Discovering Cymbeline
About the Text
The Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune was written by an anonymous author and printed in 1589 for Edward White. Aside from its similarities to Cymbeline, very little seems to be known about this play.
Similarities
Love and Fortune matches some of the plot and character elements not found in the other sources, particularly for Posthumus and Imogen, and for Belarius.
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A princess and a (seemingly) commoner are in love, but the princess's father doesn't approve of his non-nobility
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He gets banished so he can't marry her
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There is a man that is a banished noble who lives in a cave in the forest, who gets restored to nobility at the end
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The commoner is secretly actually noble, so he can marry the princess
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He gets restored to nobility and he and the princess get married and live happily ever after
Differences
As only a handful of the elements of Love and Fortune are actually present in Cymbeline, there are a number of differences in the overall plots of the two.
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The play starts with a frame story of the Roman gods Venus and Fortune arguing over who is more powerful and asking Jupiter to settle it for them
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After summoning several ghosts to make his point, Jupiter sends them to mess with the lives of a couple, Hermione and Fidelia, and whoever has the greatest effect wins
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Most of the events in the play are caused by the two of them
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Hermione and Fidelia agree t0 secretly meet in the forest (with no ulterior motives)
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Fidelia doesn't make it because she gets captured and brought back to court by her brother Armenio
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The analogue to Belarius is named Bomelio and lives by himself, not with the king's kidnapped sons
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Hermione meets Bomelio while in the forest and discovers that he is his son, left behind at court when Bomelio was banished
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Eventually, Mercury intercedes to declare a stalemate and order Venus and Fortune to get along and fix the lives they're messed up