Cymbeline

William Shakespeare

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Characters

Imogen -  Cymbeline's daughter, the British princess. Wise, beautiful, and resourceful, she incurs her father's displeasure when she chooses to marry the lowborn Posthumus instead of Cymbeline's oafish stepson, Cloten.
Posthumus -  An orphaned gentleman, he is adopted and raised by Cymbeline, and he marries Imogen in secret, against her father's will. He is deeply in love with her but is nevertheless willing to think the worst of her when she is accused of infidelity.
Cymbeline -  The king of Britain and Imogen's father. A wise and gracious monarch, he is led astray by the machinations of his wicked Queen.
Queen -  Cymbeline's wife and Imogen's stepmother. A villainous woman, she will stop at nothing--including murder--to see her son Cloten married to Imogen and, thus, made the eventual king of Britain.
Cloten -  The Queen's son, he was betrothed to Imogen before her secret wedding to Posthumus. Her unwillingness to marry him is understandable, since he is an arrogant, clumsy fool.
Iachimo -  A clever and dishonest Italian gentleman. He makes a wager with Posthumus that he can seduce Imogen, and when his attempt at seduction fails, resorts to trickery to make Posthumus believe that he has succeeded.
Pisanio -  Posthumus's loyal servant, he is left behind in Britain when his master goes into exile, and he acts as a servant to Imogen and the Queen.
Belarius -  A British nobleman, unjustly banished by Cymbeline. He kidnapped Cymbeline's infant sons to revenge himself on the king, and, under the name of Morgan, he has raised them as his own sons in the Welsh wilderness.
Guiderius -  Cymbeline's eldest son and Imogen's brother, he was kidnapped and raised by Belarius under the name of Polydore.
Arviragus -  Cymbeline's younger son and Imogen's brother, he was kidnapped and raised by Belarius under the name of Cadwal.
Philario -  An Italian gentleman. Posthumus stays at his home during his exile from Britain.
Caius Lucius -  The Roman ambassador to Britain and, later, the general of the Roman invasion force.
Cornelius -  A doctor at the court of Cymbeline
Soothsayer -  A seer, in the service of Caius Lucius
Jupiter -  The thunder-god and king of Olympus in Roman myth

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