The Winter's Tale
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $3.99
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
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 incorporates definitive texts and authoritative notes from William Shakespeare: Complete Works. Each play includes an Introduction as well as an overview of Shakespeare’s theatrical career; commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers; scene-by-scene analysis; key facts about the work; a chronology of Shakespeare’s life and times; and black-and-white illustrations.
Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions from the Royal Shakespeare Company set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty-first century.
Customer Reviews
Shakes Does Twins (again)!
I enjoy anything Shakespeare does with twins. He was obviously enamoured with the idea of twins (especially fraternal twins, one of each gender) since he had a pair himself. Since the twins in his plays always look alike, despite being different genders, I get the impression that his twins probably looked quite a lot alike. I would imagine after Hamnet died, Shakespeare looked to his daughter, Judith, in picturing his lost son. I think the fact that this play was first performed on Judith’s 17th Birthday is telling. Shakespeare longed for the reunion of his own twins.
I greatly enjoyed this play. Sir Toby is clearly a functioning drunk and a total idiot. He’s my least favourite character and I spent most of the play rolling my eyes at him. Viola is my favourite character from the play because she keeps going and does what she needs to do to protect herself and survive. What’s not to love about her?
I am troubled, yet again, by such a short and convenient ending. This is my only real complaint about this play. His comedies seem to just have this magical last act where “poof” everything is right with the world again and everyone has a good laugh. I guess I just find the ending to be a little unsatisfying. I want a little more to the ending, more plausibility maybe. They all seem to just suddenly end, like Shakespeare was rushing to end it, ran out of time, or couldn’t think of anything else (which in itself seem implausible). Still, loved the play, despite the abrupt ending.