The Queen (Cymbeline)
Play
Summary
Cymbeline's second wife and the play's primary villain — a scheming stepmother of the most archetypal kind. She works to position her dull son Cloten for the throne, poisons Cymbeline's mind against Imogen, and acquires what she believes to be poison from the physician Cornelius (who substitutes a harmless sleeping draft). Her death offstage and the posthumous revelation of all her schemes is a characteristic romance revelation, though she is given no redemption.
Notable Quotations
"I never do him wrong / But he does buy my injuries, to be friends; / Pays dear for my offences." *(I.ii)*
Cross-references
- Cymbeline — the play
- Romances (Late Plays)
- character_cloten — her son whose advancement she schemes for
- character_imogen — her stepdaughter whom she plots against
- character_pisanio — whom she attempts to poison