The Winter's Tale (New Folger Library Shakespeare) - Softcover

Shakespeare, William; Mowat, Dr. Barbara A.; Werstine PhD., Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0671722972 ISBN 13: 9780671722975

Publisher: Pocket Books, 1998

Synopsis

A freshly edited text of the drama includes explanatory notes on pages opposite the text of the play, an introduction to the play's language, an annotated bibliography, illustrations of the play's trappings, and a critical essay. Original.

About this title

Review

One of Shakespeare's most haunting and enigmatic late plays, The Winter's Tale is a fine example of Shakespeare's fascination with the dramatic genre of "romance"--the portrayal of magical lands, familial conflict and exile, and final reunion and reconciliation. Drawing on Robert Green's story Pandosto, Shakespeare's play tells the story of the middle-aged Leontes, King of Sicilia, and his childhood friend Polixenes, the King of Bohemia. Leontes mistakenly believes that his friend is having an affair with his wife, Hermione. In his jealousy, and consumed by "tremor cordis", he tries to murder Polixenes, who flees, and accuses his wife of adultery. Hermione gives birth to a baby girl, Perdita, who Leontes denounces as illegitimate, and casts her out into the wilderness. Hermione is ultimately proved innocent, but her son, Mamillius, dies of grief. Hermione collapses, apparently dead, and Leontes is left to pick up the tragic consequences of his actions. Time passes, and the action moves to Bohemia, where the lost child Perdita has grown up a shepherdess in the midst of "great creating nature". The final scenes of the play draw towards resolution and reconciliation between Leontes, Hermione and their lost daughter, culminating in one of Shakespeare's most moving final scenes. One of Shakespeare's most consummate plays, The Winter's Tale is a fascinating study of male insecurity and the relations between art and nature. -- Jerry Brotton.

Review

a valuable edition of 'The Winter's Tale'...His accounts of language and of motivation are particularly illuminating and level-headed. - The Review of English Studies, Vol. 49, No. 194, 1998.

a valuable edition of The Winter's Tale ... this is a well-focused and helpful edition. ( Paul Hammond, Review of English Studies)

Edition details

• Publisher: Pocket Books
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0671722972
• ISBN 13: 9780671722975
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 10