Shakespeare wrote his plays in the literary culture of the early modern London theatrical scene, which developed during Elizabeth I’s reign and continued to thrive under James I. He probably wrote around 38 plays, and Cymbeline is one of the latest: The first recorded production was in 1611. In this play, Shakespeare engages with conventions already well-established in early modern theatre generally and in his own works, in terms of both literary devices and thematic concerns.

Cymbeline explores a number of themes and tropes that are featured throughout Shakespeare’s earlier works. In particular, the trope of a heroine disguising herself as a man is featured in Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Two Gentlemen of Verona. Shakespeare used this trope within the context of early modern theatre practices, in which the heroines would have been played by a young male actor: The audience saw a boy pretending to be a girl pretending to be a girl. This device is ripe for both comedy and dramatic misunderstandings driving the plot, but is also used thematically.