#Cymbeline

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

there's a lot of shakespeare comedy characters who do morally reprehensible things that get written off when they really shouldn't. like the token example is claudio from much ado about nothing but honestly of these characters my absolute favorite is posthumus (yes that's his actual name) from cymbeline. he's given legitimately compelling evidence that his wife is cheating on him (the guy literally describes how she looks naked) so it's reasonable for him to believe it. it is NOT reasonable for him to immediately order her murdered, that was way too far but again, shakespeare comedy, bitches can get away with anything. the reason he's my favorite of this trope is he felt bad about doing so BEFORE finding out she was innocent, meaning he had like. a conscience? but not just that after feeling bad about it he immediately switches to "well you know it's fine if women cheat a little. we shouldn't really care that much" like dude i don't think that's the lesson you should have taken from this but also that's an insanely funny stance to take. "well maybe she cheated but only a little." i'm glad you and your crossdressing wife are happy and that nobody actually cheated on each other and you learned to think before sending assassins

[bethanydelleman]

Shakespearean Men believing their wife/betrothed is cheating on them by evidence offered, ranked from most sympathetic to least:

1. Othello, Othello: subject to a premeditated slander campaign, handkerchief used as evidence, takes a while for him to believe it. Understandable, if horrible, and very tragic.

2. Posthumus, Cymbeline: proof in the form of a love token and the description of his wife's body. Also kind of understandable because they were subject to a seperation of unknown length. Murder was a little extreme though...

3. Claudio, Much Ado About Nothing: tricked by a man who literally just tricked him, sees two figures in the dark and a woman calling herself "Hero", immediately willing to believe it. Somewhat understandable, I guess, maybe.

4. Leontes, The Winter's Tale: VIBES. Pure vibes, man.

At some point between 3 and 4, did Shakespeare just lose his faith in humanity?

[britneyshakespeare]

I'm curious about people's levels of familiarity; I intend no judgment or elitism and it's absolutely fine not to be a completionist, btw. I didn't think I would've intended to have read them all at age 25; it just sort of happened that after I passed the halfway point in the middle of 2023, I came out of a reading slump and was motivated to finish. Fwiw I consider myself a hobbyist (I am not involved in academia or professional theater) but I realize that that label is usually attributed to people with less experience.

I also have always loved seeing other bloggers' Shakespeare polls where they put certain plays or characters up against each other, but I'm often left wondering if it's really a 'fair' fight all the time if you're putting up something like Hamlet or Twelfth Night against one of the more obscure works, like the Winter's Tale. It's not a grave affront to vote in those polls if you don't know every play, but I am curious about it.

Please reblog for exposure if you vote; I would appreciate it a lot. Also feel free to elaborate on your own Shakespeare journey in tags, comments, reblogs, because I love to hear about other people's personal relationships to literature.

[socialshakespeare]

Reblog if you: were raised in a cave; are currently wearing your rival's clothes; want to kill your stepdaughter; once kidnapped babies because you didn't get a promotion; have family who will harass a god on your behalf; feel a disturbing level of kinship with Snow White; or are, for some reason, the title character of a play you're barely in

[mrs-starkgaryen]

Favourite Shakespeare's Tragedies

After my other poll, I am going to be specific.

There shall be a battle of the favourites!!

For the love of Shakespeare, please reblog for a better analysis

[shakespearenews]

What makes Cymbeline such a potent play for our own age of anxiety is how Shakespeare weaves a tale about the collapse of everything known, as connections dissolve, and lays out how we may discover ourselves anew in the radically altered world.

www.shakespearenews.com

[lipstickhamlet]

sparknotes blog you are so dear to me

[linguist-in-a-blanket]

Challenge for Shakespearean men (level impossible): believe your wife over some random dude/your own intrusive thoughts.

This happened at least FOUR fucking times!

We stan Macbeth and Benedick in this house. They would never.

[hamletkin]

Writer Applications for a Shakespeare Dating Sim

sign ups for artists, voice actors, ect will be posted at a later date but you are welcome to contact me ahead of time if interested!

i told you all i was unhinged, i told you but no one listened

applications close: july 9th

[illustratus]

Imogen in Cymbeline - (The Tragedy of Cymbeline, King of Britain) by Henry Courtney Selous

[gwydpolls]

Shakespeare Genre Battle: Tragedies

I'm doing all of them. Don't worry if yours isn't in this poll.

I am including some things with disputed authorship, collaboration, or apocrypha just because.

[shambelle97]

TOM HIDDLESTON - POSTHUMUS AND CLOTEN / CYMBELINE (2007)

Tom Hiddleston as Posthumus and Cloten in "Cymbeline" in 2007.

Pics by: Cheek By Jowl

[bigfriedbassoon]

The great thing about Shakespeare is that you can just read these plays for the story, but the story will be something like Cymbeline where every plot point is disposable but the characters still jump off the page

[britneyshakespeare]

Selected bad reviews of Shakespeare productions that made me laugh taken from No Turn Unstoned (1982) by Diana Rigg

[artemlegere]

Imogen Found in the Cave of Belarius

Artist: George Dawe (English, 1781–1829)

Date: Exhibited 1809

Medium: Oil paint on canvas

Collection: Tate Britain, United Kingdom

Description

George Dawe depicts a scene from Shakespeare’s play Cymbeline. Imogen – the heroine and daughter of Cymbeline, the ancient king of Britain – escapes court and disguises herself as a young man. Here, Dawe shows the moment when the character Belarius (left) and Imogen’s two long-lost brothers (right) discover her in a cave. They believe she is dead, but she has actually just drunk a sleeping potion.

Dawe mainly painted portraits, but here ventures into ‘history painting’ (images of biblical, mythological, literary or historical subjects). This was regarded as the highest genre of painting at the time and indicates Dawe’s ambitions as an artist. With its high-minded literary theme and dramatic lighting, this painting was meant to stand out when it was first exhibited at the British Institution in 1809.

[banefort]

Another strong Shakespearean parallel for Larys (Larycent in particular) can be seen in the relationship between Imogen and Iachimo in Cymbeline, which is made all the more potent by the fact that Matthew actually played Iachimo during a 2016 production of the play