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MonkeyNotes-Cymbeline by William Shakespeare
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Notes
Many events take place in this long scene which is almost at the
middle of play: Imogen's illness and the taking of the potion;
Cloten's fight with Guiderius and subsequent beheading; the
supposed 'death' of Imogen and the burial of the two bodies;
Imogen's awakening and her discovery of a headless body in
Posthumus's clothes; her shock and subsequent meeting with the
Roman general. So much happens so quickly as the action moves
forward. The boorish, insolent Cloten, who had planned vengeance
on Imogen, soon finds himself at the receiving end of Guiderius's
anger and gets his just deserts when Guiderius beheads him and
floats his head downstream. Although a violent scene, it is not
without its comic elements as Guiderius exposes his bluff and tells
him that he could not possibly fear a fool, but only laugh at one.
Cloten takes umbrage at this and they commence to fight.
The scene also reveals the difference in the natures of the two
brothers. When they are introduced they are perceived as symbols
of a kingly nature, blooming in wild surroundings. But here, one is
able to observe them better. Guiderius, the elder one, the future
king, is sharp, practical and not too imaginative, probably
conforming to Shakespeare's idea of an ideal king. He is quick to
understand Cloten's character and disposes of him and his head
with an evenhanded coolness. On the other hand, Arviragus is
imaginative, and some of the most poetical passages in the play
come from his mouth. Their distinct characters emerge best when,
after Arviragus has let his imagination play on the way he will
deck the grave of the still unburied Fidele, Guiderius brings him
back to business with a request to hasten the business of burying.
No other scene but the last in this play better testifies to the
masterly craftsmanship of the playwright. The slow transition of
one mood into another deserves well-merited praise. The scene
divides itself into four parts. In the first part the tender sentiments
that the brothers bid farewell to the sickly Fidele is developed with
delicacy and charm. It enhances the pathos of the scene where they
think Fidele is dead. The second part begins with the entry of
Cloten on the stage, bragging and revealing his snobbery as well as
self-importance, and ends when Guiderius enters with his head
hanging in his hands. The death of Cloten may come as a surprise
but it is not inconsistent to the play that such a malingerer ends up
dead. He has elicited no sympathy from the audience and in fact
has proven to be a threat to the social order of England. The third
part consists of the brothers' grief over the dead body of Fidele and
contains the Funeral hymn that they sing after covering Fidele's
body with flowers and leaves. The hymn that they sing is as
touching in its simple pathos as it is tender in its tone and melody.
The last part of the scene consists of the grief of Imogen over the
trunkless body which she thinks it to be that of Posthumus, owing
to the clothes that Cloten wears and his superficial similarity to
Posthumus. However, there may also be more of a similarity
between the two than at first thought. It is possible that Posthumus'
worst qualities have surfaced in the advent of recent events which
may cause Imogen to see all men as being one and the same, not
trustworthy in the least. There is also a supernatural feel to this part
of the act when Imogen wakes up and thinks she has dreamed
meeting the two brothers and looks to see the flowers covering her
and the headless corpse. Lucius enters at this stage and with his
promise of patronage to Imogen, there is a positive indication of
the possibility of her travails coming to an end soon.
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