Audiobook29 minutes
The Story Of Shakespeare's Cymbeline
Written by William Shakespeare, Mary Ellen Lamb and Charles Lamb
Narrated by Ghizela Rowe
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
Cymbeline is listed as one of Shakespeare’s tragedies although some think it to be one of his romances as it explores the familiar themes of jealousy, adultery, innocence and vengeance. Cymbeline is the King of Britain who twenty years prior to the play’s setting wrongly banishes one of his Lords, Belarius, who in turn kidnaps the King’s sons to prevent him having heirs to his throne. The King also banishes one of his subjects, Posthumous, for secretly marrying his daughter Imogen and the Roman army descend on Britain although by the end of the play there is peace, with these strands happily resolved ably aided by Ghizela Rowe’s reading. This narrative version was written by Mary & Charles Lamb.
Author
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest playwright the world has seen. He produced an astonishing amount of work; 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 5 poems. He died on 23rd April 1616, aged 52, and was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.
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Reviews for The Story Of Shakespeare's Cymbeline
Rating: 3.5338981966101697 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
236 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This play is not greatly to my taste. But it does work on stage, and is a surviving work of the great writer. Imogen, the King's daughter is falsely accused of adultery, by the machinations of Iachimo, who creates an appearance of the deed. Imogen flees her father's court, but does recover her position by an unlikely series of events. the play did not give birth to the usual number of later clichés in language.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Comedy in the sense that most of the characters come out alive, but not much humor to it. A love tragedy which ends Happily Ever After.I enjoyed the reading of this, and watching the BBC production of it. I would like to have a talk with Imogen about her everlasting love for a man who put out a hit on her because of circumstantial evidence, no matter how damning, but other than that it was one of the more satisfying plays I've read recently. I love the part of Pisanio, the servant. In my eyes, he is the man who deserves all praise. If I were ever to direct this play, he would be the focus. A level-headed man amongst all the flighty nobility.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is definitely my favorite Shakespeare plays. It serves as a mashup of all of them, in terms of plot content, and I think that it has some of Shakespeare's most vivid characterizations. It also seems to have fewer vulgar jokes, so that makes it much more enjoyable. Altogether, a tough read, but an excellent one.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I sensed that Shakespeare trying to reuse his favorite dramatic devices, including: jealous lovers, wronged women, plucky heroines, male impersonation, scheming villains, idyllic landscapes, wise clowns. I also couldn't help noticing that, although the Bard called the play a tragedy, he was using a romantic comedy / adventure plot. He also gave the "tragedy" a happy ending, albeit a very complicated one. He had to unwind a large number of plot entanglements in one act. I found that complicated to read and wondered how it could be staged without turning into a train wreck. Despite that, I quite enjoyed reading the play, a rousing adventure with great characters. I thought was a vast improvement over the collaborations and a welcome lightening of tone.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Willie seems to have been fixated on men who don't trust their wives. Maybe Anne was fooling around on him. Kind of a weird meandering story. Too many elements to maintain my interest.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This "history" play of Shakespeare's is probably not part of the Tudor campaign for legitimacy, but gives a glimpse into early Britain. A headstrong woman, one of many from Shakespeare -- makes one wonder about his personal life…
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"Cymbeline" was one of the few Shakespeare plays that I'd never heard of before embarking on my quest to read them all. So, I really didn't have particularly high hopes that I'd enjoy it.While certainly not amongst the bard's best works, I was surprised to find I enjoyed this play quite a bit. I found it to be well-paced and I enjoyed the interactions between the characters. It had a lot of elements that are typical Shakespeare -- from Imogen's travels disguised by man, to a sad King tossing a child out into the wild, to hidden identities that are revealed at the end.It isn't a perfect play, as there are lots of characters floating about, making it a bit challenging to follow and the ending all sort of tumbles together (happily) for no particular reason. That said, I still liked the overall story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Of the Shakespeare plays I've read so far (probably about a dozen or so), this is probably my favourite. I find it difficult to pinpoint exactly why I liked it so much, but I did. The final scene, in particular, is well described as a theatrical tour de force as it relentlessly brings one revelation after another to tie up all the various subplots and bring about the reconciliation of all the still-living characters.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I was heartened to read in the New York Times today that I wasn't the only one who was knocked off-course by the almost deliberately confusing plot and character interactions.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shaw disliked the complex ending, but I found it very funny.