, he will pay Posthumus 10,000 ducats and will be answerable to him in a duel.
Act I, Scene 6 Summary
The Queen sends her ladies off to pick flowers. She asks her physician, Cornelius, for deadly poison. She says she wishes to improve her knowledge of medicine by testing the drug on animals and investigating cures. Privately, Cornelius doesn’t trust her. He gives her a drug that will make someone appear dead, when they are actually only unconscious.
The Queen asks Pisanio if Imogen is still weeping incessantly. She tells him to try to manipulate her into loving Cloten instead of Posthumus, and promises him a great reward if Imogen changes her mind. She gives him the drug, telling him that it is a special medicine she has made that has already saved the king. She says the gift is a token of the rewards she will offer. Privately, she is infuriated by Pisanio’s loyalty to Posthumus, as she thinks it facilitates Imogen’s loyalty in turn: Pisanio is an ally and a messenger to her. She hopes Pisanio takes the poison, which would isolate Imogen. Then she plans to kill Imogen too if she does not cooperate and marry Cloten.
Act I, Scene 7 Summary
Imogen laments her tragic situation, separated from her husband and unable to trust those around her. Pisanio introduces Iachimo, who comes with letters from Posthumus. In them, Posthumus presents Iachimo as a friend and bids Imogen to welcome him. She is heartened by this. Iachimo privately despairs: He thinks that if Imogen’s character matches her beauty, he will definitely lose his bet. He sends Pisanio away on an errand.
Iachimo gradually implies that Posthumus is disloyal. He laments man’s judgment, talking to himself where Imogen can overhear. When Imogen asks about Posthumus directly, Iachimo says he’s having a wonderful time abroad, enjoying his freedom. Eventually he escalates to claiming that he is committing infidelity. He expresses admiration and pity for Imogen, saying he is baffled at Posthumus’s alleged actions. She is unsure whether to believe him. He urges her to seek revenge, and offers to help her do this by sleeping with her.
In response to this suggestion, Imogen calls for Pisanio. She refutes Iachimo, arguing that if he was virtuous he would never have suggested such a thing, so she clearly cannot trust his story. She resolves to tell Cymbeline about Iachimo’s dishonorable proposition and get him banished from court.
Iachimo responds with a show of joy. He praises both Imogen and Posthumus, saying that he is glad to see she is truly worthy of him. He says that the love he has for Posthumus prompted him to test Imogen in this way. Imogen accepts this explanation and welcomes him completely, as a friend of her husband’s.
Iachimo asks a favor: He claims that he and Posthumous and some others have bought a gift for the emperor, stored in a large chest. At his request, Imogen agrees to look after it for him, just for one night, as he must leave tomorrow. She entreats him to stay longer but he says he cannot: She must write any letters for him to take to Posthumus tonight.
Act I Analysis
This Act establishes the circumstances and conflict that will shape the rest of the play. It is divided into many scenes, reflecting its quick pace, as a lot has to happen in order to set up the important plot drivers of the characters’ motivations. It also introduces specific complex plot points, such as the existence of the poison, and the characters’ misunderstandings over what it really is. In the first scene, Shakespeare uses a dramatic device to facilitate exposition: He creates a character who knows nothing about recent events, presumably new to the court. His position of ignorance mirrors the audience’s, enabling another gentleman to fill him—and by extension, the audience—in on everything. This exposition explains the background and introduces the main characters while also building atmosphere: They discuss how everyone has to hide their true feelings from the king. This sense of secrecy keeps the scene dramatically interesting and shows the corruption in Cymbeline’s court.
The scene also introduces the theme of The Relationship Between Appearance and Reality—right from the start, these gentlemen make it clear that everyone is presenting a façade, hiding their true feelings. Having described this phenomenon, Shakespeare shows the tensions between appearance and reality in action throughout the Act. The Queen is nice to Imogen, Posthumus, and Pisanio, but plots for their deaths and disappearance. Cornelius in turn puts on a front to her, giving her fake poison: Even the objects cannot be trusted, showing the deceptive environment of the court. The two Lords interacting with Cloten are juxtaposed against each other, as one gives fawning replies and the other uses the dramatic device of asides to reveal his true thoughts. Rather than using one character to do both, Shakespeare divides these responses into two characters to symbolize that the courtiers are split into two versions of themselves, hiding their true thoughts behind a false persona.
However, Shakespeare also suggests that whatever machinations are happening, there is a fundamental reality that will always supersede deceptive appearances. In the characters of Posthumus and Imogen, the outer appearance is a true reflection of their inner selves. The gentlemen comment on Posthumus having “So fair an outward and such stuff within” (I.1.23, emphasis added). Iachimo despairs on seeing Imogen, assuming that her virtue will match her beauty, which proves true.
The problem of appearance also introduces the idea of The Influence of Nature Versus Nurture on Character: These characters’ nobility is presented as so inherent to them that it is manifest in their appearance, not just their actions, implying it is pre-determined. Shakespeare does suggest nurture plays a role, as the gentlemen discuss that though Posthumus is not of high birth, he was brought up in Cymbeline’s court, thereby learning noble manners. However, they note his family of brave warriors, hinting that his bloodline made him a good candidate for such an upbringing. This suggests that while birth status is not necessarily tied to character, nature plays an important role alongside nurture.
For both Imogen and Posthumus, honor is the defining characteristic inherent in their nature, showing the centrality of The Complexities of Honor in Love and War. The importance of martial honor later in the play is foreshadowed in the description of Posthumus’s warlike family, and in the looming prospect of his duel with Iachimo if he does not seduce Imogen. This plot point also connects martial and sexual honor, suggesting that they are different expressions of the same fundamental virtue, here associated with gender: Imogen must prove herself through chastity, and the men through fighting. The wager is the major plot catalyst, placing honor in love at the heart of the play: Imogen’s honor is the overriding concern for these characters, valued by material wealth but also equated with life or death in a duel.
The wager also introduces the theme of The Nature of British Identity. It is not presented as a personal competition pitting individual women against each other. Instead, the wager pits Imogen, the British heir, against competing international forces, specifically the Roman Empire, as expressed in the value of Italian women and the sexual prowess of Italian men. Iachimo’s attempts to conquer Imogen’s honor foreshadow Rome’s political and military incursion into Britain: Both ultimately fail. She lives up to Posthumus’s description of her idealized beauty and virtue, with Shakespeare using her character to embody a notion of British exceptionalism. The Act closes with apparent triumph as Imogen’s actions connect up all the themes, positioning herself as an inherently honorable heroine of Britain, whose beauty reflects her character.
However, Shakespeare creates a sense of unease by showing that this is a false victory, since Iachimo privately determines to win his wager by other means. Shakespeare uses the physical presence of threatening objects to undermine any sense of security: As well as the poison Pisanio now possesses, the Act ends with Imogen agreeing to keep the unknown chest in her chamber overnight, suggesting a source of danger in her midst and promising conflict in the next Act.
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