Cymbeline

andlt;Bandgt;FOLGER Shakespeare Library andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;The world's leading center for Shakespeare studies. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; Each edition includes:andlt;BRandgt; andlt;UL TYPE=DISCandgt; andlt;LIandgt;Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the playandlt;BRandgt; andlt;LIandgt;Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the playandlt;BRandgt; andlt;LIandgt;Scene-by-scene plot summariesandlt;BRandgt; andlt;LIandgt;A key to famous lines and phrasesandlt;BRandgt; andlt;LIandgt;An introduction to reading Shakespeare's languageandlt;BRandgt; andlt;LIandgt;An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the playandlt;BRandgt; andlt;LIandgt;Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare booksandlt;BRandgt; andlt;/ULandgt;andlt;BRandgt; Essay by Cynthia Marshall andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.

Cymbeline tells the story of a British king, Cymbeline, and his three children, presented as though they are in a fairy tale. The secret marriage of Cymbeline's daughter, Imogen, triggers much of the action, which includes villainous slander, homicidal jealousy, cross-gender disguise, a deathlike trance, and the appearance of Jupiter in a vision.
Kidnapped in infancy, Cymbeline's two sons are raised in a Welsh cave. As young men, they rescue a starving stranger (Imogen in disguise); kill Cymbeline's stepson; and fight with almost superhuman valor against the Roman army. The king, meanwhile, takes on a Roman invasion rather than pay a tribute. He too is a familiar figure--a father who loses his children and miraculously finds them years later; a king who defeats an army and grants pardon to all.
Cymbeline displays unusually powerful emotions with a tremendous charge. Like some of Shakespeare's other late work--especially The Winter's Tale and The Tempest--it is an improbable story lifted into a nearly mythic realm.
The authoritative edition of Cymbeline from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play's famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading
Essay by Cynthia Marshall
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger Shakespeare Library offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

Barbara A. Mowat is Director of Academic Programs at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Editor of Shakespeare Quarterly, Chair of the Folger Institute, and author of The Dramaturgy of Shakespeare's Romances and of essays on Shakespeare's plays and on the editing of the plays.

Paul Werstine is Professor of English at King's College and the Graduate School of the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He is the author of many papers and articles on the printing and editing of Shakespeare's plays and was Associate Editor of the annual Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England from 1980 to 1989.

andlt;Bandgt;Contentsandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Editors' Prefaceandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Shakespeare's andlt;Iandgt;Cymbelineandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Reading Shakespeare's