Pericles: Second Series

by William Shakespeare, F. David Hoeniger (Editor)

The Arden Shakespeare has long been acclaimed as the established scholarly edition of Shakespeare's work. Now being totally reedited for the third time, Arden editions offer the very best in contemporary scholarship. Each volume provides a clear and authoritative text, edited to the highest standards; detailed textual notes and commentary on the same page of the text; full contextual, illustrated introduction, including an in-depth survey of critical and performance approaches to the play; and selected bibliography.

280 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is 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 extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this play a few months back, but only had time to read the introduction prior to seeing it. I didn't read the actual play or footnotes until this week, but I found it really helpful to have seen the play because it gave me a scaffolding for understanding the text.

Pericles isn't included in the first folio because there are some questions over authorship; most scholars agree that Shakespeare wrote the last 2 acts but someone else wrote the first 3.

I like that he brought the poet, Gowan, back from the dead to narrate the story, and it's kind of a fun/ny story with the wife being thrown overboard in a coffin only to be resurrected when she reaches land. I enjoyed Marina's wit in surviving all the crazy shit that happens to her, and it was fun to learn that the Marina character was Shakespeare's addition to the original story. Pericles is a little different than the plays leading up to it, but it anticipates Coriolanus, The Winter's Tale (especially this one), and The Tempest. It is often considered the first of "the romances" or "his later works," depending on the author.

Women of Will, by Tina Packard, is an excellent book about women in Shakespeare's plays and it was part of the impetus behind my reading this one.

[David Kowalski · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb rendition of what turned out to be a fascinating play. I approached this having little knowledge about it, and therefore astonished by the pageantry of the play itself. I was also fascinated by the editors dissertation on potential origins, and the fact that this play resembles the miracle plays of a previous age.
Shakespeare is always worthwhile, even when he appears to be experimenting, sharing duties, and paving the way for a new form of his art.
Worth reading and watching.

[Chloe Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still not convinced to love Shakespeare but I did quite enjoy reading this!