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lelia_t's review against another edition
4.0
This strikes me as one of Shakespeare’s more gentle plays. Even though there’s an evil stepmother, mistaken identity, lies and betrayal, the reader’s nerves are never stretched uncomfortably. Upstanding characters who maintain their integrity and faith manage to carry the action to the conclusion you’d expect from a romance. And we're given enough inside information to know that even the most dire-seeming events aren’t as bad as they appear.
I enjoyed seeing how Shakespeare gathers the disparate threads of the story - Imogen's relationship with her exiled husband, the king's missing sons, and the political tension between Britain and Rome - into one momentous resolution.
I enjoyed seeing how Shakespeare gathers the disparate threads of the story - Imogen's relationship with her exiled husband, the king's missing sons, and the political tension between Britain and Rome - into one momentous resolution.
annepw's review against another edition
5.0
Genius, obviously. I regret the years I spent thinking he was overrated.
That being said, Timon of Athens is a shitty play.
That being said, Timon of Athens is a shitty play.
lebelinconnu's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
tracithomas's review against another edition
2.0
This play was a real struggle to read. There are so many moving parts (it’s like 5 Shakespeare plays in one) and they all come together in a very annoying way at the end (no spoilers). I like the character of Imogen and think seeing the play on the stage might make it good, but off the page it was rough.
noelrk's review against another edition
3.0
this is a weird mess of a play, but there's plenty of energy to it as well.
callalilyc's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like the existence of 'Cymbeline' suggests that Shakespeare did recreational drugs
blueyorkie's review against another edition
3.0
Faithful to the Big Will, I tried the Cymbeline experiment. Adventure because Shakespeare plays that I had read famous plays. I knew what I was going to find. But, of course, every time I found much more than my preconceived ideas, the playwright's imagination went far beyond what I could expect. Besides, a whole corpus of texts often accompanied this reading: Verdi, films, historical context, and the best: the theatrical performance.
For Cymbeline, none of this! I had never heard the title that suggested a fairy to me; Cymbeline is a pretty name for a pixie. This reading, without any preconceptions, with the name of Shakespeare for any recommendation, was an adventure.
We must not fear the improbabilities, the royal children kidnapped, the poisons of an ugly mother-in-law, the reversals of the jacket and the cross-dressers. Not to be looking down on beheading (even if it's for a good cause), resurrections.
For Cymbeline, none of this! I had never heard the title that suggested a fairy to me; Cymbeline is a pretty name for a pixie. This reading, without any preconceptions, with the name of Shakespeare for any recommendation, was an adventure.
We must not fear the improbabilities, the royal children kidnapped, the poisons of an ugly mother-in-law, the reversals of the jacket and the cross-dressers. Not to be looking down on beheading (even if it's for a good cause), resurrections.
amelianotthepilot's review
2.0
Shakespeare characters really just never recognize each other and i’m really over that trope
that and the mysterious potion that makes people appear dead is just too overused
cymbeline is a king and wants to marry his only daughter, imgoen, to cloten. but imogen secretly marries porthumus. the king gets angry and banishes porthumus. imgoen hates cloten. a man in italy devices a plan to steal porthumus’s wedding ring. he goes to imogen and sneaks into her chamber at night and steals her bracelet and then describes her moles and bedroom to porthumus. porthumus is furious and tells his servant to murder imogen . imogen plans to leave and meet porthumus but finds out about the murder plot and is upset. she pretends to be a boy and gets lost in the woods and then runs into these two men and a father in the mountains. the men are actually her long lost brothers who were kidnapped when they were young. the men murder cloten who follows her. she feels ill and takes a potion that porthumus’s servant had given her and thought was restorative. but actually it’s from the queen who wants her dead. it’s kills her briefly but it was just a deep sleep. her brothers think she’s dead and grieve her. a battle commences between cymbeline of briton and caius of rome. porthumus hears of imogens death and plans to die too but is captured by cymbeline. the brothers also fight. they all end up in cymbeline court and everything is revealed.
that and the mysterious potion that makes people appear dead is just too overused
cymbeline is a king and wants to marry his only daughter, imgoen, to cloten. but imogen secretly marries porthumus. the king gets angry and banishes porthumus. imgoen hates cloten. a man in italy devices a plan to steal porthumus’s wedding ring. he goes to imogen and sneaks into her chamber at night and steals her bracelet and then describes her moles and bedroom to porthumus. porthumus is furious and tells his servant to murder imogen . imogen plans to leave and meet porthumus but finds out about the murder plot and is upset. she pretends to be a boy and gets lost in the woods and then runs into these two men and a father in the mountains. the men are actually her long lost brothers who were kidnapped when they were young. the men murder cloten who follows her. she feels ill and takes a potion that porthumus’s servant had given her and thought was restorative. but actually it’s from the queen who wants her dead. it’s kills her briefly but it was just a deep sleep. her brothers think she’s dead and grieve her. a battle commences between cymbeline of briton and caius of rome. porthumus hears of imogens death and plans to die too but is captured by cymbeline. the brothers also fight. they all end up in cymbeline court and everything is revealed.