KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS

SETTING

The play is set in pre-Christian Britain during the reign of the Roman Empire with the action of the play moving from Britain to Rome and back to Britain again. The opening scene is set in the garden of Cymbeline's palace. The second shifts to a public place. In the third scene the setting is a room in Cymbeline's palace. The fourth scene takes the audience to Philario's house in Rome. The last two scenes transport the audience to different rooms in Cymbeline's palace. All the scenes in Act II and the first two scenes of Act III take place in and around Cymbeline's palace. In Act III, Scene 3, the action shifts to a cave in the mountainous country in Wales. Scene 4 is set in the country near Milford- Haven. Scenes 5, 6 and 7 are set respectively in a room in Cymbeline's palace, before the cave of Belarius in Wales, and in a public place in Rome. The first two scenes of Act IV are set near the cave of Belarius in Wales. In Scene 3 the action shifts to a room in Cymbeline's palace and in Scene 4 it reverts to a place near the cave of Belarius. The first three scenes of Act V are set respectively in a Roman camp in Britain, in the field of battle between the British and Roman armies and in another part of the field. Scene 4 shifts to a British prison and the very last scene shifts to Cymbeline's tent.

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