How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #4
BELARIUS, as Morgan
Great griefs, I see, med'cine the less, for Cloten
Is quite forgot. (4.2.310-311)
It's funny how nothing seems quite so bad in comparison to death. Belarius isn't over the surprise and emotion of Cloten's death and then—boom: Fidele's death puts it into perspective.
Quote #5
GUIDERIUS, as Polydor
Fear no more the heat o' th' sun,
Nor the furious winter's rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages.
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust. (4.2.331-336)
Guiderius mourns Fidele with a song that describes how death is comforting. There's no more fear, no more winter, and no more cruelty. This is one way of looking at death that may be comforting for those left behind: at least the person who has passed will no longer have to suffer. This is one of the play's most famous passages. How do you think it relates to the rest of the play? Most of the characters don't actually die, so why does the play focus on death so much?
Quote #6
BELARIUS, as Morgan
Here's a few flowers, but 'bout midnight more,
The herbs that have on them cold dew o' th' night
Are strewings fitt'st for graves. Upon their faces.—
You were as flowers, now withered. Even so
These herblets shall, which we upon you strew.—
Come on, away; apart upon our knees.
The ground that gave them first has them again.
Their pleasures here are past; so is their pain. (4.2.356-363)
At Imogen's grave, Belarius provides flowers and comforting words about Fidele's death. It's a somber moment for the men. Check out how he describes death as final and certain: at least there's no more pain? How does this passage relate to the rest of the play? Why is mortality so important, even when most of the characters don't actually die? Maybe the idea is to remind us what a limited amount of time we have—we'd better make the most of what we have before the final curtain call. Could there be other interpretations?