Skip to content

Questions about Pericles, Prince of Tyre

Short answers, pulled from the story.

Who wrote Pericles, Prince of Tyre?

Modern editors generally agree that William Shakespeare wrote roughly 827 lines of Pericles, Prince of Tyre, corresponding to the portion of the play beginning after scene 9. The first two acts, some 835 lines, are widely attributed to George Wilkins, a dramatist and pamphleteer whose literary career spanned roughly 1606-1608.

Why was Pericles, Prince of Tyre not included in the First Folio?

Pericles, Prince of Tyre was excluded from the First Folio of 1623 for reasons that remain uncertain, though questions about its authorship and the corrupt state of its only surviving text are likely factors. It was not added to Shakespeare's collected works until the second impression of the Third Folio in 1664.

What are the sources for Pericles, Prince of Tyre?

The play draws primarily on John Gower's Confessio Amantis of 1393 and Lawrence Twine's prose version of the same story, The Pattern of Painful Adventures, dating from around 1576 and reprinted in 1607. George Wilkins's 1608 prose novel, The Painful Adventures of Pericles Prince of Tyre, appears to be a novelization derived from the play rather than a source for it.

When was Pericles, Prince of Tyre first published?

Pericles, Prince of Tyre was first published in 1609 as a quarto, printed by the stationer Henry Gosson. It was subsequently reprinted in 1611, 1619, 1630, and 1635, making it one of Shakespeare's most frequently reprinted plays during his own era.

What did T. S. Eliot say about Pericles, Prince of Tyre?

T. S. Eliot called Pericles a very great play and described the reunion scene between Pericles and Marina in Act Five, scene one as the finest of all recognition scenes. He characterized it as a perfect example of the ultra-dramatic, involving beings seen in a light more than that of day.

Who played Pericles in the 2024 Royal Shakespeare Company production?

Alfred Enoch played Pericles in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2024 production directed by Tamara Harvey. The production ran at Stratford-upon-Avon from July to September 2024 before transferring to Chicago Shakespeare Theater from the 20th of October to the 8th of December 2024.