The Winter's Tale: A Comedy

By William Shakespeare

Believing his wife, Hermione, to be unfaithful, King Leontes of Sicilia, orders her new-born child abandoned in the wilderness. But when Hermione’s fidelity is proven by the divinations of the Oracle of Delphi, Leontes is cursed to have no heir until his daughter is found. Sixteen years later, the abandoned child, now the shepherdess Perdita, returns to Sicilia seeking refuge, only to learn her true identity.

Known as “The Bard of Avon,” William Shakespeare is arguably the greatest English-language writer known. Enormously popular during his life, Shakespeare’s works continue to resonate more than three centuries after his death, as has his influence on theatre and literature. Shakespeare’s innovative use of character, language, and experimentation with romance as tragedy served as a foundation for later playwrights and dramatists, and some of his most famous lines of dialogue have become part of everyday speech.

HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Dec 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781443443562

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) es ampliamente reconocido como uno de los más grandes escritores de todos los tiempos. Dramaturgo, actor y poeta, escribió casi cuarenta obras de teatro agrupadas generalmente según tres categorías: tragedias, comedias y obras históricas. Piezas como Hamlet, El rey Lear, El mercader de Venecia, Antonio y Cleopatra, Macbeth y Romeo y Julieta, por nombrar algunas de ellas, son aún a día de hoy estudiadas y representadas en todo el mundo.

Book preview

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

LEONTES

King of Sicilia

MAMILLIUS

his son, the young Prince of Sicilia

CAMILLO, ANTIGONUS, CLEOMENES, DION

lords of Sicilia

POLIXENES

King of Bohemia

FLORIZEL

his son, Prince of Bohemia

ARCHIDAMUS

a lord of Bohemia

Old Shepherd, reputed father of Perdita

Clown, his son

AUTOLYCUS

a rogue

A Mariner

A Gaoler

TIME

as Chorus

HERMIONE

Queen to Leontes

PERDITA

daughter to Leontes and Hermione

PAULINA

wife to Antigonus

EMILIA

a lady attending on the Queen

MOPSA, DORCAS

shepherdesses

Other Lords, Gentlemen, Ladies, Officers, Servants, Shepherds, and Shepherdesses

THE SCENE: SICILIA AND BOHEMIA.

ACT ONE

SCENE I. Sicilia. The palace of Leontes.

Enter CAMILLO and ARCHIDAMUS.

ARCHIDAMUS If you shall chance, Camillo, to visit Bohemia, on the like occasion whereon my services are now on foot, you shall see, as I have said, great difference betwixt our Bohemia and

[4]

your Sicilia.

CAMILLO I think this coming summer the King of Sicilia means to pay Bohemia the visitation which he justly owes him.

ARCHIDAMUS Wherein our entertainment shall shame us we will be justified in our loves; for indeed –

[10]

CAMILLO Beseech you –

ARCHIDAMUS Verily, I speak it in the freedom of my knowledge: we cannot with such magnificence, in so rare – I know not what to say. We will give you sleepy drinks, that your senses, unintelligent of our insufficience, may,

[15]

though they cannot praise us, as little accuse us.

CAMILLO You pay a great deal too dear for what’s given freely.

ARCHIDAMUS Believe me, I speak as my understanding instructs me and as mine

[19]

honesty puts it to utterance.

[30]

CAMILLO Sicilia cannot show himself over-kind to Bohemia. They were train’d together in their childhoods; and there rooted betwixt them then such an affection which cannot choose but branch now. Since their more mature dignities and royal necessities made separation of their society, their encounters, though not personal, have been royally attorneyed with interchange of gifts, letters, loving embassies; that they have seem’d to be together, though absent; shook hands, as over a vast; and embrac’d as it were from the ends of opposed winds. The heavens continue their loves!

[34]

ARCHIDAMUS I think there is not in the world either malice or matter to alter it. You have an unspeakable comfort of your young Prince Mamilhus; it is a gentleman of the greatest promise that ever came into my note.

[38]

CAMILLO I very well agree with you in the hopes of him. It is a gallant child; one that indeed physics the subject, makes old hearts fresh; they that went on crutches ere he was born desire yet their life to see him a man.

ARCHIDAMUS Would they else be content to die?

[41]

CAMILLO Yes; if there were no other excuse why they should desire to live.

ARCHIDAMUS If the King had no son, they would desire to live on crutches till he had one.[Exeunt.

SCENE II. Sicilia. The palace of Leontes.

Enter LEONTES, POLIXENES, HERMIONE, MAMILLIUS, CAMILLO, and Attendants.

POLIXENES Nine changes of the wat’ry star hath been

The shepherd’s note since we have left our throne

Without a burden. Time as long again

Would be fill’d up, my brother, with our thanks;

[5]

And yet we should for perpetuity

Go hence in debt. And therefore, like a cipher,

Yet standing in rich place, I multiply

With one ‘We thank you’ many thousands moe

That go before it.

LEONTES Stay your thanks a while,

And pay them when you part.

[10]

POLIXENES Sir, that’s to-morrow.

I am question’d by my fears of what may chance

Or breed upon our absence, that may blow

No sneaping winds at home, to make us say

‘This is put forth too truly’. Besides, I have stay’d

To tire your royalty.

[15]

LEONTES We are tougher, brother,

Than you can put us to’t.

POLIXENES No longer stay.

LEONTES One sev’night longer.

POLIXENES Very sooth, to-morrow.

LEONTES We’ll part the time between’s then; and in that

I’ll no gainsaying.

POLIXENES Press me not, beseech you, so.

[20]

There is no tongue that moves, none, none i’ th’ world,

So soon as yours could win me. So it should now,

Were there necessity in your request, although

’Twere needful I denied it. My affairs

Do even drag me homeward; which to hinder

[25]

Were in your love a whip to me; my stay

To you a charge and trouble. To save both,

Farewell, our brother.

LEONTES Tongue-tied, our Queen? Speak you.

HERMIONE I had thought, sir, to have held my peace until

You had drawn oaths from him not to stay. You, sir,

[30]

Charge him too coldly. Tell him you are sure

All in Bohemia’s well – this satisfaction

The by-gone day proclaim’d. Say this to him,

He’s beat from his best ward.

LEONTES Well said, Hermione.

HERMIONE To tell he longs to see his son were strong;

[35]

But let him say so then, and let him go;

But let him swear so, and he shall not stay;

We’ll thwack him hence with distaffs.

[To Polixenes] Yet of your royal presence I’ll adventure

The borrow of a week. When at Bohemia

[40]

You take my lord, I’ll give him my commission

To let him there a month behind the gest

Prefix’d tor’s parting. – Yet, good deed, Leontes,

I love thee not a jar o’ th’ clock behind

What lady she her lord. – You’ll stay?

POLIXENES No, madam.

[45]

HERMIONE Nay, but you will?

POLIXENES I may not, verily.

HERMIONE Verily!

You put me off with limber vows; but I,

Though you would seek t’ unsphere the stars with oaths,

Should yet say ‘Sir, no going’. Verily,

[50]

You shall not go; a lady’s ‘verily’ is

As potent as a lord’s. Will you go yet?

Force me to keep you as a prisoner,

Not like a guest; so you shall pay your fees

When you depart, and save your thanks. How say you?

[55]

My prisoner or my guest? By your dread ‘verily’,

One of them you shall be.

POLIXENES Your guest, then, madam:

To be your prisoner should import offending;

Which is for me less easy to commit

Than you to punish.

HERMIONE Not your gaoler then,

[60]

But your kind hostess. Come, I’ll question you

Of my lord’s tricks and yours when you were boys.

You were pretty lordings then!

POLIXENES We were, fair Queen,

Two lads that thought there was no more behind

But such a day to-morrow as to-day,

And to be boy eternal.

[65]

HERMIONE Was not my lord

The verier wag o’ th’ two?

POLIXENES We were as twinn’d lambs that did frisk i’ th’ sun

And bleat the one at th’ other. What we chang’d

Was innocence for innocence; we knew not

[70]

The doctrine of ill-doing, nor dream’d

That any did. Had we pursu’d that life,

And our weak spirits ne’er been higher rear’d

With stronger blood, we should have answer’d heaven

Boldly ‘Not guilty’, the imposition clear’d

Hereditary ours.

[75]

HERMIONE By this we gather

You have tripp’d since.

POLIXENES O my most sacred lady,

Temptations have since then been born to ‘s, for

In those unfledg’d days was my wife a girl;

Your precious self had then not cross’d the eyes

Of my young playfellow.

[80]

HERMIONE Grace to boot!

Of this make no conclusion, lest you say

Your queen and I are devils. Yet, go on;

Th’ offences we have made you do we’ll answer,

If you first sinn’d with us, and that with us

[85]

You did continue fault, and that you slipp’d not

With any but with us.

LEONTES Is he won yet?

HERMIONE He’ll stay, my lord.

LEONTES At my request he would not.

Hermione, my dearest, thou never spok’st

To better purpose.

HERMIONE Never?

LEONTES Never but once.

[90]

HERMIONE What! Have I twice said well? When was’t before?

I prithee tell me; cram’s with praise, and make’s

As fat as tame things. One good deed dying tongueless

Slaughters a thousand waiting upon that.

Our praises are our wages; you may ride’s

[95]

With one soft kiss a thousand furlongs

Reviews for The Winter's Tale

[seraphinac.b4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

King Leontes of Sicilia orders that his newborn female child be killed because he fears it is not his. However, Lord Antigonus takes her and abandons her in on the Bohemian coast. When King Leontes's wife is found innocent, he will have no other heir unless the daughter is found. Hermione, Leontes wife, is reported dead to her heartbroken husband. Sixteen years passed, while Perdita, the lost daughter, is being taken care of by a shepherd. News gets to the king that there is a girl with no parents. The relationship is confirmed and everyone rejoices. I found this book very hard to follow. Because this is fiction, it is hard to tell whether things are figurative or not. It is a quick read. The plot is good if you can understand it. I would only recommend this book to someone who likes reading.

[deckla_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's the binding and illustrations that make this edition of The Winter's Tale special.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is not one of Shakespeare's best plays. It seems like a mashup of Othello (insane jealously) and Much Ado about Nothing (characters running around in disguises). The beginning feels like it's started in the middle. Some important revelations take place off-stage, described by minor characters instead of enacted by the central characters. Shakespeare's finest works seem to drip with cliches because they're the source of those cliches. This one does not. The most famous line from this play may be the stage direction “Exit pursued by a bear.” Recommended only for completists.

[amerynth · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"The Winter's Tale" has to be the best Shakespeare play that I'd never heard of... it was only thanks to trying to read his complete works that I stumbled across it.The play is one of his last and it shows, the story is tight and well-paced. It centers on the aftermath created by an extremely jealous king, who accuses his wife of sleeping with his childhood friend, a fellow king. Antics ensure (and of course disguises) and they are well-done in this play.This is definitely among by favorites by Shakespeare.

[meditationesmartini · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

We weep, we dance, we shiver, we bake, we live, we die. This is the Ecclesiastes of the dramatic canon and I want it played at my funeral.

[lyzadanger · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The weakest Shakespeare I've read to date.

[doondeck · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of his most accessible works

[jfoster_sf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Classic Shakespeare romance.

[john257hopper · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is another Shakespeare play I have read in anticipation of seeing it next weekend at The Globe, as I did a fortnight ago with Othello. However, I found this play to be nowhere near as enjoyable. The plot seems too thin and insubstantial in practice for five acts, and the atmosphere of fantasy does not work for me - this is considered one of the Bard's "problem plays", neither a true tragedy nor a comedy, though containing elements of both. Like Othello, it is marked by themes of jealousy and remorse, but nowhere near as vividly and convincingly for me.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A tragedy that wanted to be a comedy. The Deus ex Machina of the ending (a statue coming to life -- that of a woman who died of grief and mortification at the hands of her husband) was a little absurd. And Hermione (reincarnated) embraces the bastard. What is up with that? A highly implausible story -- it would have made a much better tragedy. Leonates should have gotten his comeuppance.

[jonfaith · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have drunk and seen the spider.

One’s suspension of disbelief will be sorely tested here. The king of Sicily is a paranoid git. Was he always of this character or did he arrive at such by an untoward alignment of humors? Again, just go with it. The tyrant is convinced that his wife has been untrue. The king of Bohemia is the suspect. His wife is pregnant, a physical symbol of his being cuckolded. This is a comedy, right? He's allowed to fume and bellow, allowing a stage of fire and fury to persist through a trial and beyond with a flourish of Nixonian exactness .

The accused flee and then the sunny Czech coast becomes the subsequent location as sixteen years have lapsed since the previous act, the interim allowing the child to have grown to a plot pivot. There’s a bear, a clown and several royals in disguise. There is an amazing of wooing where the natural character of the garden is discussed and explored. I was hoping for something akin to The Tempest and alas it didn’t happen.

[lizpatanders · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this play enough, but it certainly wasn't my favorite. I thought the plot was good. I thought the book raised interesting questions about faith and taking things at face value. I only really thought the writing was especially good in a couple of places, I found some of the characters a bit difficult to relate to. Thre's also one speculation about the title which I find interesting. At one point Hermione asks her son to tell a story and some people believe that this would be the story he'd have told. I also thought the play was a bit similar to Beauty and the Beast in that there seems to be points whre Leontes trusts no one yet by the end of the play it's everyone else, not himself, who have led to the play's conclusion. Overall, I enjoyed reading this play and I'm glad I did, it's just not one that stuck with me as much.

[coach_of_alva · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think this is as bipolar a play as I've ever read and I feel that I must give it two reviews to do it justice. I found Leontes in his green-eyed frenzy more disturbing than Othello. The Moor was an honest soldier subtly deceived. Leontes was an absolute monarch who went mad, roaring his diseased fancies in public, crushing dissent in those who knew better (with one exception), curable in the end only by the gods. (A regular Henry VIII, now that I think about it. ) The only person who stands up to him while he is in frenzy is the noblewoman Paulina, a great and unheralded creation, a role for Kathy Bates or Renee Zellweger.I liked the second half well enough with its bumpkins and moonstruck lovers. I loved Autolycus the vagabond, pickpocket, sharper, the last in Shakespeare's long line of sharp rogues and clever clowns. I've never read a more preposterous happy ending. I didn't mind too much. I wanted this play to end happily.

[mstrust · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Deeply paranoid, Leontes, the King of Sicilia, decides that his wife has been having an affair with the visiting King of Bohemia, and that the baby she carries has been fathered by the visitor. Leontes demands that his friend Camillo murder King Polixenes, but instead, Camillo flees Sicilia with the King. Since he can't take revenge on the man, Leontes punishes the Queen and the newborn child, who is taken to Bohemia and left to the elements. She is rescued by a poor shepherd, who raises and loves her as a daughter, and the local prince falls in love with her, which causes problems with his father.This play is a twofer- you get both a intense tragedy, along the lines of "Othello", then a romance. It's weird, because it's hard to transition from a king demanding that a newborn be burned alive to young love. For me, the first half, with the King's madness, was way more compelling.