Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

read book* *Different edition

Pericles

by William Shakespeare, Stephen Orgel (Editor)

3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 · rating details · 1,602 ratings · 95 reviews

"I feel that I have spent half my career with one or another Pelican Shakespeare in my back pocket. Convenience, however, is the least important aspect of the new Pelican Shakespeare series. Here is an elegant and clear text for either the study or the rehearsal room, notes where you need them and the distinguished scholarship of the general editors, Stephen Orgel and A. R...more

Paperback, 160 pages

Published August 1st 2001 by Penguin Classics (first published 1609)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Feb 25, 2013 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Manny by: notgettingenough

Shelves: older-men-younger-women, life-is-shakespeare, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, trash, well-i-think-its-funny, why-not-call-it-poetry, parody-homage

Preface

Although superficially similar in form, most scholars do not consider that the Abridged Pericles belongs to the Madelinian Canon; the most plausible theory holds that it was partly or wholly composed by an imitator, possibly a Manfred Reiner (the spelling is uncertain), who lived in Geneva around 2013.

Pericles, Prince of Tyre (abridged version)

ANTIOCHUS: Here's a riddle: if you can't guess, I'm going to kill you. What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in th...more

15 likes · like · see review

Jul 16, 2011 Bram rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-bard, 2011

Pericles achieves a sense of scene-hopping adventure unequaled in Shakespeare’s repertoire, and as a perhaps inevitable corollary, it is also the play that most strains credulity, The Winter’s Tale notwithstanding. The dei ex machina arrive in the form of dream instructions, magical healings, and a pirate kidnapping. And yet, like Pericles with his Neptune-defying navigations, we can weather the plot. What is less easy to settle into is the variation in writing quality. While Shakespeare probabl...more

10 likes · like · see review

Feb 09, 2012 Buck rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: histrionics

Ben Jonson called this a 'moldy tale'. He was being charitable. It's rank Jacobean cheese.

The author, who wrote some fairly successful plays in the 1590s, never really lived up to his early promise. Sad.

7 likes · like · see review

Jul 01, 2007 Rory rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

a shakespeare play with gratuitous pirates and a prostitute who talks men into finding religion - what's not to love?

4 likes · like · see review

Dec 05, 2008 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, fraudio, historical-fiction, play-dramatisation

Pericles - by William Shakespeare - BBC Radio Full-Cast Drama - cheops
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Shakespeare's romantic adventure full of tyrants, incest, murder, knights, teenagers, pirates, brothels, sublime poetry, young love, a great hero and the goddess Diana.

A multicultural cast, world music and the poet Benjamin Zephaniah give this timeless tale a contemporary twist.

I am no viper, yet I feed
On mother's flesh which did me breed.
I sought a husband,...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 18, 2013 Marty rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: acquired, front-room-bookshelf

I was done with Shakespeare for the season, having had my fill with my book club’s own competition to read—as a team—all the works of Shakespeare before the other teams. Then we were getting down to the wire and only had a couple more plays to read, so I tossed aside any hesitance and figured that I could stomach one more for the good of the team. The only one left unassigned? You guessed it: Pericles.

I figured there was probably a reason some people didn’t jump to read this one, and the first p...more I was done with Shakespeare for the season, having had my fill with my book club’s own competition to read—as a team—all the works of Shakespeare before the other teams. Then we were getting down to the wire and only had a couple more plays to read, so I tossed aside any hesitance and figured that I could stomach one more for the good of the team. The only one left unassigned? You guessed it: Pericles.

I figured there was probably a reason some people didn’t jump to read this one, and the first part of Act I confirmed those thoughts. While it wasn’t boring, the content was enough to raise my eyebrows and make me wonder if I could plow through a whole play with this subject material as the main theme. To my surprise, that portion of the play quickly expired and the play went on a totally new and different storyline, with only the character of Pericles to hold it together. I enjoyed the next Act well enough before I found myself transported to yet another completely different situation and turn of events. While I was reluctant to leave a storyline I had just become attached to, each transition still found me intrigued. I followed along willingly, but guarded; you see, I anticipated several varying, but plausible, tragic endings for the story’s hero.

By the time I reached Act V, I found myself very pleased with the way things were turning out, which meant that I could come to grips with whatever devastating finale Shakespeare threw my way. To my surprise, turns out I had not anticipated every possible ending, and Shakespeare happened to choose the perfect one. Not only did it do justice to each well-developed character, but it surprisingly tied together every single, episodic act—including that wince-inducing first act—in a way that created a complete and satisfying narrative out of all of the play’s wandering storylines. Impressive, Bill!

Besides the careful weaving of storylines, I also noticed that Mr. Shakespeare used a lot of verse in this one, with plenty of rhyming to go along with it—which always makes for a more fun reading experience. Beyond all that, there were plenty of epigrams and other notable/quotable lines. All together, this makes me wonder how Pericles is not a more popular/well-regarded play. Probably the content of the first act and some of the more rough language/situations of the fourth act contribute to people hestitating to give a recommendation. Certainly, Pericles should only be read by a mature audience due to the contents of those two acts; but I’ve always felt that all Shakespeare should be saved for a more mature audience anyway, if only for a more clear understanding and enjoyment of the experience itself (but that is another rant for another time).

Perhaps, after all that, my best recommendation can be that in spite of the fact that I had not finished the play in time to help my team win the competition, I eagerly found a way to finish that very same day with as much enthusiasm (if not more) than if I had been reading to win. That is the power of Pericles, Prince of Tyre—so say the gods … and me.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 05, 2013 notgettingenough rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fiction, drama, humour, pre20th-century, poetry, better-written-than-harry-p

Written as a pair with Independent People

Reading Smiley on the back cover of Independent People:

‘I can’t imagine any greater delight than coming to Independent People for the first time’ Really? I mean, REALLY????? Better than sex? Chocolate icecream??? What sort of life has Smiley lived that makes her say that. I couldn’t help thinking of this exchange on the comments of my Harry Potter review:

Brook: "I hav read every single book 14 times and i read an average of 200 books per year and have ne...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 27, 2013 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some suggest that this play was not written by Shakespeare at all, while others believe that Shakespeare wrote at least part of this work (much of it likely written by George Wilkins). Authenticity aside, this play does not contain the best verse in the Shakespearean cannon. In fact, it seems rather strained at times. But what saves the work is not the writing, but the plot. This is a touching and tender romance, with bits of comedy (I find the dialogue in the two reunion scenes in Act V -- betw...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 05, 2013 Scott Smithson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The introduction to the Arden Shakespeare Pericles gives the reader the impression that this play, while immensely popular in the time of Shakespeare, fell off in popularity because of the disdain of critics. It was somehow baser, less literary. Nineteen century critics complained of its lack of realism, a literary crime without equal in the age of Flaubert. I disagree.

Pericles is a play about very transgressive subjects: incest and prostitution. And, while several Shakespeare plays take place...more The introduction to the Arden Shakespeare Pericles gives the reader the impression that this play, while immensely popular in the time of Shakespeare, fell off in popularity because of the disdain of critics. It was somehow baser, less literary. Nineteen century critics complained of its lack of realism, a literary crime without equal in the age of Flaubert. I disagree.

Pericles is a play about very transgressive subjects: incest and prostitution. And, while several Shakespeare plays take place in brothels (Measure for Measure) or have bawdy characters (Henry IV), none of them deal with incest. Certainly none of them mention it outright as bluntly as Pericles. And, as far as the prostitution goes, I can’t think of a single scene in Shakespeare where the virginity of the daughter of a king is auctioned off. (unsuccessfully, I might add) It’s a guess that both these topics were just a little too much for audiences of the last couple centuries. Just a guess, yes, but I think a good one.

In the 21st century I think Pericles suffers a different problem: it is impolitic. We are much less afraid to discuss topics like incest and prostitution. Watching Oprah or Lifetime, it would even seem that no one is quite damaged enough without having been the victim of one or the other. It is unthinkable to suggest that any improper relationship between a father and a daughter is anything but the unequivocal fault of a subhuman father. I admit to feeling that way myself. I cheer for any woman who overcomes the oppression of the evils of male dominance. But Pericles isn’t that simple. Pericles is ambivalent. Like all of Shakespeare, Pericles is complicated.
To start off, it’s important to remember that Pericles is a fairy tale. There is nothing realistic about the story: valiant prince visits country to find a wife. To win wife prince must solve a riddle. Prince solves riddle and wins princess. But this is where things go wrong. Pericles guesses the riddle and to his horror he guesses that it is a confession that the princess and the king are committing incest. To complicate things, Shakespeare makes it clear that this is not a victimizer-victim relationship. It is consensual. (Not that this would matter to Elizabethan audiences, where the woman was often blamed for being the seducer). Pericles rejects the marriage offer, wisely. He decides not to answer the riddle at all and disappears from the court.

Then the fairy tale resumes: the prince escapes treachery. The evil king Antiochus sends an assassin after the prince. The prince travels to places far and wide to escape the danger. He visits a starving land and brings food. He washes up on shore where there is a tournament to win yet another princess. Long, lost armor magically washes up on shore so the prince can compete. He, of course, wins. He marries the princess, falls in love, baby is born. Then the evil witch poisons the queen. The baby is born, but the queen is dead. The prince is sad. The daughter is raised away from home. When the daughter is old enough, the evil witch queen tries to kill her. But in the nick of time she is kidnapped by pirates who sell her to a brothel where her virginity is auctioned off to the highest bidder.

At the same time the good queen, who was not really dead, washes up on shore and is revived magically and goes into a monastery to worship Diana, the goddess of chastity. One coincidence leads to another and everyone is reunited, married to good people, made kings and queens and live happily ever after.

But, coming back to the brothel: Marina, the daughter of Pericles, refuses to participate. She attempts to convert the bawdy bad boys into a life of chastity. She actually preaches. And, she is successful. We should all cheer her victory for womanhood and purity. Except that’s the problem. She successfully defends the values of chastity and purity, two topics that explicitly represent the oppression of women in the 21st century. In modern times, if a woman is to be liberated, she must not buy into the concept that the patriarchal ideals of virginity be anything but denigrated.

We understand the symbol of purity, but in the 21st century, a successful Marina would behave more like Angelina Jolie than Mother Theresa. She should be “kicking butt”. She should be enforcing the chastity of the men a la Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon where the strongest character is, in fact, the woman warrior. Pericles should discover Marina in the brothel with her boot on one man’s face, and the other man tied to a chair. “Say my name, bitch!” But, in the 21st Century, the bitch is not the woman. Things have changed. We want our women to be heroes.

In short, Antiochus' daughter is not enough of a victim. Marina, the female hero is too much of one.

Is this a good thing? I, for one, am glad to be living in times where we treat woman as human beings. I am proud that candidates for Senate who use the term “legitimate rape” fail to win in a most spectacular way. But, I also think that looking at art from the past serves to teach us about today. Just like Merchant of Venice can teach us that anti-Semitism is a great evil, it also teaches us that human beings are not good just because they are victims. Shylock is a bad man. Similarly, Pericles can teach us that not all victims of crimes are completely deserving of pity. It also teaches us that we are lucky to be living in the times we live.

So, to me it seems that both incest and purity are ambivalent in Pericles. In previous centuries, the play treats them too frankly to be discussed. In modern times, the frankness isn’t a problem as much as the depiction of these topics contradicts our ideas of oppression and resistance. It is because of this kind of ambivalence that I think Shakespeare deserves the pedestal on which he sits. His characters are good and evil, complex and simple, victims and participants. Just like real life, nothing in Shakespeare is black or white.
(less)

like · see review

Feb 28, 2012 Ben Dutton rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pericles, Prince of Tyre is one of William Shakespeare’s last plays. Dated to around 1607 or 1608, the play tells the story of Pericles, a prince, who over the course of the play is married, loses his wife and daughter, only to be reunited with them many years later. It also features pirates, prostitutes, incest and a princess forced prostitute who converts men to religion: everything is in this is so modern, and yet so completely of another world that it is hard to believe it is old as it is.

Qu...more Pericles, Prince of Tyre is one of William Shakespeare’s last plays. Dated to around 1607 or 1608, the play tells the story of Pericles, a prince, who over the course of the play is married, loses his wife and daughter, only to be reunited with them many years later. It also features pirates, prostitutes, incest and a princess forced prostitute who converts men to religion: everything is in this is so modern, and yet so completely of another world that it is hard to believe it is old as it is.

Questions of authorship plague the work – it was not included in the First Folio, but was in later editions. Modern scholarship suggests George Wilkins wrote the first two acts and that Shakespeare wrote the remainder. A casual reading, without much knowledge of these textual debates, immediately suggest such a possible theory: the first two acts are generally inferior to the latter acts, and share two different stories. Pericles, then, comes across a hodgepodge: two ideas perhaps joined in a belief they improve one another, though of course they do not. This is not to say that Pericles is a bad play: there is much to enjoy here – both for the groundlings and the gentry – with some bawdy humour, comic exchanges, and an adventure plot with twists and turns that might not be out of place in a modern Hollywood adventure film. Then there is Gower, the narrator of this tale, who spells out what is to happen but has no impact upon the events: this figure seems, from my reading of Shakespeare so far, rather unusual. Perhaps he is risen from George Wilkins’ imagination, and Shakespeare just continued to use him, but he seems almost superfluous, and yet he does get some grand lines, and ties the threads of the story up into a neat little bow at the end. I’m still unsure whether Gower is necessary or not.

There are other minor flaws here: it is difficult to believe that Marina would keep her virginity for so long in such a raucous, bawdy whorehouse. That she wins men over with her eloquent words is perhaps a little more credible, but only marginally so, and still remains on the side of disbelief. At least until you begin to consider Pericles’ moral message: if you live a virtuous life, you will gain rewards in life. If you live unvirtuously, you will suffer – much as the ruffians in this narrative do. So a moral play, as well as a bawdy and adventurous one =- and it is just these juxtapositions that we go to Shakespeare for, and why he remains our greatest playwright (even if he didn’t really write all of this one…)(less)

1 like · like · see review

Feb 24, 2009 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: drama

Thanks to the miracle of scenery, this Shakespeare play (I use the term loosely, as it seems he only wrote about the first nine scenes) is easily the most ridiculous of his works. It contains most of the features that mark his romance period: tragic coincidence, daring rescues, magical intervention and poignant reunions.

The main difference here being, this play acts a lot like a travelogue. Since the artists of Shakespeare's time were starting to use sets to define location, this play makes full...more

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 27, 2010 Steve rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: shakespeare, plays

Fun, but essentially a failure. The first two Acts are marvelous [Act I is an interesting meditation on power and the will thereto: Kings are earth's gods; in vice their law's
their will;
And if Jove stray, who dares say Jove doth ill?" Paging Dr. Nietzsche.]

and worthy of the Bard. I'm told by some that he wrote the first two; I'm told by others that those are the ones he didn't write. Basically, we don't know who wrote what. After that it just gets stupider every page.

As you might have suspected...more

like · see review

Meowmers McCatface I SOMETIMES THINK THE REVIEWS POSTED HERE CAN BE SORTED INTO TWO CATEGORIES: WE HAVE THE MOUTH-BREATHERS, THE SCHOOL-CHILDREN, THE APPALLED MOTHERS AN...more
updated Apr 04, 2013 01:42pm

Feb 02, 2012 Bill Kerwin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 16th-17th-c-brit, stuart-drama

The first half (maybe three-fifths) of "Pericles" contains the worst writing found in any Shakespeare play. Fortunately for Shakespeare's reputation, he didn't write it: some hack--probably the ephemeral George Wilkins--is responsible instead. Much of the verse of the first three acts is difficult, but not in the way late Shakespeare is often difficult (an extraordinary concentration and richness of language). but because it is poorly constructed (or reported) and makes little or no sense, parti...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 27, 2007 Caitlin Costello rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

an exotic story that takes place in the East and on the water. Periciles loses his wife and daughter, though he is reunited with them at the end. His daughter is raised by a Dutchess who plots to kill her. The murderer does not take pity on her but she is saved from the murder, only to be kidnapped by pirates. its an adventerous tale and quite odd for Shakespeare.

1 like · like · see review

Apr 06, 2012 Caris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, shakespeare

Oh, Pericles, you goofy fuck of a play.

If Titus Andronicus was Shakespeare’s Hellraiser, Pericles is his Hellraiser III: a shitty, canonically insulting pseudo-comedy that likely had no input whatsoever from Clive Barker...er...I mean, William Shakespeare. It was as if its creator(s) started with a solid concept, but then decided it didn’t have enough Hollywood substance and imbued it with elements of tragedy, drama, comedy, and romance, with the understanding that more is always better.

The resu...more Oh, Pericles, you goofy fuck of a play.

If Titus Andronicus was Shakespeare’s Hellraiser, Pericles is his Hellraiser III: a shitty, canonically insulting pseudo-comedy that likely had no input whatsoever from Clive Barker...er...I mean, William Shakespeare. It was as if its creator(s) started with a solid concept, but then decided it didn’t have enough Hollywood substance and imbued it with elements of tragedy, drama, comedy, and romance, with the understanding that more is always better.

The resulting work is a fucking mess, to say the least. We start Pericles’ adventure off with his quest to find a lady. The lady he chooses is (view spoiler). Pericles realizes this, throws up in his mouth a little, and flees. Daddy (view spoiler) and chases after Pericles, eager to stop him before he can tell the world of his moral degeneracy.

So Pericles runs away, hoping to not die at the hands of Antiochus, the (view spoiler).

Once you add some strange sing-song rhyme, goofy alliteration, a refusal to adhere to any kind of structure, and a virtual lack of theme to that plot, you have Pericles, one of the most successful plays of Shakespeare’s lifetime. Why the success you ask? I’d reckon it has to do with the fact that people are dumb and have been dumb for a very long time. I enjoyed the play, but, for the sake of objectivity, it’s fucking stupid. (less)

20 likes · like · see review

Apr 18, 2013 Lindsay Williams rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read Pericles to prep myself for my company's production of it this opening weekend. I think parts of it will come across beautifully on stage, but what a strange play! I'm all for "suspension of disbelief," but still ... the plot is a bit of a mish-mash and difficult to credit. It's almost as though Shakespeare (and other authors, since supposedly this play is not his work alone) was simply wondering just how much he could throw at one man. A discovery of an incestuous king that threatens Per...more

like · see review

Sep 04, 2012 Trelesa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A twisted beginning - shakespeare definitely did not shy away from touchy subjects. The characters motives and actions were believable and logical. Some Shakespeare plays seem to have such jumps in the characters desires or motives that it is not really believable (they fall in love instantly, they unquestioningly believe a lie about their wife and kill her, at an enemy's advice kill their daughter immediately during dinner....). Yes, there were still some pretty unbelievable actions, but the ch...more

like · see review

Feb 25, 2012 Ensiform rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Pericles, prince of Athens, incurs the wrath of Antiochus when he susses out the great king’s incest. He flees, is shipwrecked, wins a princess through feats of arms and chivalry, loses his wife in childbirth, hears his daughter is killed, and then finds everyone again. I first read this way, way back in high school. Although it’s not one of Shakespeare’s finest, it’s one of my favorites. Perhaps I like the episodic plot; Pericles’ fortunes go up and down, mostly though no virtue or failing on h...more

like · see review

Jul 07, 2012 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

There are hints of Greek tradition in Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Pericles wanders in his own odyssey and Euripidean pathos soaks everything. At least until the end. Pericles dries out to a stiff end. The good are rewarded and the bad punished. The trials endured by Pericles and his family lead to reward in very unGreek-like form. Then again, this is not a Greek tragedy nor an attempt to be one. It is action and endurance. It is drama. Uncomplicated and satisfying in that it’s a story which ends w...more

like · see review

Nov 20, 2009 Spencer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really like Shakespeare. He knows a lot about human nature. I gave it three stars because it seems that I always give four stars, but this one did not seem terribly compelling. Nevertheless, I highly recommend it. It may get you thinking about themes such as fate, jealousy, virtue, nobility, grief/sorrow, life, etc. It's a book you're glad you read after you read it, but it's not really a page turner per se, yet it seems that it is more timeless.

It seemed to be a lot like A Winter's Tale, but...more

like · see review

Mar 25, 2007 Jen rated it 1 of 5 stars

tis a silly play.

1 like · like · see review

Oct 13, 2012 Kelsey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, shakespeare

I really enjoyed this play, even though I think it's pretty ridiculous. I would love to see it staged. The part that I find ridiculous is the ending, where three people are re-united in a very convenient and unlikely way. (For "Prison Break" fans, it's like the first episode of season four, when maybe four of the ex-cons happen to get arrested for various totally unrelated crimes in different parts of the country, all within ten minutes and are all brought to the same place. I love "Prison Break...more

like · see review

Feb 13, 2011 Ibis3 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of Shakespeare

Shelves: siy15, canonical, classic, historical, plays, shakespeare, seventeenth-century, lebanon, turkey, greece, libya, 2011, voyage

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I did enjoy this play with all of its folktale-like motifs and duplications. But at the core, the thing doesn't really make sense. Apply a bit of reason to any part of it and the structure falls apart like a candidate for Holmes on Homes. Why does Antiochus make the answer to the riddle something he doesn't want anyone to know? Why doesn't he kill Pericles right away when he refuses to answer (i.e. doesn't he lose anyway)? When Thaisa turns up alive why doesn't she just get Cerimon to send a mes...more I did enjoy this play with all of its folktale-like motifs and duplications. But at the core, the thing doesn't really make sense. Apply a bit of reason to any part of it and the structure falls apart like a candidate for Holmes on Homes. Why does Antiochus make the answer to the riddle something he doesn't want anyone to know? Why doesn't he kill Pericles right away when he refuses to answer (i.e. doesn't he lose anyway)? When Thaisa turns up alive why doesn't she just get Cerimon to send a message to Tyre saying she's okay and ask Pericles to come and get her? Why does he leave Marina with Cleon for fourteen years and never visit her in all that time? If the Pandar and Bawd have such a difficult time with Marina's persuasive tongue, why don't they just gag her...or threaten to cut it out if she speaks again to a customer? Presumably,

And then there's the unconvincing reactions from Pericles: in love with Antiochus's daughter but when he finds out about the incest he abandons her rather than trying to save her. He hasn't seen Marina since she was an infant but when he finds out about her death, he's devastated? As far as I know, it's not like he can't just make another one.

The morality in the play is a bit murky too: Antiochus and his daughter are both punished by the Gods, but she was clearly a victim. Dionyza is the one who orders Marina's murder but Cleon is punished just as harshly though all he did was refrain from punishing his wife for it (and their innocent daughter gets it too). Lysimachus gets Marina because he treated her "honourably" but in fact he had been perfectly prepared to avail himself of Pandar & Bawd's merchandise and deflower her if she hadn't talked her way out of it--obviously not his first time using their girls either.

This is no story of Job nor of Christian redemption due to unwavering faith. Pericles demonstrates Pagan stoicism and the punishments and rewards are those handed out by fickle Pagan Gods.

Despite the structural flaws, this was a very fun play to read and it would be great to see it staged. 9/10.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 20, 2010 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In the comic play The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) the characters decide that the comedies of the Shakespeare would be best covered by combining them into one summary. The end result is a mash-up of the various plot devices strung together by a loosely coherent plot. One cannot help but think that had these devices been assembled differently, the resulting jumble might well have resulted in a recitation of Pericles. After all, at first glance, Pericles appears to be assemble...more In the comic play The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) the characters decide that the comedies of the Shakespeare would be best covered by combining them into one summary. The end result is a mash-up of the various plot devices strung together by a loosely coherent plot. One cannot help but think that had these devices been assembled differently, the resulting jumble might well have resulted in a recitation of Pericles. After all, at first glance, Pericles appears to be assembled from the left over ingredients of previous plays: the riddle to win the bride from Merchant of Venice, the shipwreck from Twelfth Night and The Tempest, and the reunion with the spouse thought previously dead from The Winter’s Tale.
Despite multiple familiar elements, Pericles contains components unique to the Shakespearean canon, including the consistent narration of the original author, John Gower, and the use of various dumb shows. Even the structure of play is unique. Each event seems to move from to the next with little elaboration. Its scope is that of a history play. Nearly every scene contains an event or twist that changes the direction of the plot. The result of this is an inability for the audience to see where the story is actually going.
Given the amount of events, twists, setting changes and characters, something needs to be sacrificed and that, unfortunately, is character development. When relating the events of the play to a friend of mine, I was asked to describe Pericles. I suddenly found myself at a loss. Were it requested that I attempt encapsulate Macbeth, Orsino, or Leontes into sound bite, I could do so, but for Pericles I had nothing to say.
I eventually answered my friend by describing Pericles as an embodiment of purity and virtue. He seems to have more in common with the Arthurian romantic figures like Erec from Erec and Enide or Gawain from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight than any of they typical Shakespearean protagonists. The only sort of “tragic mistake” he makes is trusting a midwife. Because of this it almost seems that his suffering is without meaning. He is truly a victim of circumstance, more “Fortune’s fool” than Romeo.
The other troubling thing is that Shakespeare never seems, aside from this instance, to buy into the all-virtuous protagonist. Even characters consistently glorified, such as Julius Caesar, Henry V and the entire cast of Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare proves willing to humanize and show their armor for all its tarnish. Why then does Pericles get off so easily?
I can’t help but think that the solutions to all these troubling aspects might lie in the genre itself. Most detractors of this play find it lacking after comparing it to Shakespeare’s greater body of work, but this is most likely a disservice. Pericles should not be compared to Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night or Coriolanus; it should be compared to the Tragicomedies of Shakespeare's peers. Some of the aspects that seemed troubling in Pericles, such as the use of deus ex machina and the substitution of theatricality for realism, are common features of the genre.
Soon I'll be directing Pericles for the Prenzie Players in Rock Island, Il., so I look forward to attempting to figue out this text through performance.(less)

like · see review

Apr 08, 2009 Nicholas Whyte added it · review of another edition

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1206597.html[return][return]Pericles is without doubt a very silly play, probably Shakespeare's silliest (and the silly bits are shared evenly between the bits he wrote and the bits by brothel-keeper and part-time playwright George Wilkins). But if you just read the script, either on your own or without preparation among a bunch of friends, you miss out on the tremendous possibilities of performance by a cast who are just having fun with the absurdity of it: and it'...more

like · see review

Oct 05, 2007 Núria rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2006, prestados, literatura-en-ingles, teatro, edad-moderna, 1-nunca-mas

Otra de las obras "problemáticas" de Shakespeare. Yo no lo sabía al principio, la cogí esperando que fuera una tragedia de las típicas, pero antes de terminar al primer acto ya sabía yo que allí olía a chamusquina. Y una vez he terminado, me leo el prólogo (siempre después, nunca antes), y me cuentan de que si hay trozos (actos enteros, de hecho) que probablemente no escribió Shakespeare y que está muy corrompida y blablabla rollorollo. Y se nota, la verdad. Es muy rara, porque es una historia d...more Otra de las obras "problemáticas" de Shakespeare. Yo no lo sabía al principio, la cogí esperando que fuera una tragedia de las típicas, pero antes de terminar al primer acto ya sabía yo que allí olía a chamusquina. Y una vez he terminado, me leo el prólogo (siempre después, nunca antes), y me cuentan de que si hay trozos (actos enteros, de hecho) que probablemente no escribió Shakespeare y que está muy corrompida y blablabla rollorollo. Y se nota, la verdad. Es muy rara, porque es una historia de aventuras totalmente inverosímiles: hay un montón de viajes, un par de naufragios, tiranos muy perversos, personajes que pasan por muertos pero que luego resulta que no lo están, y una resurrección (¡toma ya!). Lo de la resurrección es especialmente divertido, porque le preguntan al médico que la ha obrado cómo se lo ha hecho, y él dice "Vamos a comer y luego os lo explico", y ¡tachán! luego cae el telón. Y al final incluso sale el Deus ex machina, pero no en sentido "truco forzado e inverosímil para salir del fregado" sino en sentido literal: la diosa Diana baja de las alturas y le cuenta algo al protagonista que le soluciona la papeleta (a él y al autor, porque sino no había forma de desliar el lío).

Supongo que a quién le gustan las historias de aventuras le podrá gustar, porque pasan un montón de cosas y la acción es frenética. Pero por norma general yo leo los libros por los personajes, no por la acción, y aquí o todos los personajes son buenos-buenísimos o malos-malísimos. Especialmente ridículo es el de la hija de Pericles, que de tan pura y tan casta que es convierte a todos los malos degenerados a la pureza y la castidad. Y viendo lo verde que estoy poniendo la obrita os preguntaréis si tiene algo bueno. Pues lo único bueno que tiene es que a veces te parece que estás leyendo crack y puedes disfrutar del placer anticipatorio de preguntarte "¿A ver con qué barrabasada nos saldrá ahora?" La última obra de Shakespeare que me leí, 'Timón de Atenas', también era "problemática" en el sentido "puede que fuera sólo un borrador que se tenía que retocar", y tenía muchos defectos, pero al menos era divertida, tenía algo de humor, algunos personajes que te caían bien y voluntad de ser una tragedia. En cambio, 'Pericles', para mí, está al lado de 'Enrique V' como "obras más aburridas de Shakespeare". Pero esto no quiere decir, niños, que tengáis que dejar nunca de leer a Shakespeare.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jun 15, 2012 Breedeen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So, a couple of my friends have a goal to read all of Shakespeare's plays. They asked me if I wanted to join them. I committed to one night, and suggested we read this play since the Berkeley Rep will be performing it next season.

In my opinion, this was not one of Shakespeare's better plays (and according to most accounts, it was only half written by WS). There were more than the usual number of shipwrecks, and a rather sudden appearance of pirates.

It made for a fun evening's diversion, though...more

like · see review

Jul 23, 2009 Julie added it

Shelves: shakespeare

This adventure on the high seas definitely reads more like The Odyssey than the typical Shakespeare play. It also has some Job-like qualities, unfolding tragedy after tragedy until the very end, when finally happiness wins the day.

I can't forget to mention that THIS PLAY IS CRAZY! It bounces between six countries, and every possible convention is thrown in along the way: incest! ship wreck! murderous plot (foiled, of course)! dead wife comes back to life! prostitution! PIRATES!!

A fun, if a litt...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 05, 2011 Nazifa Islam rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays

Thoroughly mediocre, with a tendency toward simply being bad. The way the play is set up - each act is essentially one episode in the journeys of Pericles, and is preceded by a short introduction by a narrator - feels like a cop out from actually developing a flowing narrative. The language isn't particularly impressive or clever, none of the characters are very likable or well drawn, and plot points are ridiculous even by Shakespearean standards; and having read a multitude of Shakespeare's pla...more

like · see review

Jun 07, 2012 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not quite sure where Shakespeare was going with this one. The plot is totally disjointed and random - it kind of feels like he was trying to cram every possible plot device into one play. The characters lack the depth and realism that I'm used to finding in Shakespeare's plays. I don't know. It was okay, but it has a lot of flaws and I had trouble getting into it.

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (161)

More editions...

Genres

Plays

104 users

Classics

74 users

Drama

57 users

Literature

16 users

Plays > Theatre

9 users

Literature > 17th Century

7 users

Poetry

6 users

European Literature > British Literature

5 users

Literature > English Literature

4 users

Academic > College

4 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been tr...more William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. Scholars believe that he died on his fifty-second birthday, coinciding with St George’s Day. It is an interesting idea that English writer is so closely identified with the Patron Saint of England!

At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest examples in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime, and in 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's.

Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the nineteenth century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians hero-worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry". In the twentieth century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are consistently performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

According to historians, Shakespeare write 37 plays and 154 sonnets throughout the span of his life. Shakespeare's writing average was 1.5 plays a year since he first started writing in 1589. There have been plays and sonnets contributed to Shakespeare that were not authentically written by the great master of language and literature.
(less)

More about William Shakespeare...

Books by William Shakespeare

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Pericles

6 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Pericles

“For death remembered should be like a mirror,
Who tells us life’s but breath, to trust it error.” — 4 people liked it

“Those palates who, not yet two summers younger, must have inventions to delight the taste, would now be glad of bread, and beg for it.” — 2 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Pericles
avg rating	preview: Pericles Goodreads rating: 3.36 (1602 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/422874.Pericles?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348233534l/422874.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/422874.Pericles?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Pericles by William Shakespeare[/url]

Pericles

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website