Shakespeare S Cymbeline From Psychoanalytic Perspective

Titular Cymbeline's stubborn and self-willed daughter Imogen embodies the spirit of feminism as she seeks simply to marry the man she loves. In the patriarchal society in which Cymbeline is set, Imogen is by law and in custom the king's property until she is wed. Essentially, Imogen is an object in every sense of the word. Posthumus Leonatus likewise views his beloved as an object of his own, albeit in a far different manner than that which Imogen's father recognizes her. An object, as Winnicott frames it, is something that has use or value in its utility for the subject. Given that Cymbeline enjoys the titular role in Shakespeare's play, it is safe to say that Imogen is suitably objectified and also that the playwright may be making deft commentary about the nature and consequences of objectification. An object is, after all, also empowered because of the power it has over the subject. The subject loses himself in the object, much as Cymbeline loses his power without Imogen's obedience and just as Posthumus Leonatus is bereft of his own intelligence until Imogen returns as Fidele.

Shakespeare plays upon the subject-object duality in Cymbeline by adding a further symbolic dimension in the ring and bracelet. Imogen's ring becomes her surrogate, and likewise, Posthumus's bracelet symbolizes the man. When they exchange these objects, the two lovers objectify each other and therefore engage in a prenuptial game that closely follows the psychic evolution of objectified identification as it is described by Freud and Winnicott. Winnicott's concept of objectified relating focuses on symbolic objects just like the ring and bracelet. The concept of objectification pertains largely to the evolution of the infant's fascination with the object, as the infant fixates on an object, identifies fully with it, links the object to certain qualities or states of mind, and especially to people like the mother. In the case of Imogen, her mother is absent in the play. The absence of the mother creates a dramatic psychic tension for the protagonist. Imogen will continually long for the union with the mother, and has no objective substitute for her. On the other hand, Imogen does have an objective substitute for her lover and fixates on that object, the bracelet.

The object begins as a direct extension of the self or as an item that cannot be easily distinguished from the person it symbolizes. As Winnicott points out, though, the object must eventually become externalized, realized as being completely distinct from the self. This is a moment of psychic awakening, and when, as Winnicott puts it, changes in the self take place on a deep level. Recognizing the self as being separate from the object is a potent moment in ego growth. The subject recognizes herself in the object, is enriched by that encounter, and depending on the degree of physical involvement with or interaction with the object, the interaction may become sexual in nature.

At some later point, the object may be symbolically destroyed, aggression taken out upon it. This is indeed what occurs especially for Posthumus Leonatus when he "destroys" the ring by surrendering it. After that, the object remains important but the relationship has changed much as the relationship between Imogen and Posthumus Leonatus must necessarily change after the latter's complete mistrust of his lover. They have returned to a transactional state.

Imogen never fully allows herself to be objectified, either by her father or by Posthumus Leonatus. When Posthumus Leonatus first bequeaths the bracelet to Imogen, he calls the bracelet a "a manacle of love," and puts it upon "this fairest prisoner," (I, i, 150-1). Using rich irony and humor, Shakespeare draws attention to the farce of patriarchal gender roles. Cymbeline attempts to hold Imogen prisoner and Posthumus too views his lover as an object to be possessed. Yet he cannot break free of the psych trap of viewing his lover as object, well after Imogen has done the same. When Posthumus Leonatus becomes convinced that Imogen has been unfaithful, he is quick to judge and takes out his anguish upon the ring. "O, no, no, no! 'tis true. Here, take this too," Posthumus says to Iachimo as he hands over the valuable object (II, iv, 1309). "It is a basilisk unto mine eye, Kills me to look on't," Posthumus Leonatus continues (II, iv, 1310). The ring, the object, has come to represent Imogen and it is as if Poshumus Leonatus cannot separate himself from the ring as he quickly changes his mind, "Back my ring, " (II, iv, 1323). Posthumus Leonatus also cannot distinguish his own mind from that of others around him, as he proves himself easily swayed and lacking the astute sense of judgment that Imogen herself possesses. At no point in the play does Imogen appear to harbor any unhealthy hang-ups over the object of the bracelet. On the contrary, Imogen has been cognizant of the role that she plays in the lives of the men around her when she tells her father at the beginning of the play, "It is your fault that I have loved Posthumus / You bred him as my playfellow, and he is," (I, i, 184-5). Here, Imogen also divulges the clear erotic tension that exists between her and the men in her life.