Guiderius

Play

Cymbeline

Summary

The elder of Cymbeline's two stolen sons, raised by Belarius as Polydore in the Welsh mountains. Of the two brothers, Guiderius is the more assertive and warlike — it is he who kills Cloten without ceremony and displays the head — embodying the romance theme that royal nature cannot be suppressed by rustic upbringing. His reunion with his father is part of the play's multiple final revelations.

Notable Quotations

"I have sent Cloten's clotpoll down the stream, / In embassy to his mother; his body's hostage / For his return." *(IV.ii)*

Cross-references

• Cymbeline — the play
• Romances (Late Plays)
• character_arviragus — his younger brother
• character_belarius — the foster father who raised him
• character_cloten — whom he kills
• character_imogen — his unknown sister whom he shelters as Fidele