With plot twists that depend on poor facial recognition, one-sided bets over cuckoldry, one of the most idiotic kings in Shakespeare, and a truly villainous stepson whose beheading we are unfairly denied on stage, Shakespeare’s “Cymbeline” is an interesting and often forgotten play in the Shakespeare canon. Will and James discuss which of these twists is most incredible as well as the Bard’s portrait of Cloten, the aforementioned stepson whose incel tendencies lead to depravity, and what we should make of the play’s British patriotism and ambivalent relationship to the Roman Empire.

Credits

• Intro Music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous)

• Outro Music: Jon Sayles, “Saltarello” (composed by anonymous)

• Illustrative Excerpts: “Cymbeline,” dir. Michael Almereyda (2014); “Cymbeline,” dir. Cylan Brown, Shakespeare by the Sea, (2016); “Cymbeline,” dir. Laura Gordon, Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company (2019)