# Cymbeline — Cymbeline character guide

> Cymbeline in Cymbeline by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** major

**First appearance:** 0002-act-i-scene-i

## Snapshot

Britain's king, a father who banished his daughter's husband and lost two sons in infancy, now caught between Roman tribute and his own tangled household.

## Who they are

Cymbeline rules a court where his new queen schemes, his stepson Cloten blusters, and his only remaining child has married against his will. He bends to Rome's demand for tribute, then musters a ragged defense of Britain while his family fractures around him. His late willingness to listen, even to a disguised page, makes him the fulcrum on which the play's reconciliations turn.

## In the story

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cymbeline_se/chapters/act-i-scene-i)

Angry at Imogen's marriage; banishes Posthumus; orders Imogen imprisoned.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cymbeline_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-iii)

Cymbeline enters and speaks with Cloten about Imogen's resistance, then leaves to receive the Roman ambassador.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cymbeline_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-i)

King of Britain, refuses Roman tribute and prepares for war.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cymbeline_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-iii)

Mentioned as the king who unjustly banished Belarius and is unaware his sons are alive.

### [Scene V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cymbeline_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-v)

Bids farewell to Lucius and expresses concern over Imogen's absence.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cymbeline_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-iii)

Distraught over Imogen's disappearance and the Queen's illness, and troubled by the Roman invasion; threatens Pisanio with torture.

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cymbeline_se/chapters/act-v-scene-ii)

Captured by the Romans but rescued by Belarius, Guiderius, Arviragus, and Posthumus.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cymbeline_se/chapters/act-v-scene-iii)

Appears with his retinue and orders Posthumus taken to prison.

### [Scene V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cymbeline_se/chapters/act-v-scene-v)

Honors Belarius and the princes, learns of the Queen's death and treachery, forgives all, and agrees to peace with Rome.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cymbeline_se/characters/cymbeline
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cymbeline_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cymbeline_se/characters