Episode 64 - Pericles

2021-10-05

Getting into the late romances -- starting here with Pericles -- means we're nearing the end of our sojourn through William Shakespeare's career. But these are a fascinating quartet of plays, and Pericles is a fantastic introduction to the complicated morality and plot cues that we find Shakespeare playing with throughout these final plays, after years of creativity and success under his belt. And because these are less well-known plays (with the exception of The Tempest), discussing them feels fresh a...

Getting into the late romances -- starting here with Pericles -- means we're nearing the end of our sojourn through William Shakespeare's career. But these are a fascinating quartet of plays, and Pericles is a fantastic introduction to the complicated morality and plot cues that we find Shakespeare playing with throughout these final plays, after years of creativity and success under his belt.

And because these are less well-known plays (with the exception of The Tempest), discussing them feels fresh and interesting. We hope you'll agree. Join us as we journey through the Mediterranean with Pericles, Prince of Tyre and his trials and triumphs on his search for family.

Notes

- John Gower's poem "The Tale of Apollonius of Tyre" from his Confessio Amantis, a 33,000 line poem from 1386-1390

- Lindsay's confusion stems from this dude, who shares a name but not a life with the titular Pericles.

- The authorship of Pericles has always been questioned, and this New Yorker article illustrates the "confusing riddle" of it well.

Ancient Bickerings

Who is the villain of this play?

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