Belarius
Play
Summary
A lord wrongly banished by Cymbeline who took his revenge by stealing the king's two infant sons and raising them under assumed names in the Welsh mountains. As Morgan, he has given Guiderius and Arviragus a life of pastoral simplicity and inculcated noble values in them. His function in the play is partly expository — explaining who the boys truly are — and partly thematic, representing the romance idea that true nobility will out regardless of circumstances.
Notable Quotations
"How hard it is to hide the sparks of Nature!" *(III.iii)*
"These boys know little they are sons to the king, / Nor Cymbeline dreams that they are alive." *(III.iii)*
Cross-references
- Cymbeline — the play
- Romances (Late Plays)
- character_guiderius — the elder son he raised
- character_arviragus — the younger son he raised
- character_imogen — the princess who stumbles into their cave as Fidele