Cymbeline

“The great hall of Cymbeline's palace stood open to a confrontation that had been years in the making.”

From Act III, Scene I, by William Shakespeare

This scene is from Cymbeline, a late romance by William Shakespeare, first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play is set in ancient Britain during the reign of a legendary king, and this scene dramatises the moment when Britain refuses to pay tribute to Rome and accepts the consequence—war. The political rhetoric, the appeal to natural defences and ancestral law, and the contrast between diplomatic courtesy and open threat are characteristic of Shakespeare's history plays and Roman dramas. A few period terms have been modernised. This scene is worth a reader's time because it stages a confrontation between empire and independence in language that remains urgent—a small state defying a superpower, and the cost of that defiance still to be proved. This reader covers one scene of the play; the play as a whole is not on the shelf.

Band

Red · Complex language and analysisTypical starting range: ages 15–17

Length

long · about 1101 words in 5 sections · 2 pictures

Source

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, William Shakespeare

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

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