I vividly remember listening to my 12th grade English teacher expound on the reasons why he didn't have an affinity for the book.

He claimed that it had an excess of elements. There was the romance, the lost child, the political intrigue, the clown, and even magic.

However, that is precisely the very reason why I hold it dear. It is a magnificent jumble of all the things that Shakespeare adored to explore.

I have a profound love for the surprisingly robust and well-developed female characters within it.

I am enamored with the story and the wild adventures that unfold, yet all of them are firmly rooted in an emotional narrative about love, family, and regret.

Perhaps The Winter's Tale may not possess the tragic heft of Lear or Hamlet, but it has always been my absolute favorite to peruse.

It holds a special place in my heart, captivating me with its unique blend of elements and its ability to touch upon the deepest emotions.

Listened to an audio play version of a Shakespeare play.

At first, I was completely engaged in the story. However, as it progressed, I started losing the thread of the story.

Despite that, I really enjoyed the dialogue, which was as captivating as it always is in a Shakespeare play.

The words seemed to dance and come alive, painting vivid pictures in my mind.

It was a truly unique experience.

I realized that this is one play that I'll definitely have to revisit.

I want to fully understand the story and immerse myself in the world that Shakespeare has created.

Perhaps the next time I listen or watch it, I'll be able to follow the plot more easily and appreciate all the nuances and subtleties.

For now, I'll hold onto the memory of the beautiful dialogue and look forward to my next encounter with this wonderful play.

"Exit, pursued by a bear." This line, in particular, left a lasting impression on me. It was so unexpected and added a touch of drama and excitement to the play.

Overall, it was a great listening experience, and I can't wait to explore more of Shakespeare's works.

Reading this Shakespeare play was somehow really exciting, as its structure reminded me so much of the "Greek" classics. The way the story unfolds, the characters develop, and the conflicts arise and are resolved is truly captivating. It's like taking a journey through time and experiencing the art and drama of a bygone era.

And that ending! What a surprise it was. I definitely didn't see it coming. It added an extra layer of depth and complexity to the whole story, making me think and reflect long after I had finished reading. Shakespeare really knew how to keep his audience on the edge of their seats until the very last moment.

Overall, it was a wonderful reading experience that I would highly recommend to anyone who loves literature and wants to explore the works of one of the greatest playwrights of all time.

I really enjoyed the audiobook.

Even though I was "cold" without any background information or prior knowledge of the story, I could still follow the main plot and characters quite well.

I intended to read this along with The Literary Life Podcast and knew that we could read it as our next play in our homeschool after Love's Labour's Lost. So, I wasn't overly concerned with finding every nuance or detail. I just wanted to follow the story well enough to understand the main narrative.

There were several quotes that I'm sure I will mark when I read and listen to it with the kids. I liked the fact that it was a princess (rather than a prince) who was raised by wild people, which turned that aspect of the story on its head. The jealousies and fears, the repentance and forgiveness (albeit long awaited!), and the miracles? The wise woman and man who protected and rebuked as deserved? I really enjoyed all of these elements.

Plus, it was my third Audible book of 2020. [happy dance] I'm looking forward to many more great listens in the future.

Reviews of audio books count, so I guess watching a play should, too. Perhaps more so, as that was the author's intended medium.

I saw a stage production of The Winter's Tale a few days after finishing Jeanette Winterson's modern novelisation, The Gap of Time. My mother tells me I saw the play in my late teens, but I have no memory of it. My knowledge of the plot was from Winterson's summary and then her adaptation.

I enjoyed the play, but it was odder than I expected. It's usually categorised as one of the "problem plays" because it is both tragedy and comedy. Many key events happen off-stage, like deaths, but it does have the famous "Exit, pursued by bear". Somehow, it worked.

In Act one, a happy family and court are established before things fall apart due to the tragic madness of King Leontes, who believes a lie about his pregnant wife's baby. His wife's steadfastness is admirable but maybe stretches credulity. The actions demanded of some under the guise of loyalty are more problematic, making me think of Zimbardo's and Milgram's experiments. Death comes to the court.

The second act fast forwards sixteen years to a lively sheep-shearing festival with young love and comic routines. The more subtle theme is about the goodness in ordinary people, like selfless love.

It ends with revelations, resolution, and a transformation that could be magic, an hallucination, or a trick. There's forgiveness and a happy ending, another reason it's not a tragedy, but it's still strange.

Image of Dench and Branagh, 2016: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/da...

The play, which is adapted from Robert Greene's pastoral romance 'Pandosto', commences with Leontes, the King of Sicilia. He unjustly suspects his wife Hermione of having an affair with his childhood best friend Polixenes, the King of Bohemia. This unfounded suspicion sets off a chain of events that leads to chaos. The king's jealousy not only destroys his friendship with Polixenes but also shatters his marriage and family. However, despite the turmoil and heartbreak, the play concludes with a somewhat forced happy ending.

It is truly a testament to the author's remarkable talent that he manages to make Leontes seem worthy of happiness once again after he has endured sixteen years of loss and pain. Nevertheless, the whole statue scene is a little eerie and creepy. Still, as always, the language used in the play is magnificent.

All in all, 'The Winter's Tale' can be perceived as a tragedy that unexpectedly ends like a comedy, depending on one's perspective while reading it or how the director decides to present it to the audience.

Another husband, who happens to be a king this time, wrongly concludes that his wife, Hermoine, is having an affair with the king from yonder. He convinces himself that the child she is carrying is a result of this supposed affair. So, he hires an assassin for the other king (hoping not to start a war) and locks up his wife.

But things don't go as expected. The assassin decides that this is all nonsense and instead helps the other king escape to safety. Meanwhile, Hermoine's sapphic lover, Paulina (yes, they were more than just friends!), tries to convince the king that his wife would never cheat on him with a man. Even the king's nobles speak up, saying that his wife is virtuous and the baby is obviously his.

This is the first time one of these foolish men faces immediate and strong opposition from all sides, which I really enjoyed. And then, out of nowhere, a bear attacks! The drama of the first three acts then transforms into a standard lost-princess/forgotten identity rom-com. In the end, everything comes together, and everyone lives happily ever after. The only thing I would have changed is that Hermoine reveals herself to still be alive. Instead, she and Paulina should have run off together and found a cottage somewhere to live in peaceful bliss.

This is the last play in my Shakespeare challenge, and I'm glad it was a good one after a series of semi-mediocre plays. It's a fitting end to my exploration of Shakespeare's works.

  
    [Exit, pursued by a bear.]
  

I clearly understand why this moment is so iconic. It leaves a lasting impression.


I originally intended to read The Winter's Tale in its original English. Before this, I had only read Shakespeare's works in translation. However, when I reached the 8% mark and came across this piece of dialogue:

  Why, that's my bawcock. What! hast smutch'd thy nose?— They say it is a copy out of mine. Come, captain, We must be neat;—not neat, but cleanly, captain: And yet the steer, the heifer, and the calf, Are all call'd neat.— [Observing POLIXENES and HERMIONE] Still virginalling Upon his palm?—How now, you wanton calf! Art thou my calf?

I had to give up. It was just far too confusing for me to comprehend. So, I decided to resume reading the Russian translation instead.


The plot of the play seemed to be set in motion rather randomly. Leontes's sudden bout of jealousy came out of nowhere. After my initial surprise, I simply accepted all the impossible and improbable events that were unfolding.


Nevertheless, Shakespeare's remarkable ability to change everything in the final 1 - 2% of the play truly gave me a sense of whiplash. The ending felt extremely abrupt. I had a strong desire to find out more about Hermione and the statue. In fact, I even suspected that my ebook might have been cut short by mistake.


Overall, it was an okay read. It didn't have as profound an impact on me as some of Shakespeare's other works. But still, it had its moments that made it worth the effort.

The green-eyed monster, as the incomparable Bard, William Shakespeare, so said, definitely applies here. First mildly stated in Otello and now in The Winter's Tale. The common situation of a husband not trusting his wife leads to great love turning into passionate hate. Suspicion grows, phantoms seem real, whispers in the dark are believed, and gossips spread until they reach the ear of the king, Leontes. Queen Hermione, though innocent, struggles to prove her innocence. The consequences are severe. The beautiful straight road turns crooked, and a thick fog descends for an indeterminate time, perhaps forever.

In the kingdom of Sicily, wise Leontes becomes paranoid. Things quickly spiral out of control, and the unreal becomes too real. Loyal friends are questioned. Are they truly loyal? Leontes is hurt, and revenge becomes his sole thought. Polixenes, the king of Bohemia, is suspected of seducing Hermione, despite the two monarchs being childhood friends. Pride prevails and explodes into sheer madness when his former friend King Polixenes, with the help of the surprise Sicilian lord Camillo, flees just in the nick of time back home. A man with a conscience, Camillo cannot kill a guiltless supposed bastard baby girl, not even for his ruler.

Meeting on the road the charming rogue Autolycus, love or hate him, he is a likable villain for some and a conman for others. The victims, particularly, do not share that rather dubious opinion. He is a thief for sure, not a gentleman to be honest, and will rob you without compulsion. Yet he dominates the proceedings, providing needed laughs to an otherwise too serious plot. In Sicily, Leontes jails his pretty wife, who has recently given birth to his daughter Perdita, whom he deems of questionable parentage. As a result, Prince Mamillius, the heir to the throne, becomes seriously ill, not the last evil occurrence in court. Can you imagine a queen raised in luxury, with obedient maids all bowing to her, ending up imprisoned in filth?

But things are not as clear as they seem. The story could be a figment of Shakespeare's imagination as he manipulates the narrative. Finally, the clouds lift, the sharp picture forms, and the reader understands. The play, while not the best or most famous from the master, still provides genuine entertainment and examples of what not to do. Reiterating a work with numerous unpleasant aspects is nevertheless well worth looking at for many fans of the author. As for me, a veteran who has consumed eighteen products of the playwright, there are no big complaints.

A captivating work whose ending took me by surprise. I really liked the character of Paulina. Her tenacity in facing King Leontes reminded me of the astuteness of Portia. I was also quite satisfied with Florisel's fidelity to Perdita and I think Camillo's interventions were fundamental for the development of the plot. On the other hand, the incorporation of a character like Autolycus adds a touch of humor that softens the drama. I thought the scene in which he deceives the Clown was very funny. I think the figure of the peddler-storyteller is very picturesque.

The fact that Perdita's "nobility" manifests naturally, even without having received any education and having grown up in a rustic environment, seems extremely forced in the present, although undoubtedly it would be in accordance with the beliefs of the time. In addition, like any work of that era, it presents situations that bring into discussion the rights of women. I think the work presents as natural the abuses of Leontes as both king and husband, but at the same time it questions them. I see this questioning in the punishment that the king receives for his tyranny and in the validation of Paulina's wisdom.

Leontes, the King of Sicily, firmly believes that his queen, Hermione, is carrying the child of King Polixenes of Bavaria. However, he is completely wrong. His intense jealousy leads to the tragic deaths of both his son and the wrongly accused queen. He also abandons what he believes to be his illegitimate daughter, but miraculously, she survives.

Some years later, the story takes us to the "shores" of Bohemia. Interestingly, modern Bohemia is actually landlocked. It is the kingdom of Polyxenes, the supposed lover of the queen. Then, the reader is introduced to the low Rabelaisian humor provided by Autolycus and the Clown. Ah, and then comes the love story. Before long, we find ourselves back in Sicily with the repentant Leontes. His daughter has grown up and is now betrothed to the crown prince of Bohemia. And then, there is the strangely moving resurrection of Hermione.

But this is just the plot. As we all know, reading a literary work solely for the plot means almost entirely missing out on its richest pleasures. We should also read for the dazzling music of the language. It is poetry in its truest form. The words dance on the page, creating a beautiful and enchanting world that draws us in and makes us feel every emotion.

I have the complete works of Willy, so I can choose any edition.

The truth is that the work has two well-distinguished parts and I didn't understand the end... unless it has a fantastic explanation, which would be rather anticlimactic. The work is tragic at the beginning, a romance in the middle, and a comedy at the end. They can do whatever they want with it.

The books read out of obligation are over and the first thing I read for pleasure is a work of Shakespeare... I really know how to have a good time, huh!

This statement shows the author's thoughts and feelings about a particular work. The division of the work into different parts and the confusion about the ending add an element of mystery. The mention of reading Shakespeare for pleasure also indicates the author's love for literature and the joy it brings.

Overall, it gives a glimpse into the author's literary experiences and preferences.