"Cymbeline" is a play by William Shakespeare, first
performed c. 1610 and
published in the First Folio of 1623.
The
play is about the relationship of Imogen and
Posthumus Leonatus. Imogen is the daughter of King Cymbeline. The king raised Posthumus Leonatus. Imogen and Posthumus are in love and they marry.
They play opens with Cymbeline banishing Posthumus as he vehemently refuses to accept his marriage to Imogen. The play is being regarded as a test of the couple's love for each other while physically apart, until the play's final act. Intrigues and complications delay the reunion of Imogen and Posthumus.
After Posthumus was banished by Cymbeline, he takes refuge in Rome and finds comfort in the company of Iachimo, a cynic. Posthumus accepts the wager of Iachimo against his boast that he will be able to seduce Imogen.
Iachimo tries all the tricks of the trade but can't seduce Imogen. He is forced to cheat by hiding in a trunk to gain access to her bedroom. While Imogen is sleeping, Iachimo takes note of many things, including the mole on Imogen's breast and her room's furnishings. He also steals her bracelet.
From all the evidence that Iachimo presented to Posthumus, the latter is outraged and swears vengeance. Posthumus immediately leaves for England, with intent to kill Imogen.
To complicate matters, Iachimo is not the only one with a motive against the marriage of Posthumus and Imogen. Cymbeline's second wife, a wicked queen, wants Posthumus dead to pave way to her son Cloten to marry Imogen. He is described as an oaf. Through Pisanso, Posthumus servant, Imogen learns of her husband's anger. She was traveling to Milford Haven for what is supposed to be a love-tryst meeting.
Imogen disguises herself as a boy significantly named 'Fidele.' Without knowing of her disguise, Cloten pursues her, determined to kill Postumus and to rape Imogen. 'Fidele', however, lost in Wales, falls in the company of friends. They all do not realize that the two 'sons' of the exiled general Belarius are actually, Cymbeline's own sons, Guiderius and Arviragus. The the love and affections between them protect Imogen from Cloten, who is beheaded by one of the boys.
The final act brings up all the necessary elements to achieve reconciliations, in particular, between Imogen and Posthumus, and then for a political peace between Rome and Britain. "Cymbeline" is said to be a difficult play to categorize, it is either a tragedy or a comedy.