The Lion in Winter: A Play [Paperback]

James Goldman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 14, 2004

Insecure siblings fighting for their parents’ attention; bickering spouses who can’t stand to be together or apart; adultery and sexual experimentation; even the struggle to balance work and family: These are themes as much at home in our time as they were in the twelfth century. In James Goldman’s classic play The Lion in Winter, domestic turmoil rises to an art form.
Keenly self-aware and motivated as much by spite as by any sense of duty, Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine maneuver against each other to position their favorite son in line for succession. By imagining the inner lives of Henry, Eleanor, and their sons, John, Geoffrey, and Richard, Goldman created the quintessential drama of family strife and competing ambitions, a work that gives visceral, modern-day relevance to the intrigues of Angevin England.
Combining keen historical and psychological insight with delicious, mordant wit, the stage play has become a touchstone of today’s theater scene, and Goldman’s screenplay for the 1968 film adaptation won him an Academy Award. Told in “marvelously articulate language, with humor that bristles and burns” (Los Angeles Times), The Lion in Winter is the rare play that bursts into life on the printed page.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[A] classic tale of deep family dysfunction and Machiavelli-level intrigue . . . witty and wrenching, full of dagger-sharp quips and veiled motives.”
–The Boston Globe

About the Author

JAMES GOLDMAN’s screenplays include Nicholas and Alexandra, Robin and Marian, and They Might Be Giants. He wrote the book to the musical A Family Affair (with John Kander), as well as the librettos of Follies and Evening Primrose, both with scores by Stephen Sondheim. He died in 1998.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (December 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812973356
• ISBN-13: 978-0812973358
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #272,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Modern Middle Ages, April 24, 2002

By 

Kellyannl (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lion in Winter (Penguin Plays) (Paperback)

This play about the famously disfunctional family of England's Henry II is perhaps the most devestating family drama this side of "Long Day's Journey into Night".

For those who want a real epic, it can - but doesn't have to - be read as a sequel to Jean Anoilh's "Becket". Personally I found that this adds to the tragedy.

It opens during a fictional family Christmas get together that is combined with a historical meeting between Henry and France's young King Phillip. Henry's persistent humiliation of his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, through his string of mistresses has prompted her to hurt him in the only way available to her - by systematically destroying his relationships with their sons. Now Henry - although not old yet - is no longer a young man. The fact that a potentially dangerous Phillip - who has a legitimate axe to grind with Henry - is no longer a child forces them to realize that their familial intrigues have set their boys up for both internal and external disaster upon Henry's death. They make a real effort to save both their shattered marriage and their shattered children, but it may already be too late ...

The main tragedy, of course, is what Henry and Eleanor have done to their children. Richard is admirably brave but has had much of his compassion beaten out of him and replaced with brutality. Geoffrey's great sense of humor has been blasted in the bud, and his fustrated capability of love makes a weapon of an intelligence that would have been an asset to anyone who would have shown him the slightest affection in return (it's worth noting for those who don't know the family's subsequent history that given the condensed time of the play, Geoffrey would presumably have died in a fatal tournament accident soon after the action of the play - making him even more poignant). John, the youngest son of Robin Hood fame, is somewhat mishandled - his failure had much to do with Richard's prior mismanagement and lousy historical timing rather than his own faults, and the ruthless streak that doomed Geoffrey's son Arthur (who isn't in the play) as well as his general competence in many instances (he would later rescue Eleanor from a siege in a manner that would have done Richard proud) doesn't really come across - but in an otherwise excellent play Goldman can be forgiven for bowing to popular opinion in one case.

An accurate depiction of the dynamics of the Plantagenet family, "The Lion in Winter" is also a timeless study of what constitutes a healthy family.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Royalty at its best......., April 12, 2000

By 

Dudley Ristow - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lion in Winter (Hardcover)

King Henry the Second releashes his jailed wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, for the Xmas holidays. The two come together with their three sons, the King's mistress and her brother, Philip of France, to discuss the succession to the throne, the marriage of the mistress to the King's successor and the annexation of a rich French province to the English Crown. The thrill of the play is entirely in the words - marvellous in their scope and cutting in their execution. Scenes of sex or violence would have been superfluous - the verbal assassinations, particularly between the King and his estranged queen, take you to the grit of life itself. Do yourself a favour and rent the video - Katherine Hepburn and Peter O"Toole, and a very young Anthony Hopkins as the sexually confused Richard the Lion Heart, make for incredibly fine viewing. My all-time favourite play.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite play!, July 26, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lion in Winter (Penguin Plays) (Paperback)

The Lion in Winter is by far my favorite play. It is jammed packed full of dry humor and funny lines. Every person that I have introduced to the Lion in Winter has also loved it, so buy your copy today! "I know, I know you know, I know you know I know, we know Henry knows, and Henry knows we know it. We're a knowledgeable family."