The Elizabethan Imogen 7
then the right glittering luster, and glorious brightnes of a
victorious & triumphant soule.”2®
Upon Posthumus’ arrival in Italy, we Ieam from the
Frenchman that Posthumus has barely escaped a duel in
France over the virtues of Imogen, whom he has praised for
exceeding the ladies of France in fairness, virtuousness, wis-
dom, chastity, and faithfulness. Posthumus now insists that
his wife is superior for these same qualities to the ladies of
Italy.27 And these qualities were honored by most Eliza-
bethan writers as well; in Robert Greene’s Francescos For-
tunes, we Ieam that “a woman that is faire and vertuous
maketh her husband a ioyfull man; . . . A woman that is of
silent tongue, shamfast in countenance, sober in behauiour,
and honest in condition, adorned with vertuous qualities cor-
respondent, is Uke a goodly pleasant flower deckt with the
colours of all the flowers of the garden.”28
Throughout the play, moreover, we have evidence that
Posthumus’ estimate of Imogen is correct: on numerous oc-
casions her beauty is acclaimed; we know her to be virtuous,
chaste, and faithful, for even Iachimo, that epitome of Italian
vice, sees Imogen as a paragon of womanhood, when at the
end of the play he calls her “the temple of virtue”;29 and we
feel that her choice of Posthumus and her distrust of the
Queen are sufficient proofs of her wisdom.
Imogen, however, has many other requisite virtues of the
perfect wife. For example, she says to Cloten, ‘but that you
shall not say I yield being silent, I would not speak”; and
again, T am much sorry, sir, you put me to forget a lady’s
manners, by being so verbal.”30 Imogen shows here that she
has been properly reared to know that “silence becommeth
a woman,”31 for, as Brathwait advises the young man in his
choice of a wife, “Chuse thou thy wife (my Sonne) ... silent,
yet knows when and where it’s fit to speak.”32