The Winter's Tale (Modern Library Classics)

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The Winter's Tale (Modern Library Classics)

by William Shakespeare, Jonathan Bate (Editor), Eric Rasmussen (Goodreads Author) (Editor)

3.65 · rating details · 5,764 ratings · 231 reviews

One of the last plays Shakespeare penned on his own, The Winter’s Tale is a transcendent work of death and rebirth, exploring irrational sexual jealousy, the redemptive world of nature, and the magical power of art.

Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today’s most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, this Modern Library series incorpo...more

Paperback, 240 pages

Published August 4th 2009 by Modern Library (first published 1609)

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Oct 22, 2008

Bill Kerwin rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 16th-17th-c-brit

A masterpiece, demonstrating how grace redeems and love restores over time. This play features one of Shakespeare's most interesting psychological studies (Leontes) and two of his most charming heroines (Hermione and Perdita). Shakespeare's art has deepened to the point where he can deliberately choose an outrageously improbable denouement and present it in a way that makes his play more moving and richer symbolically than it would have been with a more probable conclusion.

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Oct 12, 2007

Chris rated it

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One of Shakespeare's last four, this usually gets filed under Romance in the more modern anthologies, but you could just as easily file it under fustercluck. There's an underlying logic to this bifurcated tale, but I'm not sure I buy it. It's a sharply divided tragi-comedy. The first three acts are a compressed tragedy of Leontes, who puts the insane in insanely jealous. It's hurried, and despite hints that Leontes' masculine insecurities have festered for years, the violence of his reaction...more

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Feb 06, 2007

Keith Mukai rated it

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Written near the very end of Shakespeare's run, this is a mature work from a mature writer. It has elements that are oddly light and somewhat comical but it's not quite a comedy. It's not a tragedy either. I think it's more a fairy tale about forgiveness late in life and magically being granted a second chance. This is wish-fulfillment from a writer who must have experienced a lot of personal pain.

It's also the most heartfelt and insightful depiction of love and relationships that I'...more

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Dec 31, 2009

Laurele rated it

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Shelves: arkangel-shakespeare-complete, books-read-in-2009

This is one of my favorite Shakespearean plays. It's like a fairy tale that is pagan in setting but Christian in its themes, which include guilt, repentance, redemption, resurrection, forgiveness, grace,and love. There are, in a sense, two plays here, divided by the passage of time. The first play ends with the stage note, "Exit, pursued by a bear." This time through, I listened to the audio production from my Arkangel Complete Shakespeare set. An added benefit of this audio--Ciaran Hi...more

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Jan 31, 2008

Holly rated it

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Shelves: top-shelf, holly-recommends

I remember listening to my 12th grade english teacher explain why he didn't like the book. It has too much, he said. The romance and the lost child and the political intrigue and the clown and magic. But that's exactly why I love it: the giant jumble of everything Shakespeare loved to explore. I love the surprisingly strong and well-developed female characters. I love the story and the wild adventures that happen, but which are all grounded in an emotional story about love, family and regre...more

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Oct 21, 2011

Trevor rated it

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Shelves: literature, poetry

You might be forgiven for thinking that the most ‘fairy-tale’ like of Shakespeare’s plays is A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream. I mean, there are fairies and sprites and crazy things like that running about in it. But in some ways this play is even more like a fairy-tale. The play also starts off a bit like Othello – where jealousy inspires acts of vengeance, even though the cause of the jealousy is baseless and the product of a mind fevered by suspicion. The first half of the play ends pretty much...moreYou might be forgiven for thinking that the most ‘fairy-tale’ like of Shakespeare’s plays is A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream. I mean, there are fairies and sprites and crazy things like that running about in it. But in some ways this play is even more like a fairy-tale. The play also starts off a bit like Othello – where jealousy inspires acts of vengeance, even though the cause of the jealousy is baseless and the product of a mind fevered by suspicion. The first half of the play ends pretty much were Othello ends, with a man realising he has destroyed his entire life by his willingness to believe and has killed all those who love him by his irrational revenges caused by his jealous rage. And, of course, a guy gets eaten by a bear and there is a ship wreck.

The fairy-tale elements really come to the fore in part two of this play – because this really is a play in two parts. The driving force of the second part is that the daughter of the king who was left to be exposed and die is, in fact, brought up by a simple farmer. This is another of those stories where nature triumphs over nurture. The unknown princess catches the eye of a prince who falls helplessly in love with her. This causes some problems with the prince’s father and so prince and farmer’s daughter (really a princess – you know the score) elope.

The play ends with a curious retelling of Ovid’s Pygmalion story – with a statue literally coming back to life. This being a comedy everything works out in the end – you can generally tell the difference between one of Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies by what happens to the characters at the end, if they all die, it was a tragedy, if they all get married, it was a comedy. Although the king had clearly repented his jealousy and forgiveness is next to holiness and all that – I’m not sure I could have as willingly forgiven him as is done at the end of this play. He had still been the cause of the death of a son and had separated mother and daughter for decades. But this is theatre, not life, I guess.

This is a bizarre little play in many ways, but also a bit of a favourite – it does feel a little ‘bitsy’ at times and a bit like three quite different plays slammed together, and it is also a little hard to suspend disbelief right at the end, but there are parts of this play that are jaw-droppingly good.
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Oct 02, 2011

Elizabeth rated it

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One of Shakespeare's lesser known stories, it was on a recommended list of books about midlife crisis! I listened to it and got some semblance of the meaning. Then I watched the play. In my humble opinion, the ending is absolutely absurd and the king's ability to get a second chance is ridiculous. This was considered a comedy because of a lighthearted charlatan in the latter part of the play. I didn't find any humor in it. And the ending is considered "happy". All I can say is that the...more

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Aug 26, 2011

Molly rated it

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I was totally unfamiliar with this Shakespeare play until this summer and was pleasantly surprised by it.

Some thoughts on Leontes: “Engendering the Narrative Act” by Mary Lamb (another criticism read for grad school) got me thinking about the question what must be forgotten to move forward? Lamb writes that boys must forget their connection with the feminine to become men but deems this separation “potentially traumatic” (533). I’m curious now about the function of Leontes’ memory...moreI was totally unfamiliar with this Shakespeare play until this summer and was pleasantly surprised by it.

Some thoughts on Leontes: “Engendering the Narrative Act” by Mary Lamb (another criticism read for grad school) got me thinking about the question what must be forgotten to move forward? Lamb writes that boys must forget their connection with the feminine to become men but deems this separation “potentially traumatic” (533). I’m curious now about the function of Leontes’ memory in the play. He seems to be a King who lives a little too much in the past. He obviously has an intense (strange?) attachment to a childhood friend in Polixenes. And he shares a clear memory of himself in the feminine sphere: “Of my boy’s face, me thoughts I did recoil/ Twenty-three years, and saw myself unbreeched” (1.2.154-155). Could this strong connection to the female-dominated world of his past play into Leontes’ excessive display of masculinity? Between Acts One and Two, he decides Hermione is cheating, openly shames her, rips Mamillius away from his mother, sends his wife to prison, and requests that a newborn be “instantly consumed with fire” (2.3.133). Is Leontes just enraged by jealousy or is he being overly male in an effort to cover up the femaleness he can’t quite repress on his own?

In the end, I found my fingers crossed for Florizel and Perdita. "Please make it!" I kept chanting to myself. But after reading six of Shakespeare's later plays this summer, will they/ can they end up happy? I was so glad about their relationship as I read the play-- thinking that these guys are one couple that could actually WORK in one of Shakespeare's later plays. Florizel promises to stand by Perdita when his father denies him. He says some pretty amazing lines to her (i.e. "For I cannot be/ Mine own, nor anything to any, if/ I be not thine" (4.4.43-4). She isn't scared to share her opinion with him. Perdita knows that he is from a higher class. ETC. But I'm not so sure that Florizel's not just another Leontes (or Polixenes?) in the making.

Perdita insists that Florizel is "vilely bound up" in costume, and his rationale is that "the gods themselves,/... have taken/ the shape of beasts... Their transformations/ were never for a piece of beauty rarer" (4.4.22, 25-32ish). On my own, I thought this was Florizel's silly rationale to be with the woman he loves-- and perhaps flattering himself a bit in the process. I did not realize until now that the disguises of the gods he calls upon-- Jupiter, Neptune and Apollo-- don't work out so well for the females involved. Eeek!

So when Florizel says, "From my succession wipe me, father; I/ Am heir to my affection," is he not being honest about his love for Perdita?" should we trust that he will be good to her? (4.4.460-1) Or am I just the one wooed by his loving sentiments? Is there a problem that Florizel can't be "[his] own" without Perdita-- (sounds a little like Helen to me...)? The more I think about it, Florizel's feminine-like language probably isn't pointing him in a good direction either. Should we be worried that he is so quick to abandon his own past to be with a woman? Upon initial examination, Florizel and Perdia's relationship seemed good, but now I'm not so sure... (less)

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Apr 30, 2011

Ea Solinas rated it

· review of another edition

"The Winter's Tale" is one of Shakespeare's most underrated works, probably because it can't be easily classified as a romance or a comedy. That's a shame, because this lush, emotionally-wrenching little play displays Shakespeare's powerful writing and fine grasp of human nature. It's just incredibly moving and exquisitely written.

Polixenes, the King of Bohemia, has been visiting his pal King Leontes in Sicilia, and eventually he wants to go home. But after Queen Hermione ...more"The Winter's Tale" is one of Shakespeare's most underrated works, probably because it can't be easily classified as a romance or a comedy. That's a shame, because this lush, emotionally-wrenching little play displays Shakespeare's powerful writing and fine grasp of human nature. It's just incredibly moving and exquisitely written.

Polixenes, the King of Bohemia, has been visiting his pal King Leontes in Sicilia, and eventually he wants to go home. But after Queen Hermione convinces him to stay awhile, Leontes suddenly goes nuts and decides that Polixenes and Hermione have been having an affair, and that her unborn child must be his old friend's. Polixenes flees back to his own land, and Hermione dies soon after her newborn daughter is abandoned in the wilderness.

Of course, Leontes soon finds out that he was off his gourd, and that poor Hermione was completely innocent. Charming, isn't he? Sixteen years later, Polixenes' son Florizel falls in love with a mysterious young shepherdess, who is actually Leontes' daughter Perdita (of course!). But with royal opposition to their marriage, the young couple must overcome many obstacles before everything is settled happily.

"A Winter's Tale" is a curious hybrid of Shakespeare's different theatrical "types" -- there's some gentle comedy, some mellow tragedy, and a hefty dose of romance. The first three acts are basically one long disaster, with Leontes' crazy paranoia destroying his friendships, marriage and children's lives, until it seems that there's no happy ending for anybody.

But the last few acts are very different. Shakespeare's writing takes on a more romantic, sweet tone, particularly when Florizel and Perdita are lavishing lovers' praise on each other ("My prettiest Perdita!/But O, the thorns we stand upon!"). Having worked up a massive tragedy in the first parts of the play, Shakespeare spends the latter half repairing all the cracks in the characters' lives.

If there's a flaw in the story, it's that Hermione is so in love with a crazy belfry-bat like Leontes, but I suppose his story is meant to show the folly of letting suspicions rule your actions. Florizel and Perdita are charmingly earnest young lovers who initially know nothing of their parents' tragic past, and there are solid supporting characters like the thief Autolycus and the steadfast Camillo.

"The Winter's Tale" is an emotionally wrenching but eventually uplifting story, and a roller-coaster ride that plunges you down into tragedy before hoisting you back up.
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Mar 23, 2010

Bruce rated it

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This is University of Virginia’s Professor Clare Kinney’s favorite Shakespeare play, and as she described it in her final Teaching Company lecture, she was clearly moved to tears. I recall having seen it at the Chicago Shakespeare in 2002 or 2004; it was good, and I was eager to experience it once again, this time, alas, only in the reading.

Act I details the dawning and development of Leontes’ baseless jealousy of his innocent wife, Hermione, and his best friend, Polixenes, a jealou...moreThis is University of Virginia’s Professor Clare Kinney’s favorite Shakespeare play, and as she described it in her final Teaching Company lecture, she was clearly moved to tears. I recall having seen it at the Chicago Shakespeare in 2002 or 2004; it was good, and I was eager to experience it once again, this time, alas, only in the reading.

Act I details the dawning and development of Leontes’ baseless jealousy of his innocent wife, Hermione, and his best friend, Polixenes, a jealousy that threatens to undo them all. Unlike Othello, Leontes has no Iago egging him on, his convictions being the phantoms of his own mind. Warned, Polixenes flees the kingdom, and the innocent and pregnant Hermione is imprisoned. All the court supports Hermione and tries to convince Leontes of his folly, to no avail. The most courageous and vocal critic of his actions and the strongest supporter of Hermione is her lady, Paulina.

In Act II.i.36-44, Shakespeare provides a poignant expression of how knowledge of a situation more than a situation itself is what causes the most acute suffering. I’ll not quote all of that here; you can look it up.

Act III.ii, is a turning point. Leontes’ newborn daughter is exposed and abandoned in the wilderness, his son having died of grief at the imprisonment of his mother, Hermione reported having consequently died of grief, and the oracle of Apollo having exonerated Hermione; Leontes is finally brought to his senses and realizes his mistake and folly, but, alas, too late, all the damage of his madness having been done.

Act IV moves to Bohemia, where King Polixenes, hitherto a sympathetic figure who has been unjustly accused, learns that his own son Florizel has fallen in love with an apparent peasant girl, Perdita, in reality the lost daughter of Leontes. To our dismay, he reacts as violently to this apparent misalliance as Leontes did to Hermione’s alleged infidelity, proving that the play is not only about foolish husbands but also foolish fathers. Florizel and Perdita flee to Sicilia, where Leontes still reigns. The episodes featuring Florizel and Perdita lone are as tender and caring as anything Shakespeare wrote, softening an otherwise harsh story.

In Act V all is joyfully resolved, facilitated by Paulina. Identities and relationships are clarified, old wrongs righted, and Hermione, thought dead but hidden by Paulina, is presented to Leontes as a statue who, at the last, comes to life. The most beautiful line of the play, in my estimation, is when Leontes touches supposed statue of Hermione and says, “O! She’s warm.”

This late play, written after the Shakespeare’s major tragedies, has a tenderness and ending happiness that bespeaks a maturing and mellowing of the playwright who looks on human frailties with a forgiving and redemptive eye. What a marvelous play!
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May 06, 2009

Liz (Consumed by Books) rated it

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Shelves: plays, 3-star, own, high-school-required

I enjoyed this play enough, but it certainly wasn't my favorite. I thought the plot was good. I thought the book raised interesting questions about faith and taking things at face value. I only really thought the writing was especially good in a couple of places, I found some of the characters a bit difficult to relate to. Thre's also one speculation about the title which I find interesting. At one point Hermione asks her son to tell a story and some people believe that this would be the st...more

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May 10, 2010

Steve rated it

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Shelves: shakespeare, plays

Another masterpiece. Almost the reverse of Romeo and Juliet: the first three acts are a perfect little tragedy, and then the final two are a romantic comedy. I believe it was Mark Twain who said that comedy was just "tragedy plus time." Shakespeare does exactly this: tragedy; 16 years pass; then comedy.

Someone on here validly pointed out that Winter's Tale is "a fairy tale that is pagan in setting but Christian in its themes, which include guilt, repentance, redemptio...more

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Oct 12, 2010

Bruno da Maremma rated it

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Hadn’t read a Shakespeare play since high school so I thought I would go back to him and see if I would enjoy the experience anymore.
And the answer is ‘Somewhat’. Shakespeare’s English is about as comprehensible as Lowland Scots, at least to an untutored ear. His writing is full of words whose meanings have changed radically and are therefore very confusing.
Getting a well annotated copy of a play is a great idea to help clarify the meanings of words and phrases but it does detract mig...moreHadn’t read a Shakespeare play since high school so I thought I would go back to him and see if I would enjoy the experience anymore.
And the answer is ‘Somewhat’. Shakespeare’s English is about as comprehensible as Lowland Scots, at least to an untutored ear. His writing is full of words whose meanings have changed radically and are therefore very confusing.
Getting a well annotated copy of a play is a great idea to help clarify the meanings of words and phrases but it does detract mightily from a smooth reading and the ability to winnow out any emotion in the dialogues.
I read a good synopsis of ‘The Winter’s Tale’ and then read through the play itself while referring to the notes so that I could understand what he was saying. The notes are critical in helping to explain the meaning of words/ phrases in the context of late 16th century/early 17th century English culture and society. Finally the notes also are really important to help you, dear reader, to make sense of allusions to Greek or Roman tales to which S refers or to explain bizarre phrases and slang that have long since left the language. Next I bought a DVD of the play and watched it with the book open in front of me. Finally I started reading the play through again, looking for character development and emotional impact etc. I quit about half way through.
Was it worth it in the end? No, don’t waste your time. Watching the DVD was certainly more revealing than any reading since there is almost no stage direction in the text of the play itself to help you judge the emotions of the characters as they present their lines on the page. And, as I said earlier it is very hard to winnow out emotions in the dialogue when you are busy skipping to the bottom of each page to find the meaning of a word or phrase or to understand some obscure allusion to Greek mythology or some phrase that makes no sense to a speaker 400 years removed from the culture and language of Shakespeare’s day.
Frankly I’d rather spend the time getting fluent in French or Russian so that I could appreciate the much greater canon of excellent writing that is available in those languages.
Oh, one more thing. Shakespeare makes some really blatant errors that jar badly while you are reading. I’m not talking about geography goofs, after all it is a work of fiction, but here’s an example. Queen Hermione is present and hears the message from the Oracle of Delphos that she is innocent. Later in the play, she says that Paulina had given her this information. Sloppy! Perhaps a bit too much ale or mead was consumed during the editing process.
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Feb 24, 2009

kyle added it · review of another edition

Ya know this guy wrote some good plays. And a bucketload of em. How exciting to know that I'm gonna keep discovering them for a long time.
Struggled with this. The whole sexual jealousy thing just doesn't resonate with me (though I love Bloom and others' suggestion that it's really homosexual confusion that sets the whole thing off). But watching Mendes/Bridge Project's extraordinary production the why didn't matter. It just worked.
Superficially it's much like Cymbeline (wh...more

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Feb 10, 2011

Emily rated it

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It's hard for me to give a star rating and review for this play because I really don't have much experience with Shakespeare to have some in depth feelings or analysis on it. I did enjoy the story, even though everything worked out too perfectly--I guess it's suppose to since its a comedy.

I sometimes have a hard time relating to character's in Shakespeare because I feel like so many times they have such extreme emotions, like King Leontes in this tale, that they are always beyond re...more

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Nov 25, 2008

Clif Hostetler rated it

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Shelves: play

I listened to the audio version of this Shakespeare play a year ago and just now noticed that I didn't add it to my Goodreads list of books. So I'm adding it belatedly.

Because of the passage of time, it's plot isn't so fresh in my mind. I do recall that it is unique for Shakespeare in that the audience is misled into believing something that is later shown to not be true. The story contains an example of irrational jealousy which is certainly not unique. The story includes an in...more

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May 18, 2009

James rated it

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Shelves: british, classics, plays

Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale is a bizarre, ranging comedy. The play jumps so lightly between slapstick and cruelty that it’s unclear whether it’s a dark farce, a bloody satire exposing the dangers of absolute power, or a moldy amalgam of cuckoldry, class, and misogyny.

The premise has a king baselessly charge his queen with infidelity. He believes she’s slept with his brother, who wisely flees a plot to murder him. Suspected adultery is a common hook for Shakespearean comedy, with ...moreShakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale is a bizarre, ranging comedy. The play jumps so lightly between slapstick and cruelty that it’s unclear whether it’s a dark farce, a bloody satire exposing the dangers of absolute power, or a moldy amalgam of cuckoldry, class, and misogyny.

The premise has a king baselessly charge his queen with infidelity. He believes she’s slept with his brother, who wisely flees a plot to murder him. Suspected adultery is a common hook for Shakespearean comedy, with misunderstanding harmlessly giving way to reconciliation, but this story doesn’t skip to a happy ending. People die—one lord is famously eaten by a bear—and their quick, brutal ends remain unredeemed, the senseless spinoffs of a king’s jealousy.

While the king eventually claims guilt, he keeps his throne and privilege, with no consequences for his actions. It is clear that he lives by his whim, above laws, his station ensuring his status.

Similarly, his brother rages in his own kingdom, threatening murder and torture, in great detail, to peasants who have unwittingly displeased him. Lovers flee, false identities are discovered, and the play pushes itself to a magical ending. By the final scenes, the medium itself has been strained and exposed. The most momentous events take place offstage; the final scene unfolds as an inside joke, poking fun at the staged setting to work the miracle.

What did Shakespeare intend as he wrote The Winter’s Tale? Is the casual cruelty a nod to cynicism as he reached the end of his career? Was it meant to highlight life’s unevenness, the capriciousness of kings? Would the audience have laughed at the king’s jealousy or his brother’s rage? Would the kings have been viewed as “bad” kings, or would their failings have been standard for the lot? Did the play seek to evoke the sword that dangles above a nation of subjects? Or was it just a bundle of jokes, summing up man’s eternal folly?

It’s a strange, mixed bag, but there seems to be some subversiveness in it, along with a great deal of sadness and resignation. Terrible things happen for no good reason, it tells us. Sure, sometimes all ends well. But more often, in the end, you’re just food for the bears.(less)

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Dec 28, 2010

Kate rated it

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I really enjoyed this play because it was unlike any other Shakespeare play that I have read so far. It is a tragicomedy, so it began as a tragedy and ended as (somewhat) of a comedy. This becomes clear based on the time of year the play takes place. It begins during winter, a time of death and "decay" and ends during spring, a time of birth and renewal. I also liked how art represented a power that could bring things to life, like the sculpture of Hermione. Overall, I really liked thi...more

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Feb 13, 2011

Melissa rated it

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Shelves: book-club, classic, could-not-finish

All I can say is that I really did attempt to read this play. And after the 10th page and not understanding anything that was going on, I gave up. While the internet and cliff notes definitely painted a great picture of what this story is about, I just couldn't follow Shakespeare's writing. I will say, however, that after recently reading a book on how the English dictionary came to be, I am impressed with Shakespeares vocabulary during a time period when there was no "official" Eng...more

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Jan 09, 2012

Laura rated it

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Without giving too much away, I must say that I did like the play and would rather see it on stage. Reading it reminded me of Othello meets Oedipus the King by Sophocles. There’s tragedy, there’s disguise, there’s a man felt falsely wronged by a woman, and there’s a fulfilled prophecy with offspring. What was different about this play from Shakespeare’s earlier works was its maturity. It was truly a tale, and it incorporated fairy lore and Greek mythology. In some ways, this was a tragic-comedy ...more

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Jul 26, 2011

Rachel M. rated it

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*Note: This book really has a 2.5 star rating!!!

I am not impressed with this play. I don't like the fact that it's a tragi-comedy because it makes the play seem ridiculous and unpolished. I also don't like the fact that Hermione comes back to life at the end of the play. This is really hokey. Also, the part about Antigonus getting eaten by a bear is random and dumb. Shakespeare should not have stooped to writing in a blended genre. Another thing I don't like about this play is that th...more

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Jun 16, 2010

Thompson rated it

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One of the reasons I have fun reading Shakespeare in the 21st century is because when he is at his best his characters ring true despite the verse language and the chasm of culture and time separating them from a modern reader. Winter's Tale has some absolutely beautiful moments, but as a whole it fails to deliver. The pacing is out of whack, as other reviewers have noted, and some of the worst offenses of jerky progression stem from bizarre character behaviors, a double whammy of annoyance. Whi...more

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May 30, 2010

Rosa rated it

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Shelves: 9th-grade-ir-project-due-june-11

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Jul 06, 2009

James rated it

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Shelves: shakespearean-era

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Mar 15, 2011

Amy rated it

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Shelves: book-club-read, classic, play-script

Shakespeare is definitely not in my normal repertoire. (Thank you book club!) I read a kid’s version of the story first, so I found the plot easy enough to follow. The language is verbose and flowery, but hey, it’s Shakespeare. What did I expect?

I was definitely a little disappointed by the way things wrapped up. The climax of the resolution is told second hand! (Maybe this was inspiration for Suzanne Collins?) And the characters seem a little bipolar. I think Shakespeare couldn’...more

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May 08, 2009

Christopher Campbell rated it

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The Winter's Tale is one of my favorites from Shakespeare's catalog. Because it is (arguably) one of the later Romances, it hosts a blend of tragedy and comedy unlike any of the earlier works. It also features the infamous, "exeunt, pursued by bear" stage direction that has been mocked and loved through the ages. The tale is set in ancient Sicily and is split by a sixteen year gap between the third and fourth act. It has many similar themes to Othello including fidelity and the dispar...more

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Feb 10, 2009

Angeline rated it

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All I've ever heard about this play is that it's Shakespeare's "most mature." I'm still not exactly sure what that means, but I think I can see something like maturity in it. It's not as carefree and silly as Twelfth Night or A Midsummer Night's Dream, nor is it as dense (and slightly depressing) as Hamlet. The Winter's Tale falls somewhere in between. Shakespeare takes a very serious look at the consequences of blind jealousy and irrational anger, but also includes a healthy amoun...more

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Feb 23, 2011

Bonnie rated it

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Shelves: classics

Abridged version: (inspired by Madeline's great abridged versions)

Act I
LEONTES, KING OF SICILY: You are my bestest friend since childhood, Polixenes!
POLIXENES, KING OF BOHEMIA: You are my bestest friend too, Leontes! But it’s been 9 months and, y’know, I need to get home to my kingdom and son and all.
KING LEONTES: NOOOOOO. I need you in my life! Stay, stay!
QUEEN HERMIONE: I agree with my husband.
KING POLIXENES: Well, shucks, fine, I’ll stay a little lon...more

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Jan 15, 2011

Marija rated it

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Shelves: medieval-renaissance, drama, classics

This play marks the end of my Shakespeare reading marathon. The Winter's Tale is actually a good place on which to end, since it’s essentially a blending of tragedy and comedy, more in keeping with the concept of a courtly romance, focusing on the themes of loss and reconciliation.

The beginning has that creepy element like Othello, a husband’s unfound jealousy for his wife, a jealousy that leads to madness. Leontes’ plans for revenge are indeed sick. If the play ended after the first ...more

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Sep 08, 2009

Kalilah rated it

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I found this one problematic, it had a few excellent monologues and quotes but the plot was all over the place. Leontes is worse than Claudio with his suspicion and lack of faith in the woman he supposedly loves, and I loathe Much Ado (exempting the Benedick and Beatrice scenes) in large part because of him. So, as you can imagine I found the central plot of this play really really aggravating and my frustration was only exacerbated by the overly convenient (deus ex machina-esk) ways in which it...more

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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. Hi...moreWilliam 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. 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.
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“Exit, pursued by a bear.” — 79 people liked it

“What a fool honesty is.” — 20 people liked it

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