The Winter's Tale (third Series)

By (author) Shakespeare, William; Edited by Pitcher John
Short description/annotation
One of Shakespeare''s late plays, The Winter''s Tale falls into two distinct parts: the first part tragedy and the second, comedy. John Pitcher''s lively introduction and commentary explores the extraordinary merging of theatrical forms in the play and its success in performance.
Description
One of Shakespeare''s later plays, best described as a tragi-comedy, the play falls into two distinct parts. In the first Leontes is thrown into a jealous rage by his suspicions of his wife Hermione and his best-friend, and imprisons her and orders that her new born daughter be left to perish. The second half is a pastoral comedy with the "lost" daughter Perdita having been rescued by shepherds and now in love with a young prince. The play ends with former lovers and friends reunited after the apparently miraculous resurrection of Hermione. John Pitcher''s lively introduction and commentary explores the extraordinary merging of theatrical forms in the play and its success in performance. As the recent Sam Mendes production at the Old Vic shows, this is a play that can work a kind of magic in the theatre.
Review quote
''a play where miracles do happen and redemption does eventually come, but at a terrible price'' Lyn Gardner, Guardian, 22.9.09 ''Like all of Shakespeare''s later plays, this is a realistic fairy tale'' John Peter, Sunday Times, 20.9.09
Biographical note
John Pitcher is Professor of English at St John''s College, Oxford.
Promotional headline
A play often studied at A level and undergraduate level with the other "late" plays A lucid and thorough Introduction gives students a huge amount of insight and information Edited and annotated to the usual high Arden standard
Description for collection
The Arden Shakespeare has long set the gold standard in annotated, scholarly editions of Shakespeare''s plays. Each Arden edition in the Third Series offers a modernized text with comprehensive commentary notes glossing meanings, discussing staging issues and explaining literary allusions, together with a lengthy, illustrated introduction by a leading scholar exploring the play''s critical, theatrical and historical contexts. Praise for the series: "The gold standard for modern editorial scholarship." – Sixteenth Century Journal "One of the best regarded scholarly editions of Shakespeare''s plays." – The Times "One of the landmark publishing ventures of our time ... The care for standards, and meticulous attention to detail ... have made the Arden Shakespeare one of the great achievements of modern literary scholarship." – The New Criterion "Arden 3 stands as a book of memory and of aspiration, a record of our progress as a field and a profession, and a reminder of how much further we have to go ... Editorial practices developed in the Third Series established a precedent for innovation and discipline while producing texts that engaged readers with the most exciting advances of early modern textual studies." – Shakespeare Survey "[A] priceless contribution to Shakespeare studies ... The Arden editions, attractively produced and increasingly weighty, have become, so to speak, the market standard, the first port of call for students and academics alike." – SEDERI, Yearbook of the Spanish and Portuguese Society for English Renaissance Studies
Feature
A play often studied at A level and undergraduate level with the other "late" plays
Feature
A lucid and thorough Introduction gives students a huge amount of insight and information
Feature
Edited and annotated to the usual high Arden standard