Rating: 
Summary: A real pleasure to read!
Review: I really, really liked this play. This was my third of Shakespeare's, and I was pleased to discover that I hadn't wasted my time reading it. Oh, how sorry I felt for Hermione! After Leontes had done that to her, I just held a grudge against him for the rest of the play. I couldn't help it! Hehe. Anyway, this play is probably amongst my favorites of Shakespeare so far. It's light tone that lacks in syrupy drama and exaggeration yet contains elements that get you where it counts makes for a well put-together play. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A real pleasure to read!
Review: I really, really liked this play. This was my third of Shakespeare's, and I was pleased to discover that I hadn't wasted my time reading it. Oh, how sorry I felt for Hermione! After Leontes had done that to her, I just held a grudge against him for the rest of the play. I couldn't help it! Hehe. Anyway, this play is probably amongst my favorites of Shakespeare so far. It's light tone that lacks in syrupy drama and exaggeration yet contains elements that get you where it counts makes for a well put-together play. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A Bit Awkward, But Still Excellent
Review: In my opinion, this does not quite reach the level of a masterpiece. Leontes' initial rage is too sudden and abrupt. Furthermore, there is something too artificial about the happy ending when Shakespeare makes it clear that Camillo will marry Antigonus' widow Paulina. Antigonus is too awkwardly dealt with. Remember, Leontes threatened to kill him and his wife if he did not agree to leave the infant girl in the wilderness. But all of that aside, the play is an excellent piece of literature. Leontes' rages are frightening and effective. Furthermore, his regret and repentance is touching and convincing. Antigonus is memorable as the martyr who offers us some comical touches. Hermione is fine as the forgiving queen. Perdita and Florizel are pretty good as the determined young lovers. Camillo deserves special notice as one of the few level headed characters. First he protects Polixenes from Leontes' fury, and then he protects Perdita and Florizel from Polixenes. But the most memorable character could very well be Autolycus, who in my opinion is a literary reincarnation of Falstaff. This play does have its weaknesses, but it also has good poetry, drama, comedy, moments of suspense, interesting surprises, and well developed characters.
Rating: 
Summary: The Terrible Costs of Jealous Rage
Review: The Winter's Tale contains some of the most technically difficult solutions to telling a story that have ever appeared in 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 rage in which he doubts her faithfulness. As his jealousy grows, he takes actions to defend his misconceptions of his "abused" honor that in 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 apart in time. Although that sounds like crossing the Grand Canyon in 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 and remorse closely adjacent to one another. As a result, the audience is able to experience many more emotions than normally are evoked in a single play. Third, the play's final scene is as remarkable a bit of writing as you can imagine. Read it, and 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 and disturbing ones? Love first, second, and always!
Rating:
Summary: The Terrible Costs of Jealous Rage
Review: The Winter's Tale contains some of the most technically difficult solutions to telling a story that have ever appeared in 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 rage in which he doubts her faithfulness. As his jealousy grows, he takes actions to defend his misconceptions of his "abused" honor that in 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 apart in time. Although that sounds like crossing the Grand Canyon in 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 and remorse closely adjacent to one another. As a result, the audience is able to experience many more emotions than normally are evoked in a single play. Third, the play's final scene is as remarkable a bit of writing as you can imagine. Read it, and 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 and disturbing ones? Love first, second, and always!
Rating:
Summary: A Redemptive Tragedy
Review: The Winter's Tale is a lot of things: heart-breaking, exhilerating, funny, beautiful, romantic, profound, etc. Yeah, it's all here. This is one of the bard's best plays, and I can't believe they don't teach this in schools. Of course, the ones they teach are excellent, but I can see high school kids enjoying this one a lot more than some of those others (Othello, King Lear).
The story is, of course, brilliant. King Leontes goes into a jealous rage at the beginning against his wife Hermione. Leontes is very mistaken in his actions, and the result is tragic. Shakespeare picks the story back up sixteen years later with the children, and the story works to a really, really surprising end of bittersweet redemption. This is one of Shakespeare's bests. The first half is a penetrating and devestating, but the second half shows a capacity for salvation from the depths of despair. Also, this being Shakespeare, the blank verse is gorgeous and the characters are well drawn, and the ending is a surprise unparalleled in the rest of his plays. The Winter's Tale is a truly profound and entertaining read.
Rating:
Summary: Tired of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar...?
Review: Then read this before you retire from Shakespeare! I read this in AP English after Hamlet, and I have to say that this was a surprise to me. The Winters Tale is refreshing compared to Shakespeare's earlier tragedy works. No one dies in this play except for one person instead of the entire cast. This is mainly a love story with several different types of love affairs- Leontes and Hermoine, Leontes and Polizenes, Farid and Perdita... There is no single major character as this play is set up in two different time periods and each character mostly acts independently of each other. As for the characterization in the play, readers can observe the classical Shakespearean characters (similar characteristics to the earlier plays) and newly personality designed characers. This mixed play reveals Shakespeare's transition from his original writings to his attempt to prove his audience that there is good in life. I recommend this play for readers and interested literature majors because I have found this play to be widely used on college campuses and I can see why. Although we are done and we spent some time but I felt that this play deserves to be discussed in depth since there are many different elements to it. Even short plays can evolve into a course as well as long Russian style novels.
Rating:
Summary: Tired of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar...?
Review: Then read this before you retire from Shakespeare! I read this in AP English after Hamlet, and I have to say that this was a surprise to me. The Winters Tale is refreshing compared to Shakespeare's earlier tragedy works. No one dies in this play except for one person instead of the entire cast. This is mainly a love story with several different types of love affairs- Leontes and Hermoine, Leontes and Polizenes, Farid and Perdita... There is no single major character as this play is set up in two different time periods and each character mostly acts independently of each other. As for the characterization in the play, readers can observe the classical Shakespearean characters (similar characteristics to the earlier plays) and newly personality designed characers. This mixed play reveals Shakespeare's transition from his original writings to his attempt to prove his audience that there is good in life. I recommend this play for readers and interested literature majors because I have found this play to be widely used on college campuses and I can see why. Although we are done and we spent some time but I felt that this play deserves to be discussed in depth since there are many different elements to it. Even short plays can evolve into a course as well as long Russian style novels.
Rating:
Summary: Billy Boy's GREATEST Play!!!!!
Review: This play, in my opinion, is Shakespeare's greatest. It doesn't have the great quotes or the great characters or the action of many of his plays, but it has a 'Surprise Twist' which caused chills to run through my entire body. I read ALL of Shakespeare's plays and 'The Winter's Tale' is the ONLY one which shocked me at the end, took my breath away, and sent chills through my body. If you read only one Shakespeare play, make it 'The Winter's Tale'. I am so surprised that nobody ever recommended this play to us when we were in school. People just talk about Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, and Romeo and Juliet, but 'The Winter's Tale' beats them all. Read it!!! You WON'T be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A world of unbelivable capabilities
Review: What can i say? I enjoy shakespeare as much in this book than any other. I recommend it to anyone who finds themselves confused and in a world of many realities to read this book and they will find much sence and at the same time escape into the world of their imagination.
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