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Cymbeline, King of Britain Act 1, Scene 3 Summary

Read the full text of Cymbeline Act 1 Scene 3 with a side-by-side translation HERE.


  • Cloten is certain he would have defeated Posthumus in a fight. At least that's what he tells a couple of lords hangin' in the public square.
  • Of course, of course, the lords tell him. You'd destroy him and turn him into a carcass.
  • But then the lords tell us what they really think. One lord says Cloten's so much a fool you couldn't even measure his foolishness on the ground. Oh, snap.
  • When Cloten says someone would have been hurt in the fight, the lord tells us it doesn't hurt when asses fall. Yep, he's calling Cloten an ass.
  • Luckily, Cloten is none the wiser about all of these snarls and jokes behind his back. That only makes us think he's all the more foolish.