Pericles

William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat, Paul Werstine, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat, Paul Werstine

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781982170172
• eBook ISBN: 9781501149962
• Topic: Literatur
• Subtopic: Britisches Drama

The authoritative edition of Pericles from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers.

Pericles tells of a prince who risks his life to win a princess, but discovers that she is in an incestuous relationship with her father and flees to safety. He marries another princess, but she dies giving birth to their daughter. The adventures continue from one disaster to another until the grown-up daughter pulls her father out of despair and the play moves toward a gloriously happy ending.

This edition includes:
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Margaret Jane Kidnie

​The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

PERICLES,
Prince of Tyre

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ACT 1

<ACT 1>

---

<1 Chorus>

Enter Gower.

<GOWER>
To sing a song that old was sung,	1
From ashes ancient Gower is come,	2
Assuming man’s infirmities	3
To glad your ear and please your eyes.	4
It hath been sung at festivals,	5
On ember eves and holy days,	6
And lords and ladies in their lives	7
Have read it for restoratives.	8
The purchase is to make men glorious,	9
Et bonum quo antiquius, eo melius.	10
If you, born in <these> latter times	11
When wit’s more ripe, accept my rhymes,	12
And that to hear an old man sing	13
May to your wishes pleasure bring,	14
I life would wish, and that I might	15
Waste it for you like taper light.	16
This Antioch, then: Antiochus the Great	17
Built up this city for his chiefest seat,	18
The fairest in all Syria.	19
I tell you what mine authors say.	20
This king unto him took a peer,	21
Who died and left a female heir	22
So buxom, blithe, and full...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Editors’ Preface
• Shakespeare’s Pericles
• Reading Shakespeare’s Language: Pericles
• Shakespeare’s Life
• Shakespeare’s Theater
• The Publication of Shakespeare’s Plays
• An Introduction to This Text
• Characters in the Play
• Pericles, Prince of Tyre
• Longer Notes
• Textual Notes
• Appendix: The “Pericles” Story in Gower and Twine
• Pericles: A Modern Perspective by Margaret Jane Kidnie
• Further Reading
• Key to Famous Lines and Phrases
• Commentary
• Copyright