“Pericles, Prince of Tyre” Discussion
Details
Monday, June 29, 2026, 6-8 pm
Minneapolis Central Library
(Downtown Minneapolis)
300 Nicollet Mall - Room N-202
Minneapolis, MN 55401
There is underground parking beneath the library, off 4th St. S., for about $6. There is also paid parking at parking meters.
Go in to the Library lobby and then in to the book stacks area. Take the elevator or stairs up to the 2nd floor, then go all the way to the left.
Either in person or by Zoom, we will have a special guest from the Great River Shakespeare Festival, which will be performing Pericles in Winona, MN, June 25 - July 25, 2026.
This is a discussion about the play, not a reading or showing of it.
Few love to hear the sins they love to act.
– Pericles, Pericles; Act 1, Scene 1
My Dionzya, shall we rest us here
And by relating tales of others’ griefs
See if ’twill teach us to forget our own?
– Cleon, Pericles; Act 1, Scene 4
Who makes the fairest show means most deceit.
– Cleon, Pericles; Act 1, Scene 4
A man whom both the waters and the wind
In that vast tennis court hath made the ball
For them to play upon entreats you pity him.
– Pericles, Pericles; Act 2, Scene 1
Help, master, help! Here’s a fish
hangs in the net like a poor man’s right in the law:
’twill hardly come out.
– Second Fisherman, Pericles; Act 2, Scene 1
Opinion’s but a fool that makes us scan
The outward habit for the inward man.
– Simonides, Pericles; Act 2, Scene 2
O, come, be buried
A second time within these arms.
– Pericles, Pericles; Act 5, Scene 3
SYNOPSIS OF PLAY (from the Folger Library)
FREE VIDEOS - FULL PLAY (YOUTUBE)
• Shakespeare in the Park (Eugene, OR) (2019)
• GreenStage Shakespeare in the Park (2022)
• The Adventures Of Pericles (2016)
• Pericles (Paul Scofield, Judi Dench) [audio only]
FREE VIDEOS - OTHER (YOUTUBE)
• Tim Nance: Shakespeare’s Pericles Discussion and Summary (22:38)
• Harvard ENGL E-129 - Lecture 9: Pericles by Marjorie Garber (2007) (1:52:23)
KANOPY APP
Download the free app. Then link your library account to it. This will allow you free access to many Shakespeare plays. You can also watch the Shakespeare series “Upstart Crow” for free.
(Currently it appears that Hennepin County, St. Paul, and Ramsey County library systems are not participating in this program, but that Anoka County and Washington County library systems are.)
ARTICLES
• Wikipedia: Pericles, Prince of Tyre
• SparkNotes: Pericles - Overview
• SparkNotes: Pericles - Full Play Summary
• SparkNotes: Pericles - Full Play Analysis
• SparkNotes: Pericles - Mini Essays
• SparkNotes: Pericles - Suggested Essay Topics
• About Shakespeare’s Pericles by Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine
• A Modern Perspective: Pericles by Margaret Jane Kidnie
• Appendix: The “Pericles” Story in Gower and Twine
• The post-modern peregrinations of Pericles by Sujata Iyengar
• Further Reading: Pericles
PODCASTS & TRANSCRIPTS
• Approaching Shakespeare (Emma Smith): Pericles
• Shakespeare Unlimited, Episode 131:
How Pericles Inspired Mark Haddon’s novel The Porpoise (October 28, 2019)
• The Play’s the Thing: Pericles
LIVE PERFORMANCES IN MINNESOTA
• “Pericles, Prince of Tyre” (June 25 - July 25, 2026)
Great River Shakespeare Festival, Winona, MN
GENERAL RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
• The Folger Shakespeare Library has free and paid (includes notes) downloadable texts of all of Shakespeare’s plays.
• The Folger Library: Shakespeare Documented has copies of original documents from Shakespeare’s time.
• PlayShakespeare: The Ultimate Free Shakespeare Research
• Podcast: “Approaching Shakespeare”
• Podcast: “Shakespeare Unlimited” Play by Play
• Play On Podcasts
• SparkNotes 101: Shakespeare [Excellent synopses of all the plays.]
• Book: Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber [Excellent analysis of all the plays.] Kindle edition only $5.99!
• Prima Facie: An End to Doubt: Shakespeare’s Authorship is a Fact
FACEBOOK PAGES
• The Official William Shakespeare Page
• Shakespeare Study Group
• William Shakespeare: His Works and His World
APP
• Shakespeare App
BEST SHAKESPEARE USED BOOK SELECTIONS IN THE TWIN CITIES
• Midway Books, St. Paul
• The Book House, Minneapolis
• James & Mary Laurie Booksellers, Minneapolis
• Magers and Quinn, Minneapolis
• Half Price Books