Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, we have all heard of, but Fidele? Who's he? Well, he's in the Shakespeare play Cymbeline, and his name suggests that we are to read him as an aptronym, that is, aptly named. Like Clown or Fool or Prince, Fidele is self-evidently what he seems, faithful. The name derives from the Italian, Fedele, meaning “observant,” “faithful,” or “devoted”; the Italian is, in turn, based on the Latin, Fidelis, meaning “of the faith.” We might, therefore, say that the word carries other languages, other meanings within, and that many of those meanings clash with each other. To be “observant” is not at all the same as being “faithful” or “devoted.” To be “observant” is to follow the rules, but an outward display of compliance is not the same as inner faith, no more than placing a hand over your heart during the playing of the American anthem makes you a better or more patriotic American.

In Cymbeline, however, we have an added twist: Fidele, the seeming avatar of faithfulness, serves the Romans but only does so after deserting the Britons. He is, therefore, a traitor, unfaithful to king and country. That Fidele is also a member of the British royal family, the offspring of King Cymbeline, only deepens our sense of Fidele's infidelity. But a bigger betrayal is about to be revealed: it turns out that Fidele isn't a he at all, rather he is a she. And her name isn't Fidele but Innogen. As such, she has not only been unfaithful to her family and her country, she has also betrayed her sex.

So what were women's roles on the Shakespearean stage? Well, like everything in Shakespeare, it's complicated. It was the law in Shakespeare's day that professional theatrical companies had to use boy actors to play female roles.