Cymbeline: Allusions 10 key examples

Iachimo has traveled from Italy to Britain in order to win a bet with Posthumus that he could seduce Posthumus’s wife Imogen despite his unshakeable faith in her loyalty to him. His first strategy is to imply to Imogen that Posthumus has been conducting affairs with Italian sex workers while she waits devoutly for him in Britain. Iachimo argues that if Posthumus made him live “like Diana’s priest, betwixt cold sheets” while Posthumus himself was out “vaulting variable ramps” (or in other words, sleeping with lots of women), then he would seek revenge. Here, Iachimo alludes to Diana, a goddess and the Roman equivalent of the Greek Artemis. Diana was famed for her chastity, requiring the nymphs, maidens, and priests who attend to her to remain virgins. Iachimo, then, argues that Imogen could best revenge herself against Posthumus by similarly cheating on him and more, specifically, by sleeping with Iachimo himself. 

Iachimo observes that, before falling asleep, Imogen had been reading “the tale of Tereus,” putting down the book at the point at which “Philomel gave up.” Shakespeare alludes to the story of Tereus and Philomela, which was well known in Renaissance England. In the myth, a woman named Philomela is raped by her sister’s husband, Tereus, who cuts off her tongue to prevent her from accusing him. By alluding to Tereus and Philomela here, Shakespeare connects Iachimo to an infamous rapist from mythology. Though Iachimo does not literally rape Imogen, Shakespeare suggests that his violation of her boundaries in sneaking into her room and gazing at her body while she sleeps is a form of assault. This allusion also foreshadows later events in the play. Just as Philomela is able to get revenge against Tereus, so too will Imogen be offered a chance to reveal the truth and redeem herself. 

First, he notes that Tarquin, son of the final King of Rome, similarly “did softly press the rushes,” (that is, tiptoed gently) before “he wounded” the chastity of Lucrece. Here, Iachimo alludes to the rape of a woman named Lucrece by Tarquin, an event in Roman legend that was portrayed by Shakespeare in an earlier poem entitled “The Rape of Lucrece.” This allusion suggests that Iachimo is aware of the villainous nature of his plot, as Tarquin is an infamous figure in Roman history. Next, he alludes to “Cytherea,” another name for Venus, the goddess of love and Roman equivalent of the Greek Aphrodite. Through this allusion, then, he compares Imogen’s beauty to that of the famously beautiful goddess. 

First, he notes that Imogen’s female attendants have access to her private quarters, and he weighs the possibility of bribing one of them to let him in so that he can speak with her. First, he alludes to the chaste goddess Diana, arguing that her “rangers” must occasionally deceive her in exchange for money. Gold, he muses, is an unpredictable power, sometimes helping the corrupt gain victory over the innocent, but sometimes leading both the innocent and the guilty to their deaths. He resolves to make one of the attendants serve as “lawyer” to him, as he does not yet understand the “case” himself. In this legal metaphor, he compares a bribed woman to a lawyer, who can help him make sense of this confusing “case” or situation, and further, can advocate on his behalf to Imogen just as a lawyer advocates for their client. 

Though Posthumus acknowledges that he is not a “statist,” or a politician, and further, has no interest in being a politician, he predicts that tensions between Rome and Britain will “prove a war” in the near future. While Philario feels that King Cymbeline will seek peace by continuing to make tribute payments to the Roman Emperor, Augustus, Posthumus argues that “not-fearing Britain” will refuse to pay a “penny” of the tribute. “Our countrymen,” Posthumus notes, “are more ordered than when Julius Caesar / Smiled at their lack of skill.” Here, he alludes to the invasions of Britain by Julius Caesar in 55 and 54 BC, important events in the history of the Roman conquest of Britain. Though Caesar easily outmaneuvered the unprepared Britons, Posthumus patriotically claims that Britain is a more organized nation now and that it can defend itself against Rome. 

He describes a “tapestry of silk and silver” depicting a historical scene in which the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra meets “her Roman,” an allusion to the Roman general Mark Anthony, Cleopatra’s lover. He describes the tapestry with lush visual details, including its depiction of the river that has “swelled above the banks” due to the heavy weight of the boats crossing it. The tapestry is so beautiful, he claims, that he cannot tell if it is more valuable because of the artistic skill used to depict the scene, or the rich materials from which it was made. Further, he claims that the scene appeared as “true life,” or in other words, it was highly lifelike. In this scene, Iachimo uses specific imagery to prove his argument that he saw Imogen's bedchamber with his own eyes. 

After locating the area of her room where the chimney is located, he describes the carved “chimney-piece,” which depicts “Chaste Dian bathing.” Here, he alludes to the “chaste” goddess of hunting and virginity, Diana, the Roman equivalent of the Greek Artemis, an allusion that is ironic given that he claims (falsely) that Imogen has been anything but chaste since Posthumus’s exile.

Hyperbolically, he claims that he never saw artistic images that seemed “so likely to report themselves" (that is, to come to life at any moment). The “cutter” or carver of the chimney-piece, Iachimo claims in a metaphor, must have been “another nature,” a god-like creator of an entire world. His depiction of Venus, he adds, outdoes the real goddess Venus, even if she can neither speak nor move, since “Motion and breath” have been “left out” of the world created by the sculptor. 

Posthumus misogynistically laments the fact that women must be “half-workers” in human reproduction, implying that he wishes that men could be born without any involvement from women at all. All men, he claims, are “bastards” who cannot be sure of their paternity due to the infidelity of women. Angrily, Posthumus suggests that he cannot be sure that his own “venerable” father truly is his father, since he might be a “counterfeit” who was “stamp’d” by another “coiner.” In this layered metaphor, Posthumus compares humans to coins. Though the King's seal on a coin guarantees its authenticity, a clever forger can produce a counterfeit. In much the same way, Posthumus reasons, any man might use his “tools” (or genitalia) to produce a “counterfeit” child that another man then raises unknowingly as his own. He then alludes to Diana, the goddess of chastity, noting that his mother appeared to be an exemplar of chaste virtue, but now he feels he cannot be so sure due to his distrust of women. 

Imploring him to think of his illustrious “ancestors,” the Queen alludes to Neptune, Roman god of the sea and equivalent to the Greek Poseidon, describing the island of Britain as “Neptune’s park,” as it is surrounded by water on all sides. Islands, she argues, are difficult to invade, providing Britain with an important advantage in future conflicts with Rome. She next alludes to Julius Caesar and a famous phrase attributed to him: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” These well-known words, she reminds the King, were not uttered in reference to Britain, but rather, to the Battle of Zela in modern day Turkey. Last, she uses a simile, describing the Roman boats as being “like egg-shells” when they crash upon the rocky shores of Britain. 

She begs the gods for a small amount of pity as she surveys what she believes is the corpse of Posthumus. She praises his foot as “Mercurial,” alluding to the god Mercury, who was renowned for his speed. Next, she looks lovingly upon his “Martial thigh,” alluding to Mars, the god of war, and suggesting that Posthumus’s limbs are muscular and well-defined. Looking further, she compares his muscles to that of the strong “Hercules” and his face to that of thunder-god Jove. She also describes her own emotional state by drawing reference to mythology. Because she believes, incorrectly, that Pisanio betrayed her on behalf of Cloten, she curses him just as “madded Hecuba” cursed the Greeks, referencing the Queen of doomed city of Troy in Greek mythology.