Pericles by William ShakespeareMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Not gonna lie--I didn't even know there was a play called Pericles written by Shakespeare until just before I bought it. Didn't expect much, but I liked it.
Okay, the first couple acts were written by someone else, and they were, ya know, fine. I don't hate on them like some people. But the rest was genuine Shakespeare, and it's pretty fun to read, which is why it makes sense that it was a longtime favorite in Shakespeare's time and after. It's a good story with lots of different settings and a number of surprises.
Of course, the Tyre and Ephesus and Mytilene and Antioch of the play don't feel very Asian or Mediterranean, and could probably have been replaced with a variety of European cities, since that's what they feel like. The only thing that makes it feel like the ancient world near the Middle East is the way that communication between the cities is slow to nonexistent. The story requires poor communication for the separations and reunions to work as well as they did.
The story relies a bit on coincidence and deus ex machina (with the goddess Diana appearing to Pericles in a vision, telling him where to go), but that's not a big drawback here. It would be nice to see Pericles taking action somehow to solve his problems, the way a modern story is usually told, but instead we see how Pericles proves himself to be a good man, sacrificing himself for the good of others and showing generosity to neighboring cities, so he earns his happily ever after indirectly. His wife and daughter do the same. All remain morally upright, so all remain deserving and are able to benefit from the intervention of the gods in the end.
Good story, happy ending--it works. I liked it.
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