Cymbeline: Style 1 key example

Cymbeline is characterized by an intricate and complex style that is typical of many of Shakespeare's later works. The play presents a number of carefully interconnected subplots, scenes of misrecognition, and false or mistaken identities, demanding the audience's close attention. Indeed, it is often regarded as one of Shakespeare’s most difficult plays to follow in live performance. King Cymbeline himself comments upon the complexity of the events that have transpired throughout the course of the play. In the final scene, when the true identities of all characters have been revealed, a notably confused Cymbeline asks: 

When shall I hear all through? This fierce abridgment 
Hath to it circumstantial branches which 
Distinction should be rich in. Where, how lived you? 
And when came you to serve our Roman captive? 
How parted with your brothers ? How first met them? 
Why fled you from the court? And whither?  To Belarius. These,
And your three motives to the battle, with 
I know not how much more, should be demanded, 
And all the other by-dependences 
From chance to chance; but nor the time nor place 
Will serve our long interrogatories. 

Cite this Quote