Folklore Cymbeline

Welcome to episode #33 of Ripe Good Scholar the podcast where we explore the journey Shakespeare’s texts have travelled through the centuries. In this episode, Eli and I will be comparing Shakespeare’s Cymbeline to the folktale Snow White. Despite the fact that Snow White was not published until decades after Shakespeare’s death, the folktale would have been passed down through the oral tradition for many years before publication. It is these oral tales that influenced Shakespeare as he wrote his play. In fact, it looks like Shakespeare drew inspiration from a few different folktales to tell the story of Cymbeline, but today our focus is on Imogen and her similarities to Snow White. It is worth noting that the story of Cymbeline also appears in Holinshed’s Chronicles. We have not looked at that story yet, so we will have to wait and see whether it was Shakespeare or Holinshed that took inspiration from folktales. For the full show notes head over to ripegoodscholar.com/ep33