Shakespeare on the Page

In lines 1-38 of Act III, scene iii of Cymbeline, William Shakespeare introduces King Cymbeline’s lost sons Guiderius and Arviragus and their kidnapper and adoptive father Belarius. Belarius, who has taken on the pseudonym Morgan, has renamed Guiderius and Arviragus as Polydore and Cadwal to hide their true identities from them and the rest of the world. In this scene, the three men are leaving the mountain cave where they live to go hunting on the mountainside. Although the writing of this scene remains largely unchanged between different editions of the play, the way in the which the text itself is presented is highly variable. This variation reflects the way in which different editions of Cymbeline and other compositions by Shakespeare are geared toward different types of readers.

Cymbeline first appeared in print in the First Folio, published in 1623 (see Image 1). This edition of Cymbeline is presented in a more stylized format and was most likely intended for readers who are more interested in collecting Shakespeare’s work rather than studying it. The title of the play is given as “The Tragedie of Cymbeline” and is set in an elegant, bold, and italicized font at the top of the page. To the right of the title is the page number. The scene number is written out in Latin and set apart from the text of the play between two lines. Meanwhile, the text of play is arranged in two columns. By arranging the text this way, the printers would have been able to use less paper while also filling each page. This gives each page of the First Folio a more finished appearance. Overall, the edition of Cymbeline in the First Folio is visually appealing but offers readers nothing other than the original text. This allows collectors to display their copy of the First Folio and boast about their original editions of Shakespeare’s work, but it does not help academic readers understand or analyze the play.

In contrast to the stylized appearance of Cymbeline in the First Folio, the 1988 edition of Cymbeline is presented in a much less elegant and more practical style (see Image 2 and Image 3). This edition appeared in the six-volume collection The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, edited by David Bevington. Its plainer style indicates that it is intended for students and scholars who wish to analyze and understand the play in-depth. Instead of being arranged in two columns as in the First Folio, the text of the 1988 edition is arranged in a single column that spans the width of the page. The title of the play is given as “Cymbeline” and is presented at the top of the page along with the act and scene number in standard Arabic numerals. The lines of the text are also numbered and correspond to extensive notes at the bottom of the page which provide definitions for key terms and phrases and clarify potentially confusing passages. At the top of each page, in the inner corner, the range of lines that appear on the page are printed. The editor has also made a note of the geographical location of each scene and has added a few details to the stage directions to give readers a better understanding of where the characters are in relation to the set. The annotations present in this edition of Cymbeline are clearly intended to help readers quickly locate and understand passages. This makes it ideal for use in academic contexts but less visually appealing.

Ultimately, every reader of Shakespeare is going to want and need different things from their text. Casual readers may be more interested in the appearance and presentability of the work, while scholarly readers will likely want text that integrates previous research and analysis. These kinds of differences are what make it so important for there to be multiple editions of Shakespeare’s works available. Some of these editions will be like the First Folio and intended for the general public and collectors, while other editions will be more like the one edited by Bevington and will be intended for students and researchers.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedie of Cymbeline, from The First Folio or Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. London 1623. Internet Shakespeare Editions, 31 Dec. 2018, internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/facsimile/overview/play/cym.html. Accessed 12 April 2022.

Shakespeare, William. Cymbeline from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, vol V. Ed. David Bevington. Bantam Books 1988.