Arviragus

Play

Cymbeline

Summary

The younger of Cymbeline's kidnapped sons, raised as Cadwal in the Welsh wilderness. Where Guiderius is bold and martial, Arviragus is the more lyrical and tender of the brothers — it is he who sings or speaks the dirge over the apparently dead Imogen, one of Shakespeare's most beautiful elegies. His instinctive tenderness toward Fidele (Imogen in disguise) reveals the romantic play's faith in bonds of blood.

Notable Quotations

"Fear no more the heat o' the sun, / Nor the furious winter's rages; / Thou thy worldly task hast done, / Home art gone and ta'en thy wages." *(IV.ii)*

Cross-references

• Cymbeline — the play
• Romances (Late Plays)
• character_guiderius — his elder brother
• character_belarius — the foster father who raised him
• character_imogen — his unknown sister he mourns as Fidele