Customer Reviews
The Terrible Costs of Jealous Rage - By: Donald Mitchell, 05 Jul 2004 
The Winter's Tale contains some of the most technically difficult solutions to telling a story that have ever appearedin a play. If you think you know all about how a play must be constructed, read The Winter's Tale. It will greatly expand your mind.
The play opens near the end of a long visit by Polixenes, the king of Bohemia, to the court of his childhood friend, Leontes, the king of Sicily. Leontes wants his friend to stay one more day. His friend declines. Leontes prevails upon his wife, Hermione, to persuade Polixenes. Hermione does her husband's bidding, having been silent before then. Rather than be pleased that she has succeeded, Leontes goes into a jealous ragein which he doubts her faithfulness. As his jealousy grows, he takes actions to defend his misconceptions of his "abused" honor thatin fact abuse all those who have loved him. Unable to control himself, Leontes continues to pursue his folly even when evidence grows that he is wrong. To his great regret, these impulsive acts cost him dearly.
Three particular aspects of the play deserve special mention. The first is the way that Shakespeare ties together actions set 16 years apartin time. Although that sounds like crossing the Grand Canyonin a motorcycle jump, Shakespeare pulls off the jump rather well so that it is not so big a leap. The second is that Shakespeare captures entirely different moods from hilarious good humor to deep depression & remorse closely adjacent to one another. As a result, the audience is able to experience many more emotions than normally are evokedin a single play. Third, the play's final scene is as remarkable a bit of writing as you can imagine. Read it, & marvel!
After you finish reading this play, think about where your own loss of temper has had bad consequences. How can you give yourself time to get under control before acting rashly? How can you learn to be more open to positive interpretations of events, rather than dark & disturbing ones?
Love first, second, & always!
The Terrible Costs of Jealous Rage - By: Donald Mitchell, 05 Jul 2004 The Winter's Tale contains some of the most technically difficult solutions to telling a story that have ever appearedin a play. If you think you know all about how a play must be constructed, read The Winter's Tale. It will greatly expand your mind.
The play opens near the end of a long visit by Polixenes, the king of Bohemia, to the court of his childhood friend, Leontes, the king of Sicily. Leontes wants his friend to stay one more day. His friend declines. Leontes prevails upon his wife, Hermione, to persuade Polixenes. Hermione does her husband's bidding, having been silent before then. Rather than be pleased that she has succeeded, Leontes goes into a jealous ragein which he doubts her faithfulness. As his jealousy grows, he takes actions to defend his misconceptions of his "abused" honor thatin fact abuse all those who have loved him. Unable to control himself, Leontes continues to pursue his folly even when evidence grows that he is wrong. To his great regret, these impulsive acts cost him dearly.
Three particular aspects of the play deserve special mention. The first is the way that Shakespeare ties together actions set 16 years apartin time. Although that sounds like crossing the Grand Canyonin a motorcycle jump, Shakespeare pulls off the jump rather well so that it is not so big a leap. The second is that Shakespeare captures entirely different moods from hilarious good humor to deep depression & remorse closely adjacent to one another. As a result, the audience is able to experience many more emotions than normally are evokedin a single play. Third, the play's final scene is as remarkable a bit of writing as you can imagine. Listen to it, & marvel!
After you finish listening to this play, think about where your own loss of temper has had bad consequences. How can you give yourself time to get under control before acting rashly? How can you learn to be more open to positive interpretations of events, rather than dark & disturbing ones?
Love first, second, & always!
The Terrible Costs of Jealous Rage - By: Donald Mitchell, 05 Jul 2004 The Winter's Tale contains some of the most technically difficult solutions to telling a story that have ever appearedin a play. If you think you know all about how a play must be constructed, read The Winter's Tale. It will greatly expand your mind.
The play opens near the end of a long visit by Polixenes, the king of Bohemia, to the court of his childhood friend, Leontes, the king of Sicily. Leontes wants his friend to stay one more day. His friend declines. Leontes prevails upon his wife, Hermione, to persuade Polixenes. Hermione does her husband's bidding, having been silent before then. Rather than be pleased that she has succeeded, Leontes goes into a jealous ragein which he doubts her faithfulness. As his jealousy grows, he takes actions to defend his misconceptions of his "abused" honor thatin fact abuse all those who have loved him. Unable to control himself, Leontes continues to pursue his folly even when evidence grows that he is wrong. To his great regret, these impulsive acts cost him dearly.
Three particular aspects of the play deserve special mention. The first is the way that Shakespeare ties together actions set 16 years apartin time. Although that sounds like crossing the Grand Canyonin a motorcycle jump, Shakespeare pulls off the jump rather well so that it is not so big a leap. The second is that Shakespeare captures entirely different moods from hilarious good humor to deep depression & remorse closely adjacent to one another. As a result, the audience is able to experience many more emotions than normally are evokedin a single play. Third, the play's final scene is as remarkable a bit of writing as you can imagine. Read it, & marvel!
After you finish reading this play, think about where your own loss of temper has had bad consequences. How can you give yourself time to get under control before acting rashly? How can you learn to be more open to positive interpretations of events, rather than dark & disturbing ones?
Love first, second, & always!
The Terrible Costs of Jealous Rage - By: Donald Mitchell, 07 May 2004 The Winter's Tale contains some of the most technically difficult solutions to telling a story that have ever appearedin a play. If you think you know all about how a play must be constructed, read The Winter's Tale. It will greatly expand your mind.
The play opens near the end of a long visit by Polixenes, the king of Bohemia, to the court of his childhood friend, Leontes, the king of Sicily. Leontes wants his friend to stay one more day. His friend declines. Leontes prevails upon his wife, Hermione, to persuade Polixenes. Hermione does her husband's bidding, having been silent before then. Rather than be pleased that she has succeeded, Leontes goes into a jealous ragein which he doubts her faithfulness. As his jealousy grows, he takes actions to defend his misconceptions of his "abused" honor thatin fact abuse all those who have loved him. Unable to control himself, Leontes continues to pursue his folly even when evidence grows that he is wrong. To his great regret, these impulsive acts cost him dearly.
Three particular aspects of the play deserve special mention. The first is the way that Shakespeare ties together actions set 16 years apartin time. Although that sounds like crossing the Grand Canyonin a motorcycle jump, Shakespeare pulls off the jump rather well so that it is not so big a leap. The second is that Shakespeare captures entirely different moods from hilarious good humor to deep depression & remorse closely adjacent to one another. As a result, the audience is able to experience many more emotions than normally are evokedin a single play. Third, the play's final scene is as remarkable a bit of writing as you can imagine. Read it, & marvel!
After you finish reading this play, think about where your own loss of temper has had bad consequences. How can you give yourself time to get under control before acting rashly? How can you learn to be more open to positive interpretations of events, rather than dark & disturbing ones?
Love first, second, & always!
a cheap edition, but there are easier copies to work with - By: , 10 Jun 2002 
i first read the winter's tale when studying for my AS english. This is not one of Shakespeare's most inviting plays. Once deciphered, the language & imagery is fantastic, yetin order to understand what is going on, you will be constantly using the notesin the back. having since read much more Shakespeare i would recommend a copy with notes located underneath the actual play. this will make the trial of reading far easier & much more entertaining.
The Winter's Tale is a good play, but it needs to be read more than once to be fully understood. For a general reader, i would suggest trying The Tempest or The Merchant of Venice for a taste of Shakespeare that is easier to understand.
