Episode 34: "A Winter's Tale" Act 1
On today\u2019s episode of The Literary Life podcast, Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks talk about Act 1 of The Winter\u2019s Tale by Williams Shakespeare. After sharing their commonplace quotes, our hosts begin by discussing the form of nearly ever Shakespeare play. They discuss the \u201cproblem\u201d of the combination of tragic and comedic elements in this play. Other themes discussed are the presence of so many doubles in the characters, the way Shakespeare uses the setting, and how the kings represent their entire kingdoms.
Cindy goes on to point out the way Leontes accepts the idea he has about Hermoine and Polixenes and runs with it. Angelina expounds on the way that people in Shakespeare\u2019s time thought about having properly ordered mind versus one that is disordered. She and Thomas also highlight the way the Renaissance person saw disorder in the individual as connected to disorder in the universe. To close, Cindy also points out the way Shakespeare \u201cplays\u201d with words, so be watching for that as we read on!
The Winter\u2019s Tale Show Schedule:- February 4: Act II
- February 11: Act III
- February 18: Act IV
- February 25: Act V
- March: Live Q&A for Patreon Fellows
by Edna St. Vincent Milay
Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink
Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain;
Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink
And rise and sink and rise and sink again;
Love can not fill the thickened lung with breath,
Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;
Yet many a man is making friends with death
Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.
It well may be that in a difficult hour,
Pinned down by pain and moaning for release,
Or nagged by want past resolution\u2019s power,
I might be driven to sell your love for peace,
Or trade the memory of this night for food.
It well may be. I do not think I would.
(Amazon Affiliate links)
A Dish of Orts by George MacDonald
Range by David Epstein
The Meaning of Shakespeare, Vol. 2 by Harold Goddard
The Personal Heresy by C. S. Lewis and E. M. Tillyard
The Elizabethan World Picture by E. M. Tillyard
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