Where does tragicomedy derive its power? We have seen several plays where characters die and come back to life, where characters fall from grace and are inexplicably redeemed. Does tragicomedy work because of scenes like Imogen popping back up after Guiderius and Arvigaus's funeral song? Or is it a spirit better captured in the language? I'm thinking of Lucius's line at the end of 4.2, and the sentiment it essentializes: "Some falls are means the happier to arise" (406). Or even better, Pisanio's "Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered" (4.3.46). What is tragicomedy's backbone? What makes it work? The spectacle or the spoken?
How can representations of the body--as well as the disembodied, in the case of Cloten--inform our reading of political life in Cymbeline? In 5.5, Cymbeline refers to Belarius, Guiderius, and Arviragus as the "liver, heart, and brain of Britain" (14). The king frames his response to reports of the Queen's death in bodily terms; he vows that he will not fault his eyes, ears, or heart (63-6). Guiderius tests the boundaries of political action when he decapitates Cloten, decrying him as an "arrogant piece of flesh" (4.2.149). Where does body end and Body Politic begin? How does Shakespeare render political life as reliant upon bodily life and bodily needs? Does bodily life restrict or enable the movement and power of political agents?
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