Shakespeare - The Winter's Tale

"another clunker."


"I read a good synopsis of 'The Winter’s Tale' and then read through the play itself while referring to the notes so that I could understand what he was saying. The notes are critical in helping to explain the meaning of words/ phrases in the context of late 16th century/early 17th century English culture and society. Finally the notes also are really important to help you, dear reader, to make sense of allusions to Greek or Roman tales to which S refers or to explain bizarre phrases and slang that have long since left the language. Next I bought a DVD of the play and watched it with the book open in front of me. Finally I started reading the play through again, looking for character development and emotional impact etc. I quit about half way through.
Was it worth it in the end? No, don’t waste your time."


"The idea that Perdita, due to her parentage, acts 'too noble' for a shepherdess irks me."


"Sloppy! Perhaps a bit too much ale or mead was consumed during the editing process."


"This was just slow and silly. Did you ever read about that guy in the bible that sicked a bear on some kids that made fun of him? Yeah, this is kind of like that. In that it has a bear that shows up out of nowhere and kills a person. I thought it was a joke the first time I read it. I guess I can say the same about the bible too though."


"I am not impressed with this play. I don't like the fact that it's a tragi-comedy because it makes the play seem ridiculous and unpolished. I also don't like the fact that Hermione comes back to life at the end of the play. This is really hokey. Also, the part about Antigonus getting eaten by a bear is random and dumb. Shakespeare should not have stooped to writing in a blended genre. Another thing I don't like about this play is that the plot at the beginning of the play is almost the same as the plot of Othello. Lastly, Autolycus is a very annoying character. I can't stand him."


"To think that someone so prolific and brilliant wrote this silly thing is actually sad."


"This is the weirdest Shakespeare I ever read, for my Gender in Shakespeare class in college. There's a queen who is dead for, like, 20 years, then the king finds a statue of her, then it's not a statue, it's really her! Um...okay Will."


"Dude. Billy Boy is so stuck for material here that he resolves a plot point by having a bear come out of nowhere and kill someone. A BEAR!"