SOURCE: "Cymbeline and the Imagery of Covenant Theology," in Studies in English Literature: 1500-1900, Vol. XX, No. 2, Spring, 1980, pp. 241-55.

In the essay below, Geller examines the religious imagery and covenant-contract theology found in Cymbeline, noting that "each of Cymbeline 's main plots revolves about a covenant or contract."

In a stimulating disclaimer of F. R. Leavis' caveat that in Cymbeline "the organization is not a matter of strict and delicate subservience to a commanding significance, which penetrates the whole, informing and ordering everything—imagery, rhythm, symbolism, character, episode, plot—from a deep centre,"¹ Robert Hunter finds such a "deep centre" in "Christianity, with the doctrines of repentance and regeneration at its center."² Working from that orientation, he elevates Posthumous to the central role in the drama and convincingly discusses the wager plot, but he has little to say about the rebellion against Rome or the lost princes...