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Cymbeline (view source)

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''Cymbeline'', a tragicomedy by [[William Shakespeare (Creator)|William Shakespeare]], is one the Bard's more obscure plays. Borrowed, barely, from Celtic lore, it tells the story of a king who rebels against Rome because of his evil wife. For unrelated reasons, his daughter spends most of the play cross-dressing and looking for her banished husband. Actually, [[Secondary Character Title|it's more about the latter than the former]].
 
Cymbeline is king of a city in Britain, during the time of [[The Roman Empire]]. His daughter, Imogen, is in love with Posthumus, a poor nobleman. They marry, which infuriates Cymbeline, and so he banishes Posthumus to Italy. In Italy, Posthumus meets Jachimo (or Iachimo), who makes a bet. He says he can seduce Imogen, and prove that all women are naturally unfaithful. Jachimo goes to Britain, but failing to seduce Imogen by traditional means, resorts to trickery. Hiding himself in a chest in her room, he watches her sleep and collects details from her room. He also steals a bracelet, which was a gift from Posthumus.
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* [[Anachronism Stew]]: Among other things, while the play is set in Roman times during the reign of [[I, Claudius|Claudius]], Iachimo is pretty much a (stock evil) Renaissance Italian and his scenes with Postumus feel "contemporary" (for the time of Shakespeare).
* [[Ancient Rome]]: Where we lay our scene.
* [[And Another Thing]]: The entire last act of the show. In the space of a few dozen lines, Iachimo's treachery is revealed, Posthumous reveals who he is and claims to have killed Imogen, Imogen reveals who she is and that she is alive, the Queen is revealed to have been behind everything, Guiderius admits to having killed Cloten, and the princes are revealed to be royalty.
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* [[Honor Before Reason]]
* [[Incest Is Relative]]: The Queen convinces Cymbeline to join her in persuading Imogen to marry her step-brother Cloten.
* [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]]: Iachimo, which is part of why he gets reprieved. Notably, in the [[BoccaccioGiovanni (Creator)Boccaccio|Boccaccio]] story the play is based on, the equivalent character is [[Cruel and Unusual Death|covered in honey and put in a cage and gets stung to death by insects]]. In particular, the whole "hiding in the chest" idea is vaguely ridiculous, making him a literal Jack-in-the-box, as is the Peeping Tom aspect, even though his reason for doing so isn't funny.
** It doesn't hurt that he's shown as remorseful when he realizes that his actions might have caused Imogen's death. His motivation for the deception lies somewhere between [[For the Lulz]] and For The Money.
* [[In the Blood]]: The exiled princes, Caius Lucius, and Cymbeline all echo the sentiment of Imogen's essential noble nature when they meet her disguised as Fidele.
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