One of Shakespeare’s late romance plays, The Winter’s Tale tells the story of King Leontes’ jealousy of his wife Hermione. Suspecting their newborn daughter is the product of Hermione’s affair with his friend Polixenes, Leontes orders that Hermione go to prison and that their daughter should be abandoned. Thanks to Paulina and Antigonus’ efforts to save the child, she grows up into a lovely young woman, Perdita, and falls in love with Florizel. What starts off as a tragedy turns to comedy, as the lovers hope to wed, and Leontes repents. A little magic reunites Leontes’ family, once shattered by envy. The Shakescleare version of The Winter’s Tale includes the original play alongside a modern English translation, which will help you make sense of its famous lines, like the notorious stage direction “Exit, pursued by a bear,” and “innocence shall make / False accusation blush, and / Tremble at patience.”