William Shakespeare edited by Susan Snyder - The Winters Tale

THE NEW CAMBRIDGE SHAKESPEARE

GENERAL EDITOR

Brian Gibbons

ASSOCIATE GENERAL EDITOR

A. R. Braunmuller, University of California, Los Angeles

From the publication of the first volumes in 1984 the General Editor of the New Cambridge Shakespeare was Philip Brockbank and the Associate General Editors were Brian Gibbons and Robin Hood. From 1990 to 1994 the General Editor was Brian Gibbons and the Associate General Editors were A. R. Braunmuller and Robin Hood.

THE WINTERS TALE

The Winters Tale is one of Shakespeares most varied, theatrically self-conscious and emotionally wide-ranging plays. This edition provides a newly edited text, a comprehensive introduction that takes into account current critical thinking, and a detailed commentary on the plays language designed to make it easily accessible to contemporary readers. Much of the plays copiousness inheres in its generic intermingling of tragedy, comedy, romance, pastoral and the history play. In addition to dates and sources, the introduction attends to iterative patterns, the nature and cause of Leontes jealousy, the staging and meaning of the bear episode and the thematic and structural implications of the figure of Time. Special attention is paid to the ending and its tempered happiness. Performance history is integrated throughout the introduction and commentary. Textual analysis, four appendices including the theatrical practice of doubling and a select chronology of performance history and a reading list complete the edition.

THE NEW CAMBRIDGE SHAKESPEARE

Alls Well That Ends Well, edited by Russell Fraser

Antony and Cleopatra, edited by David Bevington

As You Like It, edited by Michael Hattaway

The Comedy of Errors, edited by T. S. Dorsch

Coriolanus, edited by Lee Bliss

Cymberline, edited by Martin Butler

Hamlet, edited by Philip Edwards

Julius Caesar, edited by Marvin Spevack

King Edward III, edited by Giorgio Melchiori

The First Part of King Henry IV, edited by Herbert Weil and Judith Weil

The Second Part of King Henry IV, edited by Giorgio Melchiori

King Henry V, edited by Andrew Gurr

The First Part of King Henry VI, edited by Michael Hattaway

The Second Part of King Henry VI, edited by Michael Hattaway

The Third Part of King Henry VI, edited by Michael Hattaway

King Henry VIII, edited by John Margeson

King John, edited by L. A. Beaurline

The Tragedy of King Lear, edited by Jay L. Halio

King Richard II, edited by Andrew Gurr

King Richard III, edited by Janis Lull

Loves Labours Lost, edited by William C. Carroll

Macbeth, edited by A. R. Braunmuller

Measure for Measure, edited by Brian Gibbons

The Merchant of Venice, edited by M. M. Mahood

The Merry Wives of Windsor, edited by David Crane

A Midsummer Nights Dream, edited by R. A. Foakes

Much Ado About Nothing, edited by F. H. Mares

Othello, edited by Norman Sanders

Pericles, edited by Doreen DelVecchio and Antony Hammond

The Poems, edited by John Roe

Romeo and Juliet, edited by G. Blakemore Evans

The Sonnets, edited by G. Blakemore Evans

The Taming of the Shrew, edited by Ann Thompson

The Tempest, edited by David Lindley

Timon of Athens, edited by Karl Klein

Titus Andronicus, edited by Alan Hughes

Troilus and Cressida, edited by Anthony B. Dawson

Twelfth Night, edited by Elizabeth Story Donno

The Two Gentlemen of Verona, edited by Kurt Schlueter

The Two Noble Kinsmen, edited by Robert Kean Turner and Patricia Tatspaugh

The Winters Tale, edited by Susan Snyder and Deborah T. CurrenAquino

THE EARLY QUARTOS

The First Quarto of Hamlet, edited by Kathleen O. Irace

The First Quarto of King Henry V, edited by Andrew Gurr

The First Quarto of King Lear, edited by Jay L. Halio

The First Quarto of King Richard III, edited by Peter Davison

The First Quarto of Othello, edited by Scott McMillin

The First Quarto of Romeo and Juliet, edited by Lukas Erne

The Taming of a Shrew: The 1594 Quarto, edited by Stephen Roy Miller

THE WINTERS TALE

Edited by

SUSAN SNYDER

AND

DEBORAH T. CURREN-AQUINO

Folger Shakespeare Library

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town,
Singapore, So Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City

Cambridge University Press

The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org

Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521221580

Cambridge University Press 2007

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2007

6th printing 2012

Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CRO 4YY

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 0 521 22158 0 Hardback

ISBN 978 0 521 29373 0 Paperback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

IN MEMORY OF SUSAN SNYDER

AND

WITH GRATITUDE TO ALL FROM WHOM WE HAVE LEARNED ALONG THE WAY

ILLUSTRATIONS

Illustration by permission of the Harvard Theatre Collection.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Originally this edition of The Winters Tale was to have been edited solely by the eminent Susan Snyder. Serious illness, however, forced her to relinquish that role, but not before she completed the text, textual analysis, and basic draft of the collations. She also left behind a body of notes, which contained insightful observations and probing queries no surprise to the many students of Shakespeare who have benefited from her splendid scholarship, whether in the classroom, conference lectures, publications, or, as was so often the case, brilliant conversations over tea. I was both honoured and humbled by her recommendation, followed by A. R. Braunmullers gracious invitation, that I take over the edition. The opportunity to continue where she left off has allowed me to enter into a posthumous collaboration with someone whose ideas shared generously in the months before she died and through the aforementioned notes have greatly enhanced my own understanding of Shakespeares vast romance. The introduction, textual note, textual commentary, supplementary notes, and appendixes fell to me; the collations, in the end, represent a joint venture. The text remains essentially Susans, with some further stage directions and modifications. On the rare occasion where I have opted for a different emendation, Susans has been cited in the commentary. Whatever in this edition might be considered most illuminating and truly fine in content and/or expression belongs to Susan and to the series exemplary associate general editor, A. R. Braunmuller. His sharp eye and cogent criticism always expressed with unfailing tact, encouragement, and good humour have saved me from frequent embarrassment. Any errors, omissions, and infelicities of style that remain are my own.