The Oxford Shakespeare: The Winter's Tale

The Oxford Shakespeare: The Winter's Tale--------------------------------------------------The Winter's Tale is Shakespeare's most perfectly realized tragi- comedy,as notable for its tragic intensity as for its comic grace and, throughout,for the richness and complexity of its poetry. It concludes, moreover,with the most daring and moving reconciliation scene in all Shakespeare'splays. Though the title may suggest an escapist fantasy, recent criticismhas seen in the play a profoundly realist psychology and a powerfulcommentary on the violence implicit in family relationships and deep,longlasting friendships. Stephen Orgel's edition considers the playin relation to Renaissance conceptions of both dramatic genre and thefamily, traces the changing critical and theatrical attitudes towardsit, and places its psychological and dramatic conflicts within theJacobean cultural and political context. The commentary pays specialattention to the play's linguistic complexity, and the edition alsoincludes a complete reprint of Shakespeare's source, Pandosto, by RobertGreene.