William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including
Romeo and Juliet (1595),
Henry V (1599),
Hamlet (1601),
Othello (1604),
King Lear (1606) and
Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love poetry in English. Shakespeare died in Stratford in 1616.
One of Shakespeare's late, fantastical plays, Cymbeline considers human love and art through the thrilling wonder of the Renaissance theatre. This Penguin Shakespeare edition is edited with an introduction by John Pitcher.
'Fear no more the heat o' the sun,
Nor the furious winter's rages'
The King of Britain, enraged by his daughter's disobedience in marrying against his wishes, banishes his new son-in-law. Having fled to Rome, the exiled husband makes a foolish wager with a villain he encounters there - gambling on the fidelity of his abandoned wife. Combining courtly menace and horror, comedy and melodrama,Cymbeline is a moving depiction of two young lovers driven apart by deceit and self-doubt.
This book contains a general introduction to Shakespeare's life and Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to the play, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay discussing performance options on both stage and screen, and a commentary.
