PrefaceAlthough superficially similar in form, most scholars do not consider that the Abridged Pericles belongs to the Madelinian Canon; the most plausible theory holds that it was partly or wholly composed by an imitator, possibly a Manfred Reiner (the spelling is uncertain), who lived in Geneva around 2013.Pericles, Prince of Tyre (abridged version)ANTIOCHUS: Here's a riddle: if you can't guess, I'm going to kill you. What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening, and sleeps with his daughter?PERICLES: Humbert Humbert?ANTIOCHUS: Close enough. But I'm going to kill you anyway.PERICLES: Hey, no fair![Dumb show. Pericles flees Antioch, is shipwrecked, falls in love with Thaisa, marries her, incorrectly believes she has died in childbirth, dumps her body in the sea, places his newborn daughter in the care of an idiot and his homicidal consort, etc. Distressed by this unfortunate series of events, he decides to stop visiting his hairdresser]PERICLES: [much longer hair] Her voice was ever soft and lowAn excellent thing in woman.ATTENDANT: His wits are wandering, he thinks he's Lear.PERICLES: And my poor fool is hanged.ATTENDANT: He means his wife.[Enter MARINA and THAISA]MARINA: Hello Daddy!PERICLES: Thou livest! THAISA: There was a mixup. They hanged a different fool.PERICLES: Yay! Group hug!CHORUS: Don't you wish you could write like William Shakespeare and his unknown collaborator?THE END

I was done with Shakespeare for the season, having had my fill with my book clubs own competition to readas a teamall the works of Shakespeare before the other teams. Then we were getting down to the wire and only had a couple more plays to read, so I tossed aside any hesitance and figured that I could stomach one more for the good of the team. The only one left unassigned? You guessed it: Pericles.I figured there was probably a reason some people didnt jump to read this one, and the first part of Act I confirmed those thoughts. While it wasnt boring, the content was enough to raise my eyebrows and make me wonder if I could plow through a whole play with this subject material as the main theme. To my surprise, that portion of the play quickly expired and the play went on a totally new and different storyline, with only the character of Pericles to hold it together. I enjoyed the next Act well enough before I found myself transported to yet another completely different situation and turn of events. While I was reluctant to leave a storyline I had just become attached to, each transition still found me intrigued. I followed along willingly, but guarded; you see, I anticipated several varying, but plausible, tragic endings for the storys hero.By the time I reached Act V, I found myself very pleased with the way things were turning out, which meant that I could come to grips with whatever devastating finale Shakespeare threw my way. To my surprise, turns out I had not anticipated every possible ending, and Shakespeare happened to choose the perfect one. Not only did it do justice to each well-developed character, but it surprisingly tied together every single, episodic actincluding that wince-inducing first actin a way that created a complete and satisfying narrative out of all of the plays wandering storylines. Impressive, Bill!Besides the careful weaving of storylines, I also noticed that Mr. Shakespeare used a lot of verse in this one, with plenty of rhyming to go along with itwhich always makes for a more fun reading experience. Beyond all that, there were plenty of epigrams and other notable/quotable lines. All together, this makes me wonder how Pericles is not a more popular/well-regarded play. Probably the content of the first act and some of the more rough language/situations of the fourth act contribute to people hestitating to give a recommendation. Certainly, Pericles should only be read by a mature audience due to the contents of those two acts; but Ive always felt that all Shakespeare should be saved for a more mature audience anyway, if only for a more clear understanding and enjoyment of the experience itself (but that is another rant for another time).Perhaps, after all that, my best recommendation can be that in spite of the fact that I had not finished the play in time to help my team win the competition, I eagerly found a way to finish that very same day with as much enthusiasm (if not more) than if I had been reading to win. That is the power of Pericles, Prince of Tyreso say the gods and me.

Pericles tertemiz, soylu bir genç. Bir Kraln kzna talip oluyor, Kraln soraca soruyu bilirse evlenecek, bilemezse ölüme gidecek dier birçok damat aday gibi. Sevdiklerini kaybediyor, Tanrlarn gazabna uruyor, müthi aclar çekiyor. Entrikalar, tesadüfler, zdraplar, sevinçler bir arada yaanyor.Farkl bir konuya da deinmek isterim.Kral Lear oyunundan yola çkarak Shapespeare'e "eyh Pir" diyenler önce Pericles'i okumal zira dini öeler daha somut biçimde görülüyor.