Episode 33: An Introduction to A Winter’s Tale

Welcome to our first episode on Shakespeare’s play A Winter’s Tale. Hosts Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins start off with some ideas of how to approach a Shakespeare play, especially if you feel new or intimidated by Shakespeare. Angelina talks about the use of poetry and prose in these plays, as well as the different types of plays within Shakespeare’s body of work. She also discusses the history and development of drama from the time of the Greeks to the Renaissance.

James Banks joins the podcasts again to lend his perspective to our study of Shakespeare. He recommends the Oxford, Norton and Riverside editions for reading Shakespeare. He also encourages people to see screen adaptations, audio versions and, of course, watching a live play when possible.

James also talks a little about the challenge of the older English language and how to deal with that as you read and listen. Our hosts also take a look at the culture and history surrounding Shakespeare and his theatre company. James notes that we should pay special attention to Paulina, Leontes and Camillo and should appreciate the psychological depth of this play. Finally, they chat about the challenge of classifying this play as well as other later plays such as Cymbeline, pointing out that we now know them as the Romances.

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The Winter’s Tale Show Schedule:

January 28: Act I
February 4: Act II
February 11: Act III
February 18: Act IV
February 25: Act V
March: Live Q&A for Patreon Fellows

In Memory of Yeats

by W. H. Auden

Earth, receive an honoured guest:
William Yeats is laid to rest.
Let the Irish vessel lie
Emptied of its poetry.

In the nightmare of the dark
All the dogs of Europe bark,
And the living nations wait,
Each sequestered in its hate;

Intellectual disgrace
Stares from every human face,
And the seas of pity lie
Locked and frozen in each eye.

Follow, poet, follow right
To the bottom of the night,
With your unconstraining voice
Still persuade us to rejoice;

With the farming of a verse
Make a vineyard of the curse,
Sing of human unsuccess
In a rapture of distress;

In the deserts of the heart
Let the healing fountain start,
In the prison of his days
Teach the free man how to praise.

Book List:

Home Education by Charlotte Mason

A Christmas Dream and How it Came True by Louisa May Alcott

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by E. Nesbit

Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb

The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser

The Old Arcadia by Philip Sidney

The Re-write (film)

Shakespeare: a Critical Study of His Mind and Art by Edward Dowden

Characters of Shakespeare’s Plays by William Hazlitt

Shakespeare Wars by Ron Rosenbaum

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Connect with Us:

Find Angelina at https://angelinastanford.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/

Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy’s own Patreon page also!

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