by William Shakespeare

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.

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.