Marina singing before Pericles

Pericles

William Shakespearec. 1607
Influence10th pct
Popularity16th pct
Shakespeare

Read this if you…

  • are scraping the barrel of Shakespeare (guess it still is shakespeare)
  • are okay with way too ridiculous endings, even by shakespeare standards

Skip this if you…

  • haven't already read ALL the classic shakespeare plays
  • aren't willing to go slow, read notes, look up analyses of famous passages (only way to "get" shakespeare)
  • foolishly think shakespeare is overrated

The Groblé Take

This one was a little too absurd with everyone alive and meeting up at the end. Not that interesting except for marina being so honorable, she makes bad people good

Gallery

Depicted in Art

Marina sings to a despondent, grief-stricken Pericles aboard ship; the moment just before he recognizes his lost daughter.

Thomas Stothard, 1825

Czech Art Nouveau illustration depicting a scene from Pericles in Scheiner's characteristic decorative style.

Artus Scheiner

Color illustration for Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare retelling of Pericles; depicts a key episode in the prince's adventures.

Norman M. Price, 1915

Frontispiece engraving for Lamb's children's retelling of Pericles, framing a key moment from the prince's wanderings.

William Harvey, 1831

Editions

Recommended Editions

#1Top Pick

Folger Shakespeare Library

2005

Folger's the readable one. Text on one page, notes on the facing page, written in plain English instead of textbook-speak. Catches every word and reference you'd otherwise Google, without breaking the scene to do it.

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Notable Quotes

Opinion's but a fool, that makes us scan The outward habit by the inward man.

Simonides, Act II, Scene ii
All 11 quotes, with sources →
Adaptations

Screen & Stage

Posters via The Movie Database (TMDB)

AcclaimPraised by 3 notable voices
  • T.S. Eliot, poet & critic, 1888–1965: "To my mind the finest of all the 'recognition scenes' is Act V, sc. i of that very great play Pericles."
  • Harold Bloom, literary critic, 1930–2019: "His most radical theatrical experiment since the mature Hamlet of 1600–1601."
  • Mary Zimmerman, theater director & MacArthur Fellow, b. 1960: "I did end up just falling completely in love with it."

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