Imogen: Shakespeare's Most Resourceful Princess
First appears: Act 1, Scene 1
Imogen is the daughter of King Cymbeline and secretly married to Posthumus, a man her father forbids her to wed. When Posthumus is sent away, the Italian schemer Iachimo arrives and tricks him into believing she has been unfaithful, and Posthumus orders her killed.
Instead of being killed, she disguises herself as a boy, escapes to Wales, and survives in the wilderness while the people around her make catastrophic decisions. She is the most competent person in a play full of credulous men.
She swallows a potion she thinks is medicine and wakes up next to a headless corpse she assumes is Posthumus. She gets back up. Her resilience in a play of near-constant misfortune sets her apart.
Key Scenes
Famous Quotes
“Where then Hath Britain all the sun that shines? Day, night, Are they not but in Britain?”
Imogen — Act 3, Scene 4
“Against self-slaughter There is a prohibition so divine That cravens my weak hand.”
Imogen — Act 3, Scene 4
Themes
Other Characters in Cymbeline
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