The pusillanimous King
Cymbeline is indisposed to put himself to the pains of contesting the
claim, but the resolute queen awakens in him a sense of patriotism and
of patriotic obligation by recalling the more nobly inspired attitude
of his ancestors, and by convincing him of the baseness of ignoring
the physical features which had been bestowed by nature on his domains
as a guarantee of their independence.
Remember, sir my liege,
The kings your ancestors, together with
The natural bravery of your isle, which stands
As Neptune's park, ribbed and paled in
With rocks unscaleable and roaring waters,
With sands, that will not bear your enemies' boats,
But suck them up to the topmast.
(_Cymbeline_, III., i., 16-22.)
The appeal prevails, and the tribute is refused. Although the
evolution of the plot which is based on an historical chronicle
compels the renewed acquiescence of the British king in the Roman tax
at the close of the play, the Queen of Britain's spirited insistence
on the maritime strength of her country loses little of its
significance.
IV
Frank criticism of the social life of the nation is as characteristic
of Shakespearean drama as outspoken exposition of its political
failings.
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