Shakespeare

Genre's and Later Works

Tragedies: When Shakespeare was writing, writers conformed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle’s definition of tragedy. A great tragedy had to be a probable tale of the demise of a great man or woman. The plot needed to be a clearly constructed cause and effect chain of actions that were driven by the protagonist’s choices. The character’s downfall should come as a result of a great mistake or frailty in their character, which Aristotle called the tragic flaw. Shakespeare demonstrated his mastery of this form with plays like Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and Othello.

Comedies: Comedy, which focused on love, domestic troubles and family affairs, was defined by the end of the story. If the play ended with a marriage it was a comedy. Aristotle speculated that comic characters were usually middle to low class characters, or if noble, they were of low moral character. For example, Shakespearean characters like Falstaff in Henry IV Part 1 & 2 and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, although well-born, are pompous, self-important and self preserving instead of being truly noble. Comedic protagonists are frequently underdogs, young men or women from humble or disadvantaged backgrounds who prove their real worth—in effect their "natural nobility"—through various tests of character over the course of a story or play.

Histories: Shakespeare’s histories chronicle the lives of English Kings. Shakespeare is world renowned for being able to dramatize the lives of royalty in human terms. Some of Shakespeare’s history plays, like Richard II and Richard III, seem more like tragedies because the main characters lose their power and eventually their lives. Other plays, like Henry IV, have comedic subplots. This interweaving of genres is one of Shakespeare’s stylistic signatures.

Later Works: Several plays, written late in Shakespeare’s career, do not easily fit into any of these categories. The recognition of these plays has led scholars to add an additional genre, the “romances,” to classify these works. The romances have darker elements intermingled with comedy and involve fairy tale or legendary plots, with mystical characters and events. Romances include The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, Pericles and Cymbeline. These plays do not have a clear comic resolution with a marriage at the end. It’s important to note that romance, in this context, does not mean love story.

Specifically with Cymbeline it is theorized that a less experienced playwright assisted him on this play as there are many choices with the meter and the structure that are unusual for Shakespeare.

Cymbeline's Connections to Other Works

Chronicles(1577) by Holinshed: Holinshed briefly describes the life of 'Kymbelinus', an impressive soldier and a powerful king, whose friendship with the Romans was so great that he paid them tribute willingly when he could have refused to. His elder son Guiderius, however, refused to pay tribute to the Romans. This angered Emperor Claudius, who invaded Britain.

The Decameron(14th century) by Giovanni Boccaccio: A collection of stories told by a fictional group of characters fleeing the plague in fourteenth century Italy. One of these tales provided the inspiration for the story of Iachimo and Posthumus’ wager over the fidelity of Imogen, and the strange element of Iachimo hiding himself in a chest to see Imogen’s chambers while she slept.

In his own works:

Imogen crossdressing: Viola in Twelfth Night, Portia in The Merchant of Venice, and Rosalind in As You Like It

Imogen taking a potion that makes a character appear dead: Juliet in Romeo and Juliet

Imogen working against what is expected of her: Desdemona in Othello and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet- unlike these other two characters Imogen survives.

It should also be mentioned that the Queen in this piece is steering Cymbeline towards working against Rome, an authoritative power, which could be compared to Henry V's nationalistic fight against France, but in this piece the Queen is built up to be a villain.