The Winter's Tale
King Leontes of Sicilia begs his childhood friend, King Polixenes of Bohemia, to extend his visit to
Sicilia. Polixenes protests that he has been away from his kingdom for nine months, but after
Leontes's pregnant wife, Hermione, pleads with him he relents and agrees to stay a little longer.
Leontes, meanwhile, has become possessed with jealousy—convinced that Polixenes and Hermione
are lovers, he orders his loyal retainer, Camillo, to poison the Bohemian king. Instead, Camillo warns
Polixenes of what is afoot, and the two men flee Sicilia immediately.
Furious at their escape, Leontes now publicly accuses his wife of infidelity, and declares that the child
she is bearing must be illegitimate. He throws her in prison, over the protests of his nobles, and sends
to the Oracle of Delphi for what he is sure will be confirmation of his suspicions. Meanwhile, the
queen gives birth to a girl, and her loyal friend Paulina brings the baby to the king, in the hopes that
the sight of the child will soften his heart. He only grows angrier, however, and orders Paulina's
husband, Lord Antigonus, to take the child and abandon it in some desolate place. While Antigonus is
gone, the answer comes from Delphi—Hermione and Polixenes are innocent, and Leontes will have
no heir until his lost daughter is found. As this news is revealed, word comes that Leontes's son,
Mamillius, has died of a wasting sickness brought on by the accusations against his mother.
Hermione, meanwhile, falls in a swoon, and is carried away by Paulina, who subsequently reports the
queen's death to her heartbroken and repentant husband.
Summary Act 1 to Act 5
Compiled by Madeleine Greeff
Date: 20 May 2021 Updated 24 August 2021
Sources:
• The Winter’s Tale Oxford School Handbook
• Study Guide – The Winter’s Tale, Gale
• Impaq online line classes, Optimi Learning Portal
• LitCharts – The Winter’s Tale
• SparkNotes – The Winter's Tale
• Illustrations - https://shakespeareillustration.org/category/play/the-winters-tale/
Antigonus, meanwhile abandons the baby on the Bohemian coast, reporting that Hermione appeared
to him in a dream and bade him name the girl Perdita and leave gold and other tokens on her person.
Shortly thereafter, Antigonus is killed by a bear, and Perdita is raised by a kindly Shepherd. Sixteen
years pass, and the son of Polixenes, Prince Florizel, falls in love with Perdita. His father and Camillo
attend a sheepshearing in disguise and watch as Florizel and Perdita are betrothed—then, tearing off
the disguise, Polixenes intervenes and orders his son never to see the Shepherd's daughter again.
With the aid of Camillo, however, who longs to see his native land again, Florizel and Perdita take ship
for Sicilia, after using the clothes of a local rogue, Autolycus, as a disguise. They are joined in their
voyage by the Shepherd and his son, a Clown, who are directed there by Autolycus.
In Sicilia, Leontes—still in mourning after all this time—greets the son of his old friend effusively.
Florizel pretends to be on a diplomatic mission from his father, but his cover is blown when Polixenes
and Camillo, too, arrive in Sicilia. What happens next is told to us by gentlemen of the Sicilian court:
the Shepherd tells everyone his story of how Perdita was found, and Leontes realizes that she is his
daughter, leading to general rejoicing. The entire company then goes to Paulina's house in the
country, where a statue of Hermione has been recently finished. The sight of his wife's form makes
Leontes distraught, but then, to everyone's amazement, the statue comes to life—it is Hermione,
restored to life. As the play ends, Paulina and Camillo are engaged, and the whole company
celebrates the miracle.
LITERATURE EXAM PAPER DO'S AND DON'TS:
• The questions for the drama are set on a selected excerpt from the text.
• Read the extract carefully and picture the setting of the play.
• Detailed questions are asked about that specific extract and the parts preceding & following it.
• You will be able to answer more thoroughly and thoughtfully if you can apply your overall
knowledge of the drama – such as characteristics of the different characters, patterns in their
behaviour, themes, prior conflicts, etc.
KNOW THE SETTING
• It is important to know exactly when and where every act in the play takes place.
• This sometimes gives us insight into the actions of characters.
KNOW THE CHARACTERS
• You must know exactly which character is found in which part of the play.
• Do not get confused with which characteristics belong to which characters.
• The names of characters must also be spelt correctly.
KNOW THE THEMES IN THE PLAY
• You must be able to identify the themes and discuss them in detail → jealousy, friendship, youth
and old age, suffering.
NB!
IDENTIFY THE CONFLICT
• The conflict in the drama is what keeps it going and allows the plot to progress.
• Indicate where there are instances of conflict, whether it is external or internal conflict and where
the conflict is resolved at some point in the play. EXAMPLE: Leontes develops an internal conflict
when suspicion and jealousy go to war with his reason and common sense. Jealousy feeds his
suspicion until he becomes convinced that Polixenes and his wife have been having an affair.
LOOK OUT FOR THE USE OF FIGURES OF SPEECH
NB!
• Playwrights deliberately uses figures of speech like metaphors and similes.
• You should be able to identify them and discuss them in detail.
• There will be at least two questions about figures of speech – you should also be able to explain
how the playwright has used them and whether they have been used effectively. EXAMPLE: “we
were as twinn’d lambs that did frisk I’ the sun’
NB!
KNOW THE CLIMAX OF THE PLAY
• Which part of the play forms the climax of the plot? It is after this point that nothing in the play can
remain the same. This is what causes the characters to act differently.
• The climax in The Winter’s Tale comes with the news of Mamillius’ death. During the trail of
queen Hermione, Leontes says that there is no truth at all in Apollo’s oracle. … The news nearly
breaks Leontes’ heart and grief brings him back to his senses. This is the turning point of the play.
COMMON ERRORS MADE IN THE PAPER
• Carefully follow the instructions in the paper. You will have 10 minutes of reading time before the
actual writing starts. Use this time well. (You may NOT make notes or underline or highlight during
this time)
• Look at the time allocated to each section on the instruction page – follow this to make sure that
you finish on time. Read your questions carefully.
• Identify the key and directive words in questions, as they will help to determine what the answer is.
• Justify your answers when own opinion questions are asked.
HERE ARE SOME TIPS TO HELP YOU AVOID THE MOST COMMON ERRORS THAT CANDIDATES MAKE
WHEN THEY ANSWER THE LITERATURE PAPER:
• Make sure you understand what is being asked. If you are asked to write ONE word, you cannot
expect to get any marks if you write two or more words. Never leave a question unanswered. Even
if you are not sure of the answer, at least attempt to answer it!
• If you are asked to state TWO points/facts, only the first two points/facts you write will be marked
and the rest will be ignored.
• Leave lines open between answers. It makes it easier for the marker to see the finer details of your
answer and to not miss an answer.
• Write full sentences and make sure your sentence construction is correct. This will ensure the
marker knows exactly what you are trying to say.
• Write enough detail. Do not imply something, state it outright.
• Look at the mark allocation. If a question counts two marks, write down at least two facts and
elaborate enough so that you can get your marks but do not ramble. State your arguments clearly.
• Sometimes a question is linked to the preceding question. In this instance, keep your first answer I
mind when answering the second question. Remember, however, that you must always answer it
as though it stands alone since that is how it will be marked. EXAMPLE: . 1.1 Identify the figure of
speech in line 7. 1.2 Explain the relevant use of this figure of speech.
• When you find that the answer to your question is stated openly in the extract of the drama, do
NOT rewrite the exact words form the given extract unless you were specifically asked to quote.
• Make sure you know what is meant by the word characteristic. It refers to appearance,
personality, and how a person acts and reacts. Characteristics could include: humble, creative,
optimistic, vain, attractive, and diligent. Note: a characteristic is not an action, but an adjective (a
describing word). Do not say what the person does, but rather what his actions reveal to us about
his character or personality.
• When you write about someone in your answer use their name. Only after you have mentioned
who you are talking about, you can refer to he/she. EXAMPLE: Leontes loves to spend time in the
garden. Whenever he goes…
The Winter's Tale
DRAMA
• Is written to be performed and involves many other
characteristics:
✓
movement, voice, light and dark, interaction between
characters, staging, pace, facial expressions and body
language which indicate mood, create tension
between characters, what characters are doing when
they are not speaking – all this works together to
create the meaning of the play.
TITLE
The term "winter's tale" isn't used a whole lot in the
21st century, but in Shakespeare's days, everybody
knew that a "winter's tale" was, the kind of story one
might tell in order to pass the time on a long winter
evening. Like a fairy tale, The Winter's Tale may be
entertaining, but it doesn't have a whole lot of
credibility.
William Shakespeare
Tragi-Comedy
Act 1 – Act 5
NB!
THEMES
NB!
Jealousy → The first three acts are a study of jealousy and its
destructive effects. Throughout the play, Shakespeare portrays
Leontes’s jealousy as an infectious “disease” in order to highlight the
destructive nature of jealousy. Leontes sudden onset of jealousy is
the result of the king’s belief that most women are promiscuous
liars.
• The Winter's Tale is often called a "problem play"
because it defies traditional categories of genre.
Shakespeare critics settle on calling The Winter's Tale a
"tragi-comedy" because the first three acts of the play
feel much like a mini tragedy and the play's second half
resembles a "comedy".
Suffering → in the play, Leontes’s jealousy gives way to tyrannous
behaviour that causes immense pain and suffering. Mamillius falls ill
and dies when his mother is imprisoned and tried for adultery.
Hermione is said to have died of a broken heart, and Leontes
tortures himself for sixteen long years. In fact, the entire kingdom is
made miserable by Leontes’s behaviour, which has left Sicily without
an heir. This kind of anguish is inherent in Shakespearean tragedy,
but because the play is a blend of tragedy and comedy, the suffering
in the play ultimately gives way to redemption.
DRAMATIC IRONY
•
We find this in situations where the audience
knows more about what will happen next than the
characters.
•
Often, this knowledge leads to suspense because
we know the character will learn the truth
eventually, but we don't know when or how.
•
e.g. The king believes his best friend and wife are
having an affair. So he plots to kill his friend and
lock up his pregnant wife; with what he thinks is
not his child. The audience knows that this is not
true.
•
e.g. The shepherd finds Perdita and thinks she is a
child abandoned by lovers, the audience knows
that she is the daughter of a king.
Difference between an ASIDE and a SOLILOQUY:
•
They are both dramatic devices but differ. NB!
•
The similarity between them is that a single
character speaks directly to themselves, or to the
audience, and no other character can hear their
comments.
•
However, ASIDE is a shorter comment, while a
SOLILOQUY is a longer speech →
• In the first three acts, Leontes is overcome by wild
jealousy (a fatal flaw) and his tyranny causes profound
suffering and the destruction of his family, which
ultimately threatens to destroy the health of his
kingdom.
Gender → Leontes believes that all women are inherently
promiscuous and deceptive, but overall, the play proves this to be
untrue. Leontes gives voice to a common Renaissance attitude
toward women – that is, any women who is not silent and obedient
is a monstrous hag who deserves to be punished.
✓ An aside reveals hidden secrets;
✓ A soliloquy reveals motives, inner thoughts, or
internal struggles going on in the mind of the
character.
• It involves the audience too – who can even be a
character in the play! Imagination plays a key role:
✓
visualising the stage and what the characters look like,
working out how a line can be spoken in different
ways, and how these ways change the way the play is
received.
• Movement and interaction between characters and
between characters and audience – all these aspects can
be better appreciated if the play is read aloud.
GENRE
Tragi-Comedy
CHARACTERS
• PROTAGONIST: King Leontes
NB!
NB!
• ANTAGONIST: The King’s jealousy and suspicious nature.
• TIME: A human who personifies Time and recites a
monologue at the beginning of Act 4.
Friendship → the friendship between Leontes and Polixenes is
competitive from the very beginning of the play – this rivalry
culminates in Leontes’s jealousy, which places Hermione at the
centre of his competitiveness with his best friend. Leontes and
Polixenes are portrayed as an ideal bond that developed during the
innocence of childhood and was interrupted by their adolescent
interest in women. Paulina is the only character in the play loyal
enough (to Hermione) and brave enough to stand up to Leontes’s
tyranny.
IMPORTANT
YOU HAVE TO READ THE BOOK, BEST WAY IS TO READ WITH AN AUDIO OF THE PLAY, MAKES IT INTERESTING AND FUN
KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS, THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND ROLE IN THE PLAY, DRAMATIC DEVICES ETC.
SYNOPSIS → 1st part of the play
SYNOPSIS → 2nd part of the play
• Act 1, Scene 1 → Two courtiers, Archidamus (a Bohemian Lord) and Camillo (a
Sicilian Lord) discuss the long and close relationship between their kings Leontes
and Polixenes.
• Act 4, Scene 1 → The passing of time – over sixteen years – is related by the
• Act 1, Scene 2 → Leontes tries in vain to persuade Polixenes to extend his stay in
Sicilia. However, when Leontes’ wife, Hermione, successfully persuades her
husband’s friend to stay, Leontes (who has observed them from a distance)
becomes irrationally suspicious about the two. Camillo, privy to Leontes
suspicions, warns Polixenes, who leaves at once taking Camillo with him.
• Act 2, Scene 1 → Leontes storms into Hermione’s presence, accuses her of
adultery and has their son taken away. The heavily pregnant Hermione reacts
calmly and with dignity when she is sent to be imprisoned. She is defended by
other courtiers, including Antigonus, but Leontes rebukes them. Nevertheless he
has sent a messenger to consult the Delphic oracle on the matter.
• Act 2, Scene 2 → Paulina, wife of Antigonus, visits the prison but is refused
admission to Hermione. Hearing that the queen has given birth, she offers to take
the baby to the king in hope it will soften his heart.
• Act 2, Scene 3 → Paulina tries to make the king see sense. When he discards her
words she presents him with his new daughter. Not only does he reject his baby,
but he orders Antigonus to remove the child from his kingdom, exposing it to the
elements.
• Act 3, Scene 1 → The ambassadors Cleomenes and Dion are back from Delphos
ready to reveal the verdict of the god Apollo’s oracle.
• Act 3, Scene 2 → Hermione is brought to trial. Leontes rejects her eloquent
words of defence. More significantly, he rejects the words of the oracle which
unequivocally declares her innocence. The news of his son’s death is immediate.
The realisation of truth falls upon Leontes. His wife collapses and is taken away.
Paulina returns shortly afterwards to report the queen’s death.
• Act 3, Scene 3 → On the coast of Bohemia, Antigonus abandons the princess
with a few possessions. The child is found by the Shepherd. Antigonus is chased
and devoured by a bear.
personified character of Time.
• Act 4, Scene 2 → In Bohemia, Camillo reveals his homesickness to Polixenes. The
king of Bohemia, in return, reveals he is concerned about his son, Prince Florizel.
• Act 4, Scene 3 → Autolycus, a likeable rogue, appears on stage. When the Clown
appears, he tricks him out of his money.
• Act 4, Scene 4 → This scene is set at a rural festival. Perdita is the queen of the
festival. Florizel, disguised as a shepherd swain, declares his intention to marry
Perdita. Polixenes, also disguised, overhears his son. He casts off his disguise and
disown his son in anger. Camillo devises a plot involving the flight of the couple to
Sicilia, and yet more disguises involving Autolycus.
• Act 5, Scene 1 → The action turns back to Sicilia. Leontes is full of grief and regret
for his actions. He welcomes Florizel and Perdita to his court. News arrives, however,
that Polixenes has also arrived in Sicilia.
• Act 5, Scene 2 → We hear of the resolution of the events through a conversations
between Autolycus and some gentlemen: Perdita’s true identity is revealed and
Leontes is reunited with his old friend Polixenes,
• Act 5, Scene 3 → The royals and their courtiers are present to view the unveiling of
a statue of Hermione arranged by Paulina. The statue is more than just lifelike.
Hermione comes back to life and with the reunion of Leontes and Hermione, the play
comes to an end.
Act 1, Scene 1 → The play opens in a Sicilian palace where Polixenes, the King of Act 1, Scene 2 →
Bohemia, has been visiting his childhood friend, Leontes, the King of Sicily. Camillo and
Archidamus dis busy discussing the long friendship between their two kings.
the play continuous in the Sicilian palace of King Leontes where
Leontes is trying to convince Polixenes to stay longer but does not succeed and asks his wife
Hermione to help.
It is important to know exactly
when and where every act in
the play takes place.
This sometimes gives us insight
into the actions of characters.
SETTINGS → 1st
part of the play
Act 2, Scene 1 →
the scene opens with a sleepy, peaceful pace, with a happy heavy
pregnant Hermione playing with her little son, Mamillius – which Leontes will soon shatter.
Act 2, Scene 2 → Hermione is in prison. Mamillius is confined to his quarters.
Act 2, Scene 3 →
the scene is in the palace where Paulina brings the baby to the
tormented Leontes. He orders Antigonus to take the baby to a deserted place and abandon it.
News of the return of the couriers are also delivered.
Act 3, Scene 1 → on their way back to Sicilia from Delphos, the envoys Cleomenes and
Dion converse about their journey and their mission.
SETTINGS → 1st
part of the play
Act 3, Scene 2 → the court room in Sicily where Leontes makes a big speech, Hermione Act 3, Scene 3 →
enters, an officer reads the indictment. The Oracle’s message is delivered.
On the coast of Bohemia, the boat has arrived with the mariner,
Antigonus and baby Perdita.
Act 4, Scene 1 →
A male figure, wings on his back and hour-glass in his hand,
introduces himself as the personification of Time and proceeds to deliver a single speech in
rhyming couplets.
Act 4, Scene 2 →
The second part of the play, like a mirror-image of the first, opens
with a scene in the formal language of courtly prose. The scene opens at the Palace of
Bohemia, Camillo reveals his homesickness and Polixenes reveals he is concerned about his
son, Prince Florizel.
SETTINGS → 2nd
part of the play
Act 4, Scene 3 → In Bohemia, near the Old Shepherd’s house, a thief named Autolycus
sings a song about summer and springtime.
Act 4, Scene 4 →
This scene is set at a rural festival in Bohemia. Among them are
Perdita, dressed as queen of the feast, garlanded like the goddess Flora and the prince Florizel
dressed as ‘Doricles’ a shepherd swain.
Act 5, Scene 1 → Action returns back to Sicilia. Prince Florizel and his "princess" Perdita Act 5, Scene 2 →
arrives at the palace of King Leontes.
still in the palace in Sicilia, we have a narration of events by the lords
of the court, which is handled with masterly skill.
SETTINGS → 2nd
part of the play
Act 5, Scene 3 → At the palace, in Sicilia, the royals and their courtiers are present to view the unveiling of a statue of Hermione arranged by Paulina.
Kingdom of Bohemia - CHARACTERS
Kingdom of Sicily (Sicilia) - CHARACTERS
• Leontes
→ The King of Sicilia. As noted by Polixenes at the beginning of the play, Leontes has
everything that love, loyalty, family and power can provide – until he is dominated by jealousy and
tyranny. After he caused those most dear to him to die and disappear, he repents for sixteen years.
• Hermione → Queen of Sicilia. The wife of Leontes. Russian by birth, this character is an unbelievably
pure combination of virtues and is beautiful. She is falsely accused of infidelity by her husband, Leontes,
she apparently dies of grief just after being vindicated by the Oracle of Delphi.
• Mamillius → Young son of Leontes; the Prince of Sicilia. At a young age, Mamillius is wrenched away from his
mother and forbidden to see her again. The moody boy dies, presumably of a broken heart, before his mother’s
sexual fidelity and innocence is accepted by his father. Mamillius’ death seems, to Leontes, to be a punishment
by the gods and causes Leontes to realize that his persecution of his wife has been a horrible mistake.
• Camillo →
a lord of Sicilia with a natural inclination to be a valuable friend. After he decides to join Polixenes
rather than kill him, Camillo becomes just as valuable an advisor to the Bohemian king as he had been to Leontes.
• Antigonus
→ a lord of Sicilia and husband to Paulina. He seems to be the most influential lord in Leontes’
court after Camillo leaves. Unfortunately, he does not possess the necessary skills to counter the chaos and
madness caused by Leontes’ temporary tyranny. He cannot control his wife, Paulina. He deserves sympathy for
trying his best and for placing Perdita in the right place at the right time for her survival. Antigonus suffers more
than circumstances justify when he is chased and devoured by a bear.
• Paulina → Wife, then widow of Antigonus. A loyal lady-in waiting to Hermione, she voices the
conscience of Leontes in an irritating and scolding tone.
• Emelia → is a lady in waiting to Hermione. She accompanies Hermione to prison when Leontes throws
the queen in jail. Emelia’s big moment in the play occurs when she speaks to Paulina about Hermione’s
health and announces that the queen has given birth to a baby girl while behind bars.
• Cleomenes and Dion → Ambassadors/couriers/envoys/lords of Sicilia. Their most important role in the play
is to fetch and deliver the oracle’s message from Delphos.
• Apollo’s Oracle → an oracle is a wise person who can predict and interpret the future. In Greek
mythology, Apollo appointed an Oracle to speak on his behalf since he was always being pestered by
folks who wanted him to tell them what the future had in store for them.
• Goaler → the jailer.
• Rogero → Lord of Sicilia who announces that the long-lost Perdita has been found.
• Polixenes → King of Bohemia and childhood friend of Leontes. Leontes ends their
friendship, when he falsely accuses Polixenes of having an affair with Leontes’s wife,
and barely escapes Sicilia with his life.
• Archidamus → is a Bohemian lord (courtier) who visits Leontes’s court in Sicilia
with Polixenes.
• Florizel →
the Prince and heir to the throne of Bohemia. He loves the
‘shepherdess’ Perdita, despite the difference in their social status, and is not in the
least daunted when his father threatens to disinherit him.
• The Old Shepard → He finds the infant Perdita on the shore of Bohemia. He is a
man of natural dignity and honour. His are the great human values of charity,
generosity and hospitality, and these are in some measure shared by his son.
• Clown → he is simple-minded man which makes him a figure of fun. The fact that
he is given no personal name indicates that the role was played by the comic actor of
the dramatic company.
• Perdita →
Her name in Latin means “the lost one”. Extraordinarily beautiful
daughter of Leontes and Hermione. She is found on the seacoast of Bohemia by the
Shepard and raised by him. She is beautiful, virtuous and graceful.
• Mopsa & Dorcas →
Shepherdesses in Bohemia. Mopsa is also the Clowns’
girlfriend.
• Autolycus → Free-spirited pick pickpocket who makes mischief but accomplishes
good.
• Mariner → Crewman of the ship who carries Antigonus and Perdita to Bohemia.
You must know exactly which character
is found in which part of the play.
Do not get confused with which
characteristics belong to which
characters.
The names of characters must also be
spelt correctly.
Plot summary: Act 1, Scene 1
Plot summary: Act 1, Scene 2
The play opens in a Sicilian palace where Polixenes, the King of
Bohemia, has been visiting his childhood friend, Leontes, the
King of Sicily.
The scene opens when King Leontes of Sicilia begs his childhood friend, King Polixenes of Bohemia, to extend his visit
to Sicilia.
•
Polixenes says he cannot as he has been away for nine months. He has so much work to do at home, being forced to
stay in Sicily would be like a “punishment”.
FIGURE OF SPEECH - SIMILE
TWO
IDEAS ARE COMPARED
•
Leontes asks Hermione to convince Polixenes to stay.
WITH LIKE, AS, JUST LIKE, THAN
•
After Leontes’s pregnant wife, Hermione pleads with him to stay he agrees.
•
Hermione then asks Polixenes to tell her about her husband’s childhood. Polixenes says that he and Leontes had an
ideal childhood together – they were so sweet and innocent, like two little “lambs” that “frisk(ed)’ in the sun
together – that is, until they grew up and became interested in women.
•
Leontes, who has been out of earshot, steps in and asks if Hermione has convinced his friend to stay. When he hears
that his charming wife has been successful, he’s pretty pleased.
•
Then Leontes (who has been watching his wife and friend engage in harmless banter) turns crazy jealous at the sight
of Polixenes and Hermione holding hands. Polixenes is being nice to his friend’s wife, but Leontes interprets their
behaviour as that of two secret lovers.
• Archidamus (a Bohemian lord) and Camillo (a Sicilian lord)
chat it up about what a great time everybody’s been having at
Leontes’s court, the Sicilians being such awesome hosts.
• When Camillo mentions that Leontes is planning to visit
Polixenes on Bohemian turf next summer, Archidamus gets all
self-deprecating and says the Bohemians aren’t as awesome
at entertaining guests as the Sicilians.
• The Bohemians will probably have to sneak some sleeping
pills into the Sicilians’ drinks so the Sicilians won’t realize what
a lousy time they’re having in Bohemia.
• They also discuss the intimate history of the two kings – back
in the day, Leontes and Polixenes were super-close. So close, it
wat almost impossible to tell them apart. It doesn’t seem like
anything could possibly come between these two BFF’s.
•
•
• Then the conversation, which is already a little awkward, gets
pretty uncomfortable.
•
• When Archidamus compliments the young prince of Sicily
(that would be Mamillius), Camillo says something kind of
weird like, “Yeah Mamillius is such a neat kid that he makes all
the old people in our kingdom not want to die because they
want to live long enough to see him grow up. If it weren’t for
Mamillius, there’d be no reason for all the old folks to live.”
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Leontes in the meantime is possessed by jealousy and is convinced Hermione and Polixenes are having an affair.
Then Leontes turns to his young son and says “Mamillius, Art thou my boy?” (Translation: “Am I your biological
father?”). Mamillius has no idea what his dad is talking about when Leontes wonders aloud, again, if Mamillius, who
looks exactly like his dad, is really his son.
Hermione and Polixenes notice Leontes is suddenly in a very nasty mood but Leontes plays it off by saying that
looking on his young son’s face took him back in time to his own childhood, where everything was peachy.
Camillo enters and comments on how great it is that Hermione was able to convince Polixenes to stay in Sicily.
Leontes starts talking about how Polixenes and Queen Hermione are having a torrid affair. Camillo says he doesn’t
believe it and remarks that Leontes is out of control.
When Leontes insists Hermione has been unfaithful, Camillo realises he will not be able to change the king’s mind.
Leontes orders Camillo, his servant to poison Polixenes. Camillo pretends to believe Leontes and agrees to poison
Polixenes. But first Leontes promises Camillo he won’t hurt Hermione.
Then Polixenes walks in the room and is completely baffled when Leontes sneers at him before storming off. Camillo
tells Polixenes that Leontes thinks he’s been sleeping with his pregnant wife.
SIMILE
Camillo also confesses that he’s supposed to kill Polixenes and urges him to get away before Leontes does something
even crazier. Polixenes is shocked and say that betraying his best friend would be like Judas’s betrayal of Jesus.
Polixenes convinces Camillo to help him escape back to Bohemia. Camillo and Polixenes decide not to tell Hermione
that Leontes is in a jealous rage (we have no idea why).
CHARACTERS: Archidamus and Camillo
Leontes
NB!
NB!
Act 1, Scene 1
Act 1, Scene 2
• Although Archidamus is not particularly important as a character, Camillo
is one of the play’s most important characters.
•
Leontes is the King of Sicily. His name is suggestive of his lion-like nature. He is aggressive, angry and
wildly jealous.
• From his praise of his king and his prince, we see that he is a faithful and
patriotic courtier, full of love for his position.
•
When he wrongfully suspects his pregnant with, Hermione, is cheating on him with his best friend, King
Polixenes, he goes berserk.
• He is an ideal advisor, happiest when he has a good ruler to serve.
•
He plots the murder of his old pal.
•
Leontes’s wild jealousy turn him into a tyrant for the first three acts of the play, and his behaviour destroys
everything that matters in his life: family and friendship.
Hermione
Act 1, Scene 2
• Hermione, Queen of Sicily, is the lovely wife of King Leontes and doting mother
of Mamillius.
• She’s unfairly accused of cheating on her husband.
Mamillius
Act 1, Scene 2
Leontes Jealousy:
•
The thing to know about Leontes’s jealousy is that its onset is pretty sudden.
•
One minute Leontes is asking his wife to convince his best childhood friend to extend his vacation in Sicily
and the next moment he’s interpreting his wife’s kindness toward his friend as “proof” of her infidelity.
•
Watching his wife banter with Polixenes, who has taken her hand in a friendly gesture, Leontes suddenly
says “Too hot, too hot!” and interprets the platonic hand holding as “paddling palms and pinching fingers”
(1,2,11). From then on it is all downhill.
•
Mamillius is the young prince of Sicily and the son of Leontes and
Hermione.
• He is a cute kid but he’s also a handful, as he spends most of his time
horsing around, declaring that he’s a big boy and not a “baby”, and saying
smart things to his parents and caregivers.
• Because Mamillius is so young, he’s pretty close to his mother and her
ladies in waiting. (in Shakespeare day, all little boys spent most of their
time with the women. They also wore dresses until they were old
enough for big-boy pants.)
• This drives Leontes crazy because 1) he suspects Hermione of infidelity
and 2) even though Mamillius looks like a “copy” of his dad, Leontes
spends a lot of time looking at his son and wondering if he, Leontes, is
the boy’s biological father.
Polixenes
Leontes’s Attitude toward Women:
•
If we think about Leontes’s overall attitude toward women, we may find some clues about where his
jealousy comes from.
•
After convincing himself that Hermione is unfaithful, he says that “many a man there is” that has been
cheated on by his wife, and he implies that most women are promiscuous by nature (1.2.18).
Leontes and Male Friendship:
•
Leontes’s childhood friendship with Polixenes may also offer some clues about Leontes’s jealousy.
•
The relationship between Leontes and Polixenes is portrayed as a pure bond that developed during the
innocence of childhood and was interrupted by an adolescent interest in women.
•
Look what Polixenes is saying about the childhood BFFs - According to Polixenes when he and Leontes
played together, they were like “twinn’d (identical) lambs that did frisk I’ the sun,” which is a very sweet way
to describe the “innocence” and joy of a carefree childhood friendship. Polixenes goes on to say that they
would not even have been “guilty” of original sin if they had remained young and innocent.
•
For Leontes, whose adult relationship with Polixenes is characterised by rivalry, Hermione is not only
disloyal and promiscuous, she’s also come between him and his best friend.
Act 1, Scene 2
• Polixenes is the King of Bohemia and Leontes’s childhood BFF.
• After vacationing at the Sicilian palace for nine months, Polixenes is forced to
flee to his home in Bohemia because Leontes suspects that he, Polixenes, has
been sleeping with his wife, Hermione.
SIMILE
Plot summary: Act 2, Scene 1
The scene opens with a sleepy, peaceful pace, with a happy heavy pregnant Hermione playing with her little son, Mamillius – which Leontes will soon shatter.
• Hermione asks her Ladies in waiting to entertain her precocious boy (he’s really cute, but also a little out of control).
• After the Ladies banter and play with Mamillius for a bit, Hermione asks her son to tell a nice story.
• Mamillius obliges and says he knows a “sad” story about goblins that’s just perfect for “winter” time → that is reference to the play’s title.
• Mamillius whispers the story into his mother’s ear.
• Meanwhile, Leontes walks on stage with Antigonus and some other Sicilian Lords.
NB!
• Leontes is all riled up because Polixenes has escaped Sicily with Camillo in tow.
• Leontes is convinced that Polixenes and Camillo are plotting against his life and have been in cahoots for quite some time.
• Leontes turns to Hermione and says he’s glad Hermione never breastfed their son (apparently, Mamillius had a wet-nurse) because Mamillius is already way too much like his mother.
• History snack → in Shakespeare ‘s time, women who breastfed infants were thought to have transmitted their personal traits and characteristics to children through breast milk.
• Hermione says something like “You’ve got to be joking” and Leontes orders Mamillius to be taken away from his mother and accuses the pregnant Hermione of carrying Polixenes’ baby.
• Hermione denies Leontes’s charges of adultery, says only a “villain” would accuse her of such a thing, and tells her husband that he’s making a huge mistake.
• Leontes repeats his accusation of adultery and says Hermione is a traitor, along with Polixenes and Camillo.
• Hermione says Leontes will be sorry when he realises his mistake and says he owes her an apology.
• Leontes orders Hermione away to prison. Then Hermione blames her husband’s behaviour on the alignment of the planets.
• Hermione declares her heart is heavy with grief and begs to be allowed to have her Ladies with her while she’s in jail.
• After Hermione is carted off to prison, Antigonus and a Lord try to convince Leontes that he’s making a big mistake.
• Leontes tell his men to calm down – if they’re too stupid to realise that Hermione is an adulteress, he no longer needs their services.
• Leontes informs his men that he has sent some guys to Apollo’s temple on the island of “Delphos”, to consult the Oracle to confirm Hermione’s guilt.
NB!
• In the meantime, Hermione is going to rot in jail so she can’t flee Sicily like Camillo and Polixenes.
• In the play, the sacred island of “Delphos” is linked with Delphi, a real Greek town where people often travelled to consult with Apollo’s Oracle. An oracle is a wise person who can
predict and interpret the future. In Greek mythology, Apollo appointed an Oracle to speak on his behalf since he was always being pestered by folks who wanted him to tell them what the
future had in store for them.
Plot summary: Act 2, Scene 2
The opening of the scene reveals that Hermione is in
prison. Mamillius is confined to his quarters.
• Paulina and her attendants appear at the prison to
request a visit with Hermione.
• The Jailer says he feels really bad but he’s got strict
orders that Hermione is to have no visitors.
• Fine, says Paulina, who asks to see Emelia, one of
Hermione’s ladies, instead.
• Emelia and Paulina talk while the Jailer stands guard.
• Emelia informs Paulina that Hermione is doing the
best she can, under the lousy circumstances, but she
went into labour before her due date and delivered
a daughter in prison.
NB!
• Paulina is outraged – she proclaims Leontes a lunatic
and says she’s going to try and talk some sense into
him. Maybe if she shows Leontes his new-born baby,
the evidence of Hermione’s innocence will convince
him that Hermione is a faithful wife.
• Emelia says that if anyone can convince Leontes, it’s
Paulina who, apparently, has a way with words.
• The Jailer seems on board with this scheme, but
since he’s not allowed to let the baby leave the
prison, he wants to know how Paulina is going to
smuggle the infant out of Hermione’s cell.
• Paulina convinces the Jailer that Hermione’s baby
should be allowed to leave the prison with her, since,
being a new-born baby and all, it’s completely
innocent of any wrong-doing.
Plot summary: Act 2, Scene 3
Back in the Sicilian palace, Leontes paces around muttering about how his “adulteress” wife should be burned at the stake.
• A servant enters with news of Mamillius, who has been pretty sick lately.
• The ever delusional Leontes suggests that Mamillius is ill because he’s so ashamed of his mom’s behaviour.
• Leontes sends his servant away to check on his son and mutters to himself about how Polixenes and Camillo are probably off
somewhere laughing at him right now.
• Paulina bursts through the door, carrying Leontes’s new-born daughter while a servant and a lord try to restrain her.
• Leontes has demanded total privacy (turns out he hasn’t been sleeping very well at night) but Paulina insists on showing
Leontes proof that he’s been acting irrational and unjust.
• Leontes looks at Antigonus and asks him why he can’t “control“ his wife, but Paulina isn’t having any of his nonsense.
• Paulina says she’s come to Leontes as his loyal servant to convince him of his “evils” against the queen, Hermione.
• Leontes tells Paulina to go away, but before the servant can drag her away, Paulina whips out the baby and shows it to Leontes.
• Leontes call Paulina a “man-like witch” and accuses her of spying on him.
• Paulina, who seems to be the only one willing to stand up to Leontes, tells the king he’s bonkers.
NB!
• Leontes tells his lords to get the “bastard” out of his sight and screams that Antigonus is hen-pecked by his wife → that is an
insult, in case you were wondering.
• While Leontes rants and raves, Paulina tells him off - she demands that Leontes acknowledge his child and his wife’s innocence.
• Leontes calls Paulina a “callat” (a shrew and /or a tramp) and some other obnoxious names, threatens to have her burned at the
stake, and yells at Antigonus for not being able to keep his wife in line.
• Paulina points out how much the baby girl looks like Leontes and says she doesn’t care what Leontes does to her – he needs to
take care of his baby and his baby’s mother.
NB!
• Leontes order Antigonus to get rid of the kid, or else. Then Leontes gets all Lady Macbeth on us and threatens to “dash out” the
kid’s “brains” with his own hands if Antigonus doesn’t obey him.
• After screaming at the servants, Leontes decides he want Antigonus to take the little “bastard” out to the middle of nowhere and
abandon it to the harsh elements. If someone comes along and saves it, fine. Otherwise, too bad.
• Antigonus agrees to take the baby for a little ride and says he really hopes a bird or a bear will decide to nurse it and raise it as
its own. You are probably snickering at Antigonus right now, but this kind of stuff happens all the time in fairy tales, which is kind
of what The Winter’s Tale is.
NB!
• Antigonus leaves with the baby and a servant enters with news that Cleomenes and Dion have returned from their trip to see the
Oracle in “Delphos” - remember, Leontes sent some guys to visit the Oracle to verify Hermione’s guilt or innocence.
CHARACTERS: Leontes
Antigonus
Act 2, Scene 1
Act 2, Scene 1
•
He rages at his most faithful lords for pleading on Hermione’s behalf, his word and
accusations growing wilder at each step. He accuses them of being traitors.
• Antigonus is a lord at Leontes’s court.
•
He threatens to have Paulina burnt for advocating for Hermione.
• He is married to Paulina, and has three daughters.
•
He sends Antigonus to abandon the new-born child in the wilderness on peril of his
life.
• He is willing to stake almost all he has on Hermione’s innocence.
•
He swears that he will treat the Queen fairly, holding an open trail.
•
He sends people to Apollo’s oracle at Delphi for divine sanction.
• He attempts to rule his wife, but she is forceful, leading him to be considered henpecked.
Act 2, Scene 3
NB!
• Leontes’s wild jealousy turns him into a tyrant. He now has lost all reason.
• His behaviour destroys everything that matters in his life → family and friendship
• He wants Antigonus to put his wife in her place and get her to stop back-chatting the king.
Mamillius
Act 2, Scene 1
• He has grown to the age where he does not wish to be treated as a baby, though as he is
apparently still under the care of the women of the household.
• He is a tale-teller with a particularly talent for horror stories. He is torn from his mother’s
arms just as he is beginning one of these tales at her request.
• He is also afraid of the ridicule Leontes’s madness will bring on the court.
• His speech is very blunt, and forthright setting him apart from the other lords and
noblemen.
• During the play, he is caught between his loyalty to his wife, who tries to persuade
Leontes that Hermione is innocent, and his loyalty to his king Leontes, who chides him for
allowing his wife to dominate him.
NB!
Act 2, Scene 3
NB!
• Antigonus isn’t so much a villain as a victim. He is bullied into ditching Perdita.
• Leontes gives him a lot of grief about being a wimpy husband who can’t control his wife.
• He will do anything to save the baby’s life.
Hermione
Act 2, Scene 1
Emelia
Act 2, Scene 2
• Emelia is a lady in waiting to Hermione. She accompanies Hermione to prison when
Leontes throws the queen in jail.
NB!
• Emilia’s big moment in the play occurs when she speaks to Paulina about Hermione’s
health and announces that the queen has given birth to a baby girl while behind bars.
• When she is suddenly attacked by an irrational Leontes accusing her of adultery, she
believes this to be a misunderstanding.
NB!
• She remains calm, patient, and dignified throughout the ordeal like a true queen.
• She knows she is innocent and feels she can completely rely on the honesty and loyalty
of her subjects to plead with Leontes on her behalf.
• She gives Leontes the opportunity of forgiveness if he would admit his mistake to her.
NB!
CHARACTERS: Paulina
Act 2, Scene 2
• Paulina is Antigonus’s wife.
• She is an authoritative, upstanding, courageous and highly moral women willing to risk her life for what she believes is right.
• She is willing to defy convention when need be, and rejects the idea that her husband can command her in an unethical manner.
• Unlike all the men at Leontes’s court, she does not beg in Hermione’s favour, but challenges the king to his face, forcing her way into his presence with his new-born child.
• Rather than swear on her life that the Queen is good, Paulina dares Leontes to have Hermione burnt, and call him a tyrant.
• She insists on Hermione’s superiority to any women mentioned, and rebukes Leontes for taking an appreciative look at Perdita.
Act 2, Scene 3
• She is all-round tough-as-nails. She calls it like it is, which is saying a lot for a 16th century woman who was supposed to be quiet and submissive all the time.
• She’s the only one who will call Leontes out on the fact that he’s acting like a spoiled brat and being totally unfair to his perfect wife, Hermione.
• Paulina doesn’t care that he’s the king and can kill her for talking smack about him – she has more guts than all the other characters combined.
• While all the men stand around awkwardly twiddling their thumbs about what to do about the king’s irrational and unfounded jealousy, Paulina goes marching right up to him and tells
him to quit it.
• Listen to what she says, to his face, when Leontes threatens to have her burned for standing up for Hermione: “I care not. It is an heretic that makes the fire, not she which burns in ‘t.
I’ll not call you tyrant; but this most cruel usage of your queen, not able to produce more accusation than your own weak-hinged fancy, some savours of tyranny, and will ignoble make you,
yea, scandalous to the world” (2,3146-52).
• She calls the king a tyrant because of his sour attitude. Then she promptly takes it back. On second thought, he’s not even good enough to be called a tyrant.
• Calling the king out in front of al his courtiers shows us just how assertive Paulina is. She knows her queen is innocent, so she lets her confidence do the talking.
• Although she pretends to want to help Leontes, she goes out of her way to ensure that he suffers.
Analysis
Act 2, Scene 1
Characterization is of secondary interest in this scene:
• Leontes is developed almost as a stereotype to “Human Nature disrupted by Insanity”.
NB!
Act 2, Scene 3
• Conflict never abates in this scene.
• Tensions build as everyone on stage contributes to the many attempts to resolve the
complications.
• Hermione’s goodness comes close to being unbelievable, were it not for the fact that we
see her growing stronger, more self-sufficient, and patient → as do many pregnant
women confronted with emergencies.
• Leontes, however, continues to speak for illusion, while all the other speak for reality.
• Perhaps her unshakable pureness and goodness are essential in order to motivate all the
underlings to argue with their king.
• Already desperate from lack of sleep and absence of resolution, he cannot tolerate what
is thrust at him by Paulina.
• The audience may well wonder whether such a rare creature could actually exist beyond
the stage of this play.
NB!
Conflict:
• In desperation, he orders her hauled from the chambers.
• We have witness the jealous, tyrannical Leontes as he flung his distorted illusions against
reality.
• These compromises on the lives of Paulina and the baby weaken the illusion that
Leontes craves, so he looks forward to the proof that he believes will be contained in the
oracle’s message.
NB!
• We watched Leontes escalate the wilful destruction of his richest possessions.
• As a protagonist, he has cut his ties with his family and has isolated them.
• He has isolated himself from all objective communication, and finally he is left with only
his own wrong illusions.
Act 2, Scene 2
• Compared to Hermione’s gentle, obedient reaction to Leontes’ tyranny, Paulina’s rage is
graphically gathering as she prepares to confront her king.
• Obviously she has no intention of using the diplomatic ploys of Camillo or the other
advisers; she will voice only her own absolute outrage at the mistreatment of the
innocent.
• We are aware of the lunatic that now controls Leontes, Paulina determines that a direct
attack of Truth will shake him loose from his insanity.
• Leontes’ actions can be called insane for they have destroyed a peaceful court life and a
happy family life.
• Leontes, the only character blinded by illusion, wants to throw Hermione, Paulina, and
the baby into a cleansing fire.
• That only leaves the baby to punish. He cruelly orders that the baby must be abandoned
in a desolate spot where Fate may decide whether or not she lives or dies.
• Paulina characterizes herself as a physician and counsellor, one who has come to heal the
torments caused by Leontes’ illusions.
• She urges the king’s advisors to realise that their tolerance of his moods only worsens the
problem.
• Leontes, of course, finds Paulina intolerable.
• She increases his frenzy, and she cures nothing.
Analysis
Act 2, Scene 3 – continue
• However, she does prove that her brave confrontations with truth at least can curb the
king’s tyranny, for he cannot exercise his cruel orders until Paulina is removed from the
scene.
• Unfortunately for the king’s family and his subjects, none of the lords follow her example.
• They continue to appeal to a reasoning power that no longer operates within him.
• In a final attempt to resolve Leontes’ mad conflict, they kneel and beg for him to reward
their past faithful service by sparing the life of a baby.
• Antigonus desperately promises to do anything to spare the baby’s life. Their begging,
however, inspires only more tyranny.
• All the focus on the baby, however, does cause Leontes to change his order about her fate,
but he does not really alter his cruel tyranny.
• He manages to punish Antigonus for supporting his brave and loyal wife, as well as
conceiving a cruel death for the innocent baby.
• At this point, Leontes seems hopelessly desperate and is insanely irrational.
• He wants revenge because he needs control.
NB!
• Instead of gaining control, however, every step he takes increases his own frenzy and
diminishes all chances for help.
• Only by accepting reality, including his own contributions to the events, can Leontes regain
emotional control of himself and his court.
NB!
• Although the honesty of Camillo, Hermione, and Paulina prevent total mad tyranny,
Leontes’ frenzy increases.
• Leontes’ “nature” can no longer tolerate any limits.
• He trusts no judgment but his own; thus, he blurts out: “You’re liars all”.
• The Elizabethan notion of the Order of the Universe that Leontes should be absolutely
duty-bound to imitate has disintegrated before his mad illusions.
NB!
• Only the oracle’s message offers hope for resolution of the conflict.
Plot summary: Act 3, Scene 1
• On their way back to Sicilia from Delphos, the envoys Cleomenes and Dion converse about
their journey and their mission.
• They praise the island’s climate, the temple of Apollo, and the ceremonies they witnessed.
• Cleomenes compares the voice of the oracle to the thunder of Jove, the king of the gods →
Jupiter
• Both envoys hope their mission may aid Hermione’s cause.
Analysis: Act 3, Scene 1
• We see in the exchange between Cleomenes and Dion that the people of Sicilia have a great
deal of respect and love for Queen Hermione.
• At first glance, this brief scene seems to only serve as a travelogue.
NB!
• It serves this purpose, but more important, it adds to the dramatic tension as preparations
are being made for Hermione’s trial.
• The messengers seem now to bear an unimpeachable testimony against Leontes’ tyranny.
• One of the most striking features of the early part of the play – which serves to highlight
Leontes’s madness – is the fact that everyone is on Hermione’s side.
Quote:
“If th’event o’ th’journey Prove as successful to the queen – O be’t so!” (3,1 11-12) says Dion, and
Cleomenes echoes him “These proclamations, So forcing fault upon Hermione, I little like” (3.1
15-17) → translated:
Dion: “If only the outcome of the journey is as successful for the queen as it was wonderful,
pleasant, and quick for us, it would be a worthwhile trip.”
Cleomenes: “May great Apollo make all turn out well! I don’t like these claims accusing Hermione
of faults.”
Plot summary: Act 3, Scene 2
• Meanwhile, in a courtroom in Sicily, Leontes makes a big speech about how he’s merely
seeking “justice” by putting his wife of trial.
• Hermione enters the courtroom and an Officer reads an indictment → Hermione is
accused of adultery with Polixenes (which is treason against King Leontes) and conspiring
with Camillo to kill Leontes.
• Hermione stands up and delivers an eloquent and dignified speech about how she knows
that, even if she were to plead “not guilty”, Leontes wouldn’t believe her.
• She’s hoping and praying, however, that divine justice will prevail.
• She also pleads with Leontes to consider the fact that she’s a queen, the daughter of a
king, the mother of a prince, and the loving wife Leontes used to love – before he went
crazy with irrational jealousy, that is.
• Quote: If powers divine Behold our human actions, as they do, I doubt not then but
innocence shall make False accusation blush, and tyranny Tremble at patience (3.2. 29-33)
→ translated “But if the gods watch what we humans do, I don’t doubt that innocence will
win out against false accusation and tyranny.” → Hermione’s soliloquys are NB!
• Leontes is all “whatever” and Hermione points out that she did nothing wrong when she
was kind and loving toward Polixenes. As the wife of Polixenes’ childhood friend, she was
obligated to be sweet to him. In fact, Leontes asked her to be nice to his friend. As for
conspiring with Camillo, she doesn’t know anything about that.
• Leontes say Hermione had a love child with Polixenes, so he’s had someone get rid of the
‘brat”.
• Hermione points out the injustices she’s suffered → she’s lost her position as queen, she’s
been rejected by her husband, she’s been barred from seeing her first-born child,
Mamillius, and her second-born child has been taken away from her and is probably
dead. Plus, Hermione wasn’t even allowed the “childbed privilege” (she wasn’t allowed
to rest and recuperate in private after giving birth, which has left her physically weak).
• Quote: “If I shall be condemned Upon surmises, all proofs sleeping else But what your
jealousies awake, I tell you ‘Tis rigour and not law.” (3.2.112-115) → translated: “if I am
condemned on mere guesses and your jealousy without any proof, it is merely severity and
not justice.”
• History snack: Hermione is referring to what’s called a “lying in” period. A mother’s
right to rest and recuperate in seclusion (only her closest women friends, relatives, and
servants were allowed to hang out in her private chamber) after giving birth was a huge
deal in Shakespeare ‘s England, so Hermione was deprived of this important right.
• Then Hermione demands to hear what the oracle had to say about the matter.
• In a ringing challenge to all who judge her, she exhorts: “Apollo be my judge!” →
translated “Your honours, I commend myself to the oracle, and let Apollo be my
judge!”.
• Cleomenes and Dion (our happy tourists) enter the courtroom fresh from their vacation
in Delphos and deliver a sealed letter from the Oracle.
• The officer reads the super-secret letter, which goes like this: “Hermione is chaste,
Polixenes blameless, Camillo a true subject, Leontes a jealous tyrant, his innocent
babe truly begotten, and the King shall live without an heir if that which is lost be not
found”. → it’s not hard to figure out what the last part of the letter means. Leontes
isn’t going to have an heir if the baby he threw away isn’t found, which means that
Mamillius, who has been pretty sick, probably isn’t going to live much longer.
NB!
• Everybody except Leontes yells “blessed be the great Apollo!”. Leontes proclaims the
oracle to be a big fat liar.
NB!
• Leontes asks: “hast thou read truth?”. The officer confirms it. Then, Leontes declares,
“There is no truth at all I’ th’ oracle. The sessions shall proceed; this is mere falsehood”.
• Then a servant runs into the courtroom and announces that Mamillius has died
because he was so afraid something terrible would happen to his mother.
NB!
NB!
Plot summary: Act 3, Scene 2 – continue
• Hermione falls to the ground.
• Leontes announces that Apollo’s angry because he doubted the Oracle and Paulina yells
at Leontes that Hermione is dying.
• Leontes orders someone to take the queen somewhere and try to revive her.
• Then Leontes prays to the god Apollo and begs forgiveness for doubting the Oracle and
for unfairly accusing his wife and his friend of infidelity. He says: “I have too much
believed mine own suspicion.” → Leontes’s soliloquy NB!!
NB!
• Paulina’s on the verge of fainting because things are so awful – plus, it doesn’t help
matters that her bodice is so tight that she can hardly breathe.
• Paulina catches her breath and lays into Leontes for being such a tyrant. She taunts him
by saying that maybe he should torture her (by flaying her, boiling her, or putting her on
the “rack”) like he’s tortured his innocent family. She calls him a fool for betraying
Polixenes’ friendship, ruining Camillo’s honour, and causing Mamillius’ death.
• Then Paulina drops a bomb – she announces that Hermione has died.
NB!
• Paulina says she hopes Leontes never repents for his sins because she wants him to
spend the rest of his life in a state of despair. → Paulina’s soliloquy NB!!
• Leontes, who seems to recognise the implications of his jealousy and tyranny, announces
that he deserves every single thing Paulina has to say. Recognising the damage done by
his jealous quest for revenge as well as the probability that Camillo fled because of
Leontes’ command to poison Polixenes, Leontes praises the glowing honour of Camillo:
“How he glisters Through my dark rust!”.
• Paulina announces that she’s sorry for speaking so harshly to Leontes and asks
forgiveness for being such a mouthy and “foolish” women. (Paulina is probably being
sarcastic here, but same actors and literary critics argue that she’s being sincere, so we’ll
leave it to you to decide). “What’s gone and what’s past help Should be past grief.” →
translated: “What has happened and can’t be fixed should be past grieving over.”
• Leontes says Paulina’s right to chastise him and he’s going to seek repentance by visiting
the dead bodies of his wife and son every day.
Analysis: Act 3, Scene 2
NB!
• In this scene, Leontes speaks of the contrasts between his reputation for tyranny and
Hermione’s reputation for noble innocence. The only way that Leontes can be found
innocent of the accusations of tyranny would be to prove Hermione is guilty.
• Neither facts, as requested by Hermione, nor truth, as delivered from Apollo, will
dissuade Leontes. Leontes is not yet ready for redemption.
• Although his tyranny has been curbed, he has not earned trusts from Hermione or
Paulina, who must feel that Leontes is now stable enough to be trusted.
• While the plot is maturing, characterisation is also developing. For Example → Leontes
must suffer for his monumental mistake.
NB!
• He realises that fact as soon as Mamillius dies: “the heavens themselves Do strike at my
injustice.”. Consequently, he realises that after he destroyed his family and kingdom, he
began to destroy the natural Order of the Universe.
• Although the message from Apollo does not change Leontes’ jealousy, the news of his
son’s death shocks him into a realisation that he has been wrong and that he has done
great harm.
• The shock climaxes when Paulina announces Hermione’s death.
• Trapped midway between reality and illusion, and shocked by the tragic consequences
of his tyranny, Leontes pledges a morbid expression of deep atonement: “Once a day I’ll
visit The chapel where they lie, and tears shed there Shall be my recreation. So long as
nature Will bear up with this exercise… (3.2. 239-42). → translated: “I’ll visit the chapel
where they lie daily. And my pastime will be to shed tears. I’ll do it daily, as long as I am
able to”. Leontes must yet learn the full dimension of love and how to express it. NB!
• Perhaps the most striking feature of this scene is it's lightning pace. Within less than a
hundred lines, Apollo’s oracle exonerates Hermione and Polixenes, a servant reports the
death of Leontes’s son and heir Mamillius, and Paulina report the death of Hermione.
• Leontes regrets his actions even more swiftly than he succumbed to the wave of
jealousy engulfing him in Act 1, Scene 2.
How authentic is Leontes’s repentance?
• His jealousy in Act 1 and his equally sudden change of heart in Act 3 suggest that
Leontes has an extremely impulsive temperament.
• If we find his sudden jealousy credible, we are likely to credit his equally sudden
repentance as genuine.
• Up to now in the play, he has been scathing in his accusations of other; he is now just
as scathing when he recalls his own unjust words and actions.
• He offers no excuses for his excessive behaviour. Instead he frankly and fearlessly
confronts his own moral failure.
NB!
Characters:
Leontes in Act 3, Scene 2
• Since he becomes paranoid, murderous, and cruel shortly after the play’s opening, it is
difficult to get any sense of what his character was like originally.
• His sudden onset of jealousy sets the plot in motion, and his equally sudden
repentance for his actions is the background for the play’s second half.
NB!
Hermione in Act 3, Scene 2
• Accused by Leontes of adultery with Polixenes, she eloquently defends her innocence
at a formal trail.
• At the news of the death of her son Mamillius, Hermione faints and is carried off stage.
She is later reported to have died.
Paulina in Act 3, Scene 2
• Paulina serves as the moral conscience and guide for Leontes.
• Unafraid to speak out against his tyrannical behaviour, she run great risks of
punishment, but in the end she is esteemed for her nobility and honesty.
Plot summary: Act 3, Scene 3
• Antigonus (Paulina’s husband and the guy Leontes’s ordered to get rid of the unwanted baby)
and a Mariner arrive on the “coast” of Bohemia (what is now called the Czech Republic –
Bohemia is totally landlock and has no coast, but Shakespeare either didn’t know or didn’t
care).
• The Mariner looks up at the stormy skies and says the gods seem pretty angry, which is code
for “the weather’s pretty lousy”.
• Antigonus tells him to get back on the boat because, after he gets rid of the kid, he want to
get home, ASAP.
• The Mariner tells Antigonus to hurry up and ditch the kid because the weather’s getting even
worse. Plus, Bohemia is famous for its dangerous wild animals.
• Antigonus talks sweetly to the baby he’s about to abandon and says he had a dream about
Hermione, who appeared to him wearing a white robe and asked him to name her baby
“Perdita” → which means “lost one” in Latin, since she’s going to be abandoned in a strange
land.
NB!
• Antigonus puts the baby on the ground along with a scroll (a long roll of paper) that details
Perdita’s lineage and history. He also leaves a box full of gold.
• Antigonus announces that he believes Hermione must be dead and then he tries to convince
himself that the Gold Apollo must surely want him to abandon the baby in Bohemia and
that Polixenes, the king of Bohemia, is likely the father.
• Antigonus says his “heart bleeds” for the child but it’s getting late and he’s got to get back
home.
• Antigonus who seems ready to deliver a very loooong speech, is interrupted by the
appearance of … a bear.
• He runs off towards the shore while the bear gives chase.
• Then an Old Shepherd rambles onto the stage complaining about some teenage hooligans
who scared off some of his sheep. Then he spots baby Perdita, who, thankfully wasn’t eaten
by the wild bear.
• The Old Shepherd muses that the unwanted baby must have been conceived in some dark
stairwell by a naughty unmarried couple – why else, he muses, would someone abandon
such a pretty baby?
• The Old Shepherd’s son, a Clown shows up and tells his dad he’s not going to believe what he,
the Clown, has just seen. The Clown has just come from the shore, where he witnessed a
shipwreck (the ship Antigonus and the Mariner arrived on) and a gruesome bear attack.
• Clown elaborates: While the bear was tearing off some poor guy’s shoulder, the guy yelled out
his name, “Antigonus”, and cried for help. Sadly, there was nothing the Clown could do to help
him. What’s worse, the bear is still snacking on its victim at this very moment.
• The Old Shepherd and the Clown feel sort of bad about not being able to help the shipwreck
victims or Antigonus, but they decide to go ahead and check out a box of goodies that was
left behind with the abandoned baby
• The Old Shepherd announces that the baby must be a “changeling” → a child that’s been secretly
switched with another, usually by mischievous fairies.
NB!
• Why does the Old Shepherd think this when he’s got access to the documents that detail the
baby’s true heritage? Best guess? The old Shepherd and his son probably can’t read, being
uneducated peasants.
• Another element that is consistent with the genre of Romance is Shakespeare ‘s moral
lessons about virtue and vice.
NB!
• Both Antigonus and the mariner worry about retribution by the heavens for their
participation in the heartless, unwarranted punishment of the infant.
• The Old Shepherd is pleased as punch when he finds a bunch of gold in the box – he says the
fairies must have left it for him.
• And this retribution occurs just after Antigonus leaves the infant, stating “most accursed
am I”.
• Since the Old Shepherd’s so thankful for his good fortune, he wants to perform some kind of good
deed. He and the Clown will bury whatever’s left of Antigonus’ body – after the bear is done
feasting on him, that is.
• A hungry bear chases Antigonus off the stage at the very moment that the thunderstorm
breaks. This storm would most certainly have been viewed by Elizabethan audiences as a
disruption of the Heavenly Order.
Analysis: Act 3, Scene 3
• Shakespeare’s humour softens this horror when the Old Shepherd and Clown bury
Antigonus because “’Tis a lucky day” which call for “good deeds”.
NB!
NB!
• The scene is structured on irony and laced with sardonic humour.
• Dramatic irony is first evident when Antigonus swears to faithfully carry out the king’s order to
abandon the baby; the audience, you should remember, knows full well that Leontes has now
repented of his tyranny.
NB!
• Consider many tragedies that preceded the Shepherd’s finding the baby, contrasted with his
simple belief that the fairies dropped both the baby and gold in his pathway in order to make
him rich.
NB!
• From this point until the end of the play, comedy will be threaded throughout the central plot.
• In this scene alone, Shakespeare includes noisy thunder, ghosts, an attacking bear, slapstick
humour, fairies, and a rags-to-riches myth!
• Another use of the astounding that contributes to the plot involves the fate of Antigonus, of
Perdita, and that of the mariners.
• Antigonus and the crew, of course, must die so that no one can report to Bohemia who the
infant is, and no one can bring news to Sicilia where the infant was abandoned.
• Perdita is now completely abandoned to Fate.
• Antigonus believes that he experiences a supernatural vision which he incorrectly interprets as
proof that Hermione has died and that Perdita was fathered by Polixenes.
• Equally as confused as Antigonus, the Old Shepherd irrationally believes that something
supernatural guided the fairies to leave him a changeling and the gold for his own fortune.
• Clearly, these two characters are characterised by their rewards for virtue as sure as
Leontes is characterised by his punishment for the absence of such virtue.
NB!
• Significantly, all the fantastic elements are used to save Perdita for the healing role that
she must play in order for the major conflict to be resolved.
NB!
• Antigonus, already established as a kind man who is reluctant to carry out the king’s
orders, contributes to the possible survival of the infant by wrapping a substantial
amount of gold in her blankets.
• The gold must have been his own, it was not provided by the crazed Leontes.
• Antigonus’s foresight does attract the attention of the Old Shepherd, and although he
believes the superstitious possibility that the baby is a changeling (whom the fairies have
used as an instrument to provide riches), the Old Shepherd is also a good man who never
considers killing the baby – only keeping the gold.
• He unwaveringly accepts the responsibility to raise the baby – initially, when he thought
it was an abandoned bastard and, later, when he thought that is was an instrument of the
fairies.
NB!
• The scene balances comedy and tragedy nicely, introduces new major characters, and it
saves the baby for the resolution of renewal and rebirth.
• It’s final dramatic result is that it places Perdita in the very middle of illusion and reality.
Plot summary: Act 4, Scene 1
•
•
NB!
A character with wings and an hourglass appears on the
stage and identifies himself as “Time” personification.
Time announces to the audience that sixteen years have
passed (since the last scene) and asks us to keep an open
mind about the play’s fast forwarding of events. Some
editions of the play say that 15 years have passed.
Analysis: Act 4, Scene 1
•
Time’s speech functions as a bridge between the two
parts of the play allowing the crossing of a sixteen-year
gap.
Plot summary: Act 4, Scene 2
• At the Bohemian palace, Camillo tells Polixenes that he’s
homesick and wants to return to his hometown, Sicily, in which
should be a safe thing to do since Leontes has apparently
repented for his bad behaviour. Remember, Camillo fled to Sicily
with Polixenes when Leontes flipped out sixteen years ago.
• Polixenes begs Camillo not to go – Camillo’s been a great friend
and an invaluable right hand man to the king over the years.
• Polixenes and Camillo talk about how Prince Florizel has been
away from the palace lately.
• Polixenes has had some spies follow his son and has learned
that Florizel has been hanging out at the home of the Old
Shepherd, a guy who used to be poor but become wealthy
overnight.
•
It also prepares the audience for an adult Florizel and
Perdita when next we see them.
•
Time gives the audience a little update on what’s been
happening in Sicily and Bohemia.
• Camillo chimes in that the Old Shepherd has a beautiful
daughter, which is probably why Florizel is always hanging out
over there.
➢
In Sicily, Leontes, who feels really bad about the way his
jealousy destroyed his family, has shut himself up in
isolation.
• Camillo and Polixenes decide to take a little trip out to the
country to see what Florizel and the Old Shepherd are up to.
➢
In Bohemia, King Polixenes has a son named Florizel,
who is all grown up.
➢
Also, Perdita (the abandoned baby) has been raised by
the Old Shepherd and she’s grown up to be very pretty.
• First, however, they’ll need some disguises.
NB!
Analysis: Act 4, Scene 2
• At the beginning of this act, Camillo is once again experiencing
internal conflict. He struggles between his desire to serve both
kings who want him and his own stronger personal motivation
to return home.
NB!
• In Scene 2, we learn more about Polixenes’ nature.
• When we compare the new characteristics by comparing him
with Leontes we find that Polixenes is a more manipulative
and selfish character than we have been able to discern earlier.
• However, he is not an evil villain. Like Leontes, he must
confront the question of loyal obedience within a family that
he loves, but unlike Leontes, he does not permit a few
observations to fester until he becomes outrageously angry.
Plot summary: Act 4, Scene 3
• In Bohemia, near the Old Shepherd’s house, a
thief/conman named Autolycus sings a song about
summer and springtime, which, for guys like Autolycus,
involves stealing while the birds sing sweetly in the
background.
• The Clown appears on the stage talking about how much
money he and his father might make off the sheep
they’ve been raising. He’s not very bright and he’s having
a really hard time adding up numbers, so he turns his
attention to what his sister (Perdita) wants him to buy for
the upcoming sheep-shearing festival. The Clown talks
about the nice food and great music one can expect at the
sheep-shearing festival.
• Autolycus, whose name literally means “the wolf itself”,
licks his lips and rubs his hands together and approaches
the Clown. Autolycus rolls around on the ground as if he’s
in pain and begs for help.
• The Clown takes the bait and listens solemnly while
Autolycus lies and says he was beaten and robbed.
NB!
Analysis: Act 4, Scene 3
Who is Autolycus?
• He is a cunning young man who was formerly in the
service of the prince.
• He now makes his living as a con artist, adjusting his
identity to manipulate other characters, and as a cutpurse.
• He trades mainly in stolen sheets but also looks out for
smaller articles to steal.
• Autolycus’ character is true to the meaning of his name.
• He is named after the son of Mercury, who is the patron of
thieves and pickpockets just like his ‘profession’ is.
Plot summary: Act 4, Scene 4
• At the festival, Perdita (who is dressed up as the Queen of the Feast) and Florizel (dressed
up as a young Shepherd named “Doricles”) flirt with one another. (costumes are pretty
standard at these kinds of shindigs and, yes, Perdita knows that Florizel isn’t some poor
Shepherd boy named “Doricles”).
• Florizel compares her to Flora, who in classical mythology, was said to be the goddess of
springtime and always wore a crown of flowers on her head. His speech focusses on
rebirth and the hope of renewal.
NB!
• A servant enters and announces that there’s a peddler (a guy who travels around selling
worthless items) at the door who happens to be a great singer. The Clown let him in to the
party. Perdita warns the Clown that the peddler better not sing any songs with dirty lyrics.
• Autolycus (the guy who picked the Clown’s pocket earlier) strolls in, disguised as the
peddler with a great voice. He sings a song about how everyone should step up and buy
some of his stuff.
• They met when his falcon flew over her father’s land.
• The Clown buys some ribbons and gloves for his girlfriend, Mopsa. Dorcas, who’s a little
jealous, makes a crack about how the Clown promised to marry Mopsa but hasn’t done it
yet. Mopsa retorts that Dorcas slept with the Clown and may be pregnant, to which the
Clown says something like: “Geez – whatever happened to modesty?”
• Perdita says King Polixenes might sentence her to death if he finds out about them but
Florizel tells her to cheer up and start acting like a proper Queen of the Feast.
• When Mopsa asks the Clown to buy her more stuff, he complains about being robbed at
the market.
• The Old Shepherd shows up with the Clown, Mopsa, Dorcas, Polixenes (in disguise),
Camillo (also in disguise), and a bunch of other party-goers.
• Autolycus (the guy who picked the Clown’s pockets) says something like “Oh, how awful. I
hope I don’t get robbed while I’m here”.
• The Old Shepherd tells Perdita she’s a lousy Queen of the Feast – she’s supposed to be
welcoming and entertaining the festival-goers. The Old Shepherd’s late wife did a much
better job when she was alive.
• Autolycus, Mopsa, and Dorcas sing a song together about a love triangle and then a group
of country dancers show up to entertain the festival-goers.
• After being hassled by her father, Perdita plays hostess and welcomes the guests to the
festival by handing out flowers.
• Polixenes takes issue with Perdita hating on gillyflowers and argues that crossbred flowers
are superior to plain old carnations.
• Perdita and Polixenes continue to argue about cross-breeding flowers.
• Perdita continues to pass out flowers to the festival guests and Florizel take the
opportunity to tell Perdita how pretty she is.
• Meanwhile, Polixenes approaches his son (Florizel), who doesn’t recognize his disguised
father, and asks Florizel about his relationship with Perdita.
• Florizel doesn’t need anyone to twist his arm to talk about his girlfriend – he professes his
love for Perdita, which prompts the Old Shepherd to give his daughter permission to
marry.
NB!
• Before the Old Shepherd can bind his daughter’s hand to Florizel’s (an act of betrothal),
the disguised Polixenes steps in and says not so fast – where’s Florizel’s father?
• Polixenes tells Camillo that Perdita is the “prettiest” poor girl that he’s ever seen. In fact,
she seems like she’s too “noble” to be a lowly Shepherd’s daughter → Dramatic Irony
• Perdita impresses Polixenes with her queenly behaviour and beauty but more so with her
unexpected grace and wisdom. NB!
• The band strikes up a tune and everybody parties, country style.
• Polixenes ironically seems ready to welcome her into the royal family which gives us
reason to believe he will accept Perdita as a daughter-in-law.
NB!
• Polixenes (wearing a disguise) strikes up a conversation with the Old Shepherd, who tells
him that his daughter’s boyfriend is a rich nobleman. (the Shepherd has no idea he’s
talking to the King of Bohemia, who isn’t thrilled about Florizel’s choice in girlfriend).
• He encourages Florizel to share their good news with his father and ask his blessing
(wishing to include himself in their happy affair). Polixenes advises him his father would be
reasonable and would only want his son to be prosperous.
• Florizel refuses to inform his father of the betrothal. This flaw in his nature (pride) is an
important key to the plot development.
NB!
• He and Perdita would not need to elope to be married if Florizel did not refuse to be
moved from his independent stance.
• When it becomes clear that Florizel has no intention of sharing his engagement with his
dad, Polixenes removes his disguise and goes: “Aha! You thought you could get married
to some country bumpkin without my permission?”.
• Polixenes throws a tantrum and disowns his son, sentences the Old Shepherd to death,
and says he’s going to have Perdita’s gorgeous face “scratched with briars and made
more homely” than her lowly social status. (He sounds a lot like Leontes, don’t you
think?).
NB!
• Polixenes and Florizel argue about whether or not Florizel should tell his dad about his
plans to marry Perdita.
• Camillo says that, since the prince won’t change his mind about marrying Perdita, he’ll
give Florizel some advice, which is to sail for Sicily with Perdita, under the guise of
being ambassadors sent by Polixenes where Leontes will most likely embrace him like a
“son”, to make up for his betrayal of Polixenes. Camillo persuades Perdita to play the
role of a disguised princess in Sicilia.
• Meanwhile, Autolycus comes on stage and brags about how he managed to sell all of
his junk to the suckers at the sheep-shearing festival. He also managed to pick
everybody’s pockets while he was at it.
• Then we get back to Camillo, Florizel, and Perdita. Camillo promises to write letters of
introduction for the young couple. Camillo is homesick and want to live in his old house
again.
• Camillo spots Autolycus and makes him trade clothes with Florizel so the prince can
escape Bohemia without being recognized. Camillo advises Perdita to disguise herself
as well so she can make it to the ship safely.
NB!
• Camillo tells the audience that, after the kids set sail, he’s actually going to tattle on
them to Polixenes. His hope is that Polixenes will ask him to tag along while he chases
after them. That way, Camillo can finally go back home to Sicily.
• Florizel, Perdita, and Camillo run off, leaving Autolycus alone on stage. Autolycus tells the
audience he’s figured out what’s going on but he’s not going to tell the king because that
would be way too honest. As a con artist and a thief, Autolycus loathes honesty. (Plus, he’s
probably hoping for some kind of reward form the Prince).
• The Clown and the Old Shepherd show up carrying a bundle that was left with Perdita
when she was abandoned as a baby – the Old Shepherd wants to show the King proof that
Perdita is a “changeling” and that she isn’t “flesh and blood” daughter. (remember, the Old
Shepherd doesn’t know Perdita’s a princess – he thinks she was left in Bohemia by a bunch
of fairies). The Old Shepherd thinks that, if he can proof Perdita’s not his biological
daughter, he won’t be put to death.
• Autolycus hears all this and decides the bundle may possibly contain something that could
prevent the prince form marrying Florizel so he convinces the Old Shepherd and his son
that he’s a courtier and that King Polixenes has boarded a ship.
• After he scares the two men, he offers to take them to the king and make proper
introductions. Not wanting to be tortured, the Clown votes to give Autolycus a bunch of
gold to take them to King Polixenes.
• The Old Shepherd hands over some money and promises to give Autolycus more money
after he’s introduced him to the king.
• Autolycus says something like, “Great – you go on ahead to the sea shore and I’ll meet you
there”.
• Left alone on stage, Autolycus confides to the audience that he’s the luckiest guy on earth
– not only is he going to make a bunch of money by scamming the Old Shepherd and is son,
he’s also going to do the prince a big favour (by leading the Old Shepherd to the princes
ship instead of to the King), which means that Prince Florizel will be indebted to Autolycus.
• Thanks to Autolycus the Shepherd ends up accompanying his daughter and Florizel to Sicily.
NB!
Analysis: Act 4, Scene 4
NB!
• This scene is dominated by the image of renewal. Which dominates all other dramatic elements in preparation for it healing role in solving the major conflict of the plot.
• This was the roll for which Perdita was saved by heavenly intervention. Now the remaining act must transport Perdita and her possessions towards Sicilia. This is accomplished by
Polixenes' tantrum and by some fast thinking of Autolycus and Camillo.
NB!
• Perdita is fearful of the King finding out about their romance.
• Florizel is, however, prepared to defy both his father and the norms of social hierarchy by eloping with her.
NB!
• Some good attributes that Florizel possesses:
✓ He is a fine, gallant young man and ideal match for Perdita.
✓ He is courageous, faithful, and stays hopeful of their future together.
✓ During their conversations, we can see he is loving, encouraging, and honest towards Perdita.
✓ His intensions towards her are proven noble and true when he is willing to sacrifice his birth right to be with her thereby honouring their vow to be married.
NB!
• The imagery of spring and flowers in bloom dominate this scene. The imagery of flowers and spring are used as dramatic elements for their healing roles in resolving the major conflict
of the plot.
• Autolycus decides to help the Shepherd and the Clown because they offer him a payment of gold which he feels comes from Fortune herself. He also feels that for once his lying and
thieving will be to the benefit to the prince Florizel, his former master and that in the future, after all is revealed, he might receive an even greater reward.
• His change of identity in these events seems to be out of character as he usually operates out of selfish reasons.
Characters:
NB!
• Camillo has intervened in events in order to achieve one more step in his consistent motivation – that is, to return home to die.
• Polixenes has manipulated people in order to bend them to his will.
NB!
• Florizel has maintained a single-minded motivation to marry Perdita.
• Autolycus, the Shepherd, and the Clown have all contributed to the eventual success of the trip to Sicilia – the healing renewal.
• Perdita contributes the least to the plot development at this point because she is ignorant of her heritage and her potential contribution. But she does remain consistent to her
character trait of having an uncommon amount of realistic, common sense.
NB!
Plot summary: Act 5, Scene 1
• In Sicilia, Leontes tells the courtiers who argue that he has mourned and done penance
long enough and ought to think about marrying again and producing an heir lest there be a
problem regarding succession after his death.
• Paulina encourages his resistance. They recall Hermione's splendor and his betrayal of her
virtue. To marry again would kill her again, Paulina and Leontes agree.
• Furthermore, Leontes promises that if he does marry again it will only be with Paulina's
permission, and Paulina says she will only approve his marriage when Hermione is alive
again.
NB!
• A servant enters and announces that a young man purporting to be Prince Florizel of
Bohemia has arrived with his princess and desires to see Leontes. Leontes is surprised at
such a sudden visit and that Florizel is not accompanied by an entourage.
• When Florizel assures him that he and Perdita have remained chaste, Leontes promises to
intervene with Polixenes on their behalf.
NB!
Act 5, Scene 2
• The revelation of Perdita's identity and the reconciliation of Leontes and Polixenes is not
shown but rather described in the conversation between a group of Gentlemen.
• Autolycus is among them, but he says little until they finish narrating the events of the
disclosure, how they saw the proofs of Perdita's identity, how the participants wept with
joy and sorrow, and how Paulina invited them to her house so that they might see a
statue of Hermione that she owns.
• When Autolycus is alone, the Shepherd and his son, the Clown, enter. They have now
become gentlemen and they promise to protect Autolycus, providing he mends his ways,
which he promises to do.
Act 5, Scene 3
• The servant speak of Perdita' beauty and Paulina reproached him for slighting Hermione's
memory.
• All have gathered in Paulina's chapel for the unveiling of a statue of Hermione.
• The presence of Florizel also painfully recalls the absence of Mamillius, who died when
Leontes persecuted his mother.
NB!
• When they see it, everyone is overcome by its perfect resemblance to Hermione and by a
wonderful lifelike quality in the marble.
• Upon seeing Florizel, Leontes notes how much he resembles Polixenes by saying that his
mother was true to wedlock.
NB!
• Florizel says he stopped in Sicily at his father's command to give Leontes his greetings.
Leontes gives him welcome and praises Perdita's beauty. Florizel tells him that she is a
Libyan princess.
NB!
• As they speak, a Lord enters with news that Polixenes has landed in Sicilia and asked that
Leontes take Florizel prisoner because he has defied his father and eloped with a
Shepherd's daughter. In addition, he reports that Perdita's father has arrived in Sicilia,
too, and has met with Polixenes.
• When Paulina sees how touched they are, she asks them if they would like to see more.
• Leontes assures her he does, and she demands his assurance that he will not accuse her
of witchcraft. Readily he agrees.
• She commands music to be played and Hermione descends from her pedestal, no longer
a marble statue but a living women.
• Hermione embraces Leontes and then turns to Perdita and begs a blessing of the gods for
her and then, like a loving mother, asks where she has lived, how she has lived, how she
found her way back to the court.
• Florizel says that Camillo must have betrayed him, and Leontes rejoices to hear him named.
• Of herself she says that knowing from Paulina that the Oracle gave hope that Perdita was
alive, she has preserved herself in hope of seeing her again.
• Perdita lament over what will become of her poor father and adds that they will never be
able to be married now. When Leontes hears that they are not married and that Perdita is
not a king's daughter, he becomes stern.
• Paulina says there is time enough to answer all the questions later, but right now she
calls them. all winners and tells them to rejoice in each other as she withdraws alone into
her solitariness.
• Momentarily, too, he expresses his own desire for Perdita, and when Paulina reproaches
him for betraying the memory of his queen, he says he thought of Hermione as he looked
at Perdita.
• But Leontes begs each one's pardon, blesses everyone, and asks Paulina to lead them
from her house so that, at their leisure, they may tell how they have lived in the sixteen
years that they have been separated.
NB!
ACT 5, Scene 1
Analysis:
Extract:
• At Leontes's palace in Sicily, Cleomenes begs Leontes to stop punishing himself for his
past sins and to forgive himself. (Apparently, Leontes has been quite penitent for the past
sixteen years).
• Leontes replies that he can't forgive himself for what he did to Hermione and the
kingdom it's all his fault that his wife is dead and Sicily no longer has an heir to the throne
(Mamillius is dead and Leontes basically threw away his baby daughter).
CLEOMENES
Sir, you have done enough, and have perform'd
A saint-like sorrow: no fault could you make,
Which you have not redeem'd; indeed, paid down
More penitence than done trespass: at the last,
Do as the heavens have done, forget your evil;
With them forgive yourself
• Paulina steps up and sweetly reminds Leontes that he's responsible for killing the perfect
woman and warns him that he shouldn't bother trying to find a new wife, since no
women can ever be as great as Hermione.
PAULINA
True, too true, my lord:
If, one by one, you wedded all the world,
Or from the all that are took something good,
To make a perfect woman, she you kill'd
Would be unparallel'd.
• Leontes sincerely thanks Paulina for reminding him that he basically "killed" Hermione
by putting her on trial for adultery.
• Cleomenes grumbles that Paulina is being cruel and he sort of has a point, wouldn't you
say?
LEONTES
I think so. Kill'd!
She I kill'd! I did so: but thou strikest me
Sorely, to say I did; it is as bitter
Upon thy tongue as in my thought: now, good now,
Say so but seldom.
• Paulina bickers with Dion about whether or not Leontes should remarry – Dion points out
that Sicily is without an heir and the fate of the kingdom is in jeopardy.
PAULINA
You are one of those
Would have him wed again.
DION
If you would not so,
You pity not the state, nor the remembrance
Of his most sovereign name;
• Then Paulina plays the Apollo card, pointing out that Apollo's Oracle said that Leontes
wouldn't have an heir until his lost child (Perdita) was found.
PAULINA
For has not the divine Apollo said,
Is't not the tenor of his oracle,
That King Leontes shall not have an heir
Till his lost child be found?
ACT 5, Scene 1
Analysis:
Extract:
• Leontes laments that he didn't listen to Paulina's wise council back when she warned
him not to try Hermione for adultery and treason.
• Leontes resolves not to remarry and says that if he got a new wife and treated her well,
Hermione's corpse would come back to life and ask why Leontes treated her like dirt.
• Plus Hermione's reanimated corpse would probably order him to murder his new wife, so
remarriage doesn't seem like such a great idea.
LEONTES
Thou speak'st truth. No more such wives; therefore, no wife: one worse,
And better used, would make her sainted spirit
Again possess her corpse, and on this stage,
Where we're offenders now, appear soul-vex'd,
• Paulina agrees and says that if she were Hermione, she would totally come back from the
dead and haunt Leontes.
PAULINA
I should so.
Were I the ghost that walk'd, I'ld bid you mark
Her eye, and tell me for what dull part in't
You chose her; then I'ld shriek, that even your ears
Should rift to hear me; and the words that follow'd
Should be 'Remember mine.'
• Paulina makes Leontes swear that if he does remarry, his bride must look like Hermione
and Paulina gets to choose her. But, she says, that won't happen unless Hermione
somehow manages to live again.
PAULINA
Will you swear
Never to marry but by my free leave?
Unless another,
As like Hermione as is her picture,
Affront his eye
Yet, if my lord will marry,—if you will, sir,
No remedy, but you will,—give me the office
To choose you a queen:
• A servant enters and announces Prince Florizel's arrival at the Sicilian court with his
"princess" (that would be Perdita) in tow.
• Leontes is baffled and wonders why Florizel has shown up on his doorstep without
advance notice. Something must be wrong, otherwise Florizel would have arrived with
more pomp and circumstance (and perhaps a letter from his father, Polixenes).
LEONTES
What with him? he comes not
Like to his father's greatness: his approach,
So out of circumstance and sudden, tells us
'Tis not a visitation framed, but forced
By need and accident. What train?
ACT 5, Scene 1
Analysis:
Extract:
• When the servant says that Florizel's princess is a beauty, Paulina gets all huffy and say
something like "nobody's as beautiful as Hermione was."
PAULINA
Sir, you yourself
Have said and writ so, but your writing now
Is colder than that theme, 'She had not been,
Nor was not to be equall'd;'
• Then Paulina points out that, if Mamillius had lived he probably would have been happy
to see Prince Florizel, since the two princes were born about about a month apart.
PAULINA
Had our prince, Jewel of children, seen this hour, he had pair'd
Well with this lord: there was not full a month 150
Between their births.
• Leontes begs Paulina to stop reminding him of Mamillius's death – every time she
mentions it, it feels like Mamillius has died all over again.
LEONTES
Prithee, no more; cease; thou know'st
He dies to me again when talk'd of: sure,
• Florizel and Perdita enter and Leontes comments that Florizel's mom did a good of
making him, because the prince looks exactly like a "copy" of his father, Polixenes.
Leontes looks at Perdita and proclaims that she's a "goddess".
LEONTES
For she did print your royal father off,
Conceiving you: were I but twenty-one,
Your father's image is so hit in you,
• Florizel lies and says that his father sends Leontes his best regards and wished he could
see his old friend.
FLORIZEL
By his command
Have I here touch'd Sicilia and from him
Give you all greetings that a king, at friend,
Can send his brother:
• Upon hearing this, Leontes beats himself up for being such a lousy friend to Polixenes
(i.e. accusing him sleeping with his wife and plotting to poison him).
LEONTES
O my brother,
Good gentleman! the wrongs I have done thee stir
Afresh within me, and these thy offices,
So rarely kind, are as interpreters
Of my behind-hand slackness
ACT 5, Scene 1
Analysis:
Extract:
• Florizel lies some more and says he picked up his "bride" in Libya before sailing to Sicily.
Ordinarily, he would have brought a huge entourage along with him but he decided to let
them sail home to Bohemia to give Polixenes the good news.
FLORIZEL
Most royal sir, from thence; from him, whose daughter
His tears proclaim'd his, parting with her: thence,
A prosperous south-wind friendly, we have cross'd,
To execute the charge my father gave me
For visiting your highness: my best train
I have from your Sicilian shores dismiss'd;
Who for Bohemia bend, to signify
Not only my success in Libya, sir,
But my arrival and my wife's in safety
Here where we are
• Leontes announces that Florizel's presence in Sicily is like a cure for sickness and says he
wishes he had a son or daughter like Polixenes has. (that is ironic all right, especially since
Leontes's daughter is standing right in front of him.).
NB!
LEONTES
What might I have been,
Might I a son and daughter now have look'd on,
Such goodly things as you!
• Then a Lord enters and announces that King Polixenes has send word that Leontes should
arrest Prince Florizel for running away from home with a lovely Shepherd's daughter.
LORD
Most noble sir,
That which I shall report will bear no credit,
Were not the proof so nigh. Please you, great sir,
Bohemia greets you from himself by me;
Desires you to attach his son, who has—
His dignity and duty both cast off— F
led from his father, from his hopes, and with
A shepherd's daughter.
• The Lord also says that Polixenes has just arrived in Sicily to accost his naughty son. Not
only that, but on his way to the Sicilian court, he ran into the Old Shepherd and the
Clown, who are crying like babies and begging for their lives.
LORD
To your court
Whiles he was hastening, in the chase, it seems,
Of this fair couple, meets he on the way
The father of this seeming lady and
Her brother, having both their country quitted
With this young prince.
ACT 5, Scene 1
Analysis:
Extract:
• Florizel realises that Camillo has betrayed him and he's not too happy.
FLORIZEL
Camillo has betray'd me;
Whose honour and whose honesty till now
Endured all weathers.
• Perdita cries for the poor old Shepherd and worries that he marriage celebrations is going
to have to wait.
PERDITA
O my poor father!
The heaven sets spies upon us, will not have
Our contract celebrated.
• Florizel begs Leontes to speak to his father on his behalf – he loves Perdita and wants to
spend his life with her.
FLORIZEL
Beseech you, sir,
Remember since you owed no more to time
Than I do now: with thought of such affections,
Step forth mine advocate;
• Paulina takes the opportunity to remind everyone, once again, that Perdita isn't nearly as
good-looking as Hermione once was.
PAULINA
Sir, my liege,
Your eye hath too much youth in't: not a month
'Fore your queen died, she was more worth such gazes
Than what you look on now.
• Leontes admits that looking at Perdita actually reminds him of his late wife. He says he's
happy to talk to Polixenes on behalf of the young couple.
LEONTES
I will to your father:
Your honour not o'erthrown by your desires,
I am friend to them and you: upon which errand
I now go toward him; therefore follow me
And mark what way I make: come, good my lord.
ACT 5, Scene 2
NB!
Analysis:
Extract:
• Somewhere in Leontes's castle, Autolycus speaks with some gentlemen of the court. It
seems that, off-stage, the Old Shepherd managed to have a conference with King Leontes,
where the Shepherd revealed proof that Perdita is not his biological daughter.
(Remember back in Act 3, Scene 3, Antigonus left a document of Perdita's heritage and
some gold when he abandoned her on the Bohemian coast.).
FIRST GENTLEMAN
I was by at the opening of the fardel, heard the old
shepherd deliver the manner how he found it:
whereupon, after a little amazedness, we were all
commanded out of the chamber; only this methought I
heard the shepherd say, he found the child.
• One of the Gentlemen reports that Leontes and Camillo seemed awestruck, but he
couldn't tell if they were full of "joy" or "sorrow" because everyone was ushered out of
the room before he could get any more details.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
I make a broken delivery of the business; but the
changes I perceived in the king and Camillo were
very notes of admiration: they seemed almost, with
staring on one another, to tear the cases of their eyes;
• A Second Gentleman enters the room and announces that Leontes's daughter "has been
found" just as the Oracle predicted. He also points out how the events that have
recently unfolded seem like an old, made-up "tale", which is Shakespeare 's way of
acknowledging the implausibility of the events in his play.
NB!
SECOND GENTLEMAN
Nothing but bonfires: the oracle is fulfilled; the
king's daughter is found: such a deal of wonder is
broken out within this hour that ballad-makers
cannot be able to express it.
• A Third Gentleman rushes in and says the Old Shepherd revealed a letter denoting
Perdita's heritage, Queen Hermione's jewels, and some other things that verify Perdita's
status as Leontes's child.
THIRD GENTLEMAN
The mantle
of Queen Hermione's, her jewel about the neck of it,
the letters of Antigonus found with it which they
know to be his character, the majesty of the
creature in resemblance of the mother, the affection
of nobleness which nature shows above her breeding,
and many other evidences proclaim her with all
certainty to be the king's daughter.
ACT 5, Scene 2
Analysis:
Extract:
• King Leontes was also reunited with his old BFF, Polixenes and cried because he was so
overjoyed.
THIRD GENTLEMAN
There might you have beheld one
joy crown another, so and in such manner that it
seemed sorrow wept to take leave of them, for their
joy waded in tears. There was casting up of eyes,
holding up of hands, with countenances of such
distraction that they were to be known by garment,
not by favour.
• When asked about what happened to Antigonus, the Third Gentleman says that, sadly, he
was ripped to sherds by a bear. At the same moment the bear made a snack out of
Antigonus, the ship he sailed to Bohemia on, sank.
• Paulina was sad about her husband being bear food, but was psyched that Hermione's
daughter has been found.
THIRD GENTLEMAN
Like an old tale still, which will have matter to
rehearse, though credit be asleep and not an ear
open. He was torn to pieces with a bear: this
avouches the shepherd's son; who has not only his
innocence, which seems much, to justify him, but a
handkerchief and rings of his that Paulina knows.
• We also learn that, when Perdita found out about her mother's death, she seemed to cry
tears of blood. The reunion was so moving that onlookers sobbed and fainted
dramatically.
THIRD GENTLEMAN
One of the prettiest touches of all and that which
angled for mine eyes, caught the water though not
the fish, was when, at the relation of the queen's
death, with the manner how she came to't bravely
confessed and lamented by the king, how
attentiveness wounded his daughter; till, from one
sign of dolour to another, she did, with an 'Alas,'
I would fain say, bleed tears, for I am sure my
heart wept blood. Who was most marble there changed
colour; some swooned, all sorrowed: if all the world
could have seen 't, the woe had been universal.
ACT 5, Scene 2
Analysis:
Extract:
• The Third Gentleman also reports that, when the princess found out the famous artist
Giulio Romano completed a lifelike statue of Hermione, Perdita rushed to Paulina's house
to see it.
THIRD GENTLEMAN
the princess hearing of her mother's statue,
which is in the keeping of Paulina,— a piece many
years in doing and now newly performed by that rare
Italian master, Julio Romano, who, had he himself
eternity and could put breath into his work,
• The Gentleman run off to see the statue, leaving Autolycus on stage to lament that he
wasn't the one to reveal Perdita's true identity to King Leontes.
AUTOLYCUS
But 'tis all one to me; for had I
been the finder out of this secret, it would not
have relished among my other discredits.
• The Old Shepherd and the Clown enter the stage dressed to the nines in some new
threads befitting gentlemen.
• The Clown brags to Autolycus that he's a "gentleman born" because the Prince called him
"brother" and said they were all one big happy family. (This is a big joke since the Clown
was obviously not "born" a gentleman.)
• The Clown and the Old Shepherd decide they should behave in a "gentlemanly" manner
and agree to put in a good word to the king on behalf of Autolycus.
• Autolycus promises he'll try to be a better person (instead of a thief) and the three men
run off to see the statue of Hermione.
AUTOLYCUS
I humbly beseech you, sir, to pardon me all the
faults I have committed to your worship and to give
me your good report to the prince my master.
ACT 5, Scene 3
Analysis:
Extract:
• Paulina welcomes Leontes and his friends and family to her home for the big unveiling of
the Hermione statue.
• Paulina, who has invited a huge crowd to see the statue of Hermione, proclaims that the
statue is so lifelike that she keeps it separate from the rest of her art collection.
PAULINA
As she lived peerless,
So her dead likeness, I do well believe,
Excels whatever yet you look'd upon
Or hand of man hath done; therefore I keep it
Lonely, apart. But here it is: prepare
To see the life as lively mock'd as ever
Still sleep mock'd death: behold, and say 'tis well.
• Then Paulina draws a curtain to reveal the figure of Hermione.
• Leontes says something like "Gosh, it sure looks like Hermione but it also looks a lot older
than she was when she died – the statue sure does have a lot of wrinkles."
LEONTES
Her natural posture!
Chide me, dear stone, that I may say indeed
Thou art Hermione; or rather, thou art she
In thy not chiding, for she was as tender
As infancy and grace. But yet, Paulina, Hermione was not so much wrinkled, nothing
So aged as this seems.
• Paulina says that's because the artist is so talented – he sculpted the figure based on
what Hermione would have looked like today if she had been alive for the past sixteen
years.
PAULINA
So much the more our carver's excellence;
Which lets go by some sixteen years and makes her
As she lived now.
• Leontes admires the "warmth" of the statue and chides himself for being such a rotten
husband to Hermione.
LEONTES
As now she might have done,
So much to my good comfort, as it is
Now piercing to my soul.
• Perdita gets down on her knees and asks the statue to bless her.
PERDITA
And give me leave,
And do not say 'tis superstition, that
I kneel and then implore her blessing. Lady,
Dear queen, that ended when I but began,
Give me that hand of yours to kiss.
ACT 5, Scene 3
Analysis:
Extract:
• Just as Perdita reaches out to kiss the hand of the statue, Paulina yells out for her to stop
– the paint's barely dry on the statue for goodness sake.
PAULINA
O, patience! The statue is but newly fix'd, the colour's Not dry.
• Camillo and Polixenes looks over and see that Leontes is in pain – they urge him not to
keep beating himself up over his wife's death. Paulina chimes in that, if she knew the
statue would have made Leontes so upset, she never would have shown it.
(Yeah right. Paulina is all about making Leontes suffer).
NB!
• Camillo → My lord, your sorrow is too deep. Sixteen winters haven't blown it away, and
many summers haven't dried it. No joy lives that long, and neither has any sorrow.
CAMILLO
My lord, your sorrow was too sore laid on,
Which sixteen winters cannot blow away,
So many summers dry; scarce any joy
Did ever so long live; no sorrow
But kill'd itself much sooner.
• Paulina pretends she's going to close the curtain an Leontes begs her not to – he wants to
keep gazing on the statue. Paulina say OK, but if you stare too long you might begin to
think the statue is alive.
PAULINA
Indeed, my lord,
If I had thought the sight of my poor image
Would thus have wrought you,—for the stone is mine—
I'ld not have show'd it.
• Leontes and Polixenes note the statue's lifelike appearance – it looks as though the statue
is breathing and that there's real blood moving through its veins.
LEONTES
Let be, let be.
Would I were dead, but that, methinks, already—
What was he that did make it? See, my lord,
Would you not deem it breathed? and that those veins
Did verily bear blood?
• Then Leontes says holy cow, it looks like one of the eyes is moving!
LEONTES
The fixture of her eye has motion in't,
As we are mock'd with art.
ACT 5, Scene 3
Analysis:
Extract:
• Paulina and Leontes discuss how looking on the statue is both painful and pleasurable.
• Leontes decides he's going to plant a big kiss on the statue's lips and Paulina tells him to back off or he'll get
wet paint on his mouth.
LEONTES
Still, methinks,
There is an air comes from her: what fine chisel
Could ever yet cut breath? Let no man mock me,
For I will kiss her.
PAULINA
Good my lord, forbear:
The ruddiness upon her lip is wet;
You'll mar it if you kiss it, stain your own
With oily painting. Shall I draw the curtain?
NB!
• Then Paulina says she best she can convince everyone that the statue's real but they might accuse her of using
"wicked" magic. In order for the trick to work, everyone in the room must "awake(n)" their "faith".
• Paulina call for some dramatic music and says "Tis time. Descend. Be stone no more."
• Suddenly, Hermione, who is very much alive, descends from the pedestal while Paulina commands an
astonished Leontes to embrace his wife.
PAULINA
Either forbear,
Quit presently the chapel, or resolve you
For more amazement. If you can behold it,
I'll make the statue move indeed, descend
And take you by the hand; but then you'll think—
Which I protest against— I am assisted
By wicked powers.
• Leontes shouts oh my gosh – her body's "warm"! The crowd is utterly shocked at what's just happened.
• Then Paulina tells Perdita to kneel before her mother and receive her "blessing".
• Finally, Hermione speaks – she asks the gods to bless her daughter and begins to question Perdita about
where's she's been for the past sixteen years.
• Paulina says hold on folks, there's plenty of time for Perdita to tell that story later. (Thank goodness, because
we've already heard that tale, twice). For now, family and friends and friends should celebrate the miraculous
reunion.
• Leontes promise Paulina that he'll find her a man to marry before he realizes that, hey, it seems pretty
impossible for Hermione to have come back to life – after all, he saw her dead body and spent hours praying
at her grave.
• First things first, though. Leontes declares that Camillo and Paulina could be a match. After that, there'll be
plenty of time to hash out all of these impossible questions,
• Paulina leads the party away and they all live happily ever after (except for Mamillius, who died when his
father tried his mother for adultery, and Antigonus, who was eaten by a bear). THE END
HERMIONE
You gods, look down
And from your sacred vials pour your graces
Upon my daughter's head! Tell me, mine own.
Where hast thou been preserved? where lived? how found
Thy father's court?
DID YOU KNOW?
• In the Renaissance, prisoners had to pay their own room and board in prison. It was possible to go further into debt after committing a crime because of the costs associated with serving
one's sentence. → Not like a guest; so you shall pay your fees → Instead of thanking me, you'll have to pay your fees.
• Christians believe that, at the "Last Judgment," God will ask people to answer for their actions on Earth. The good will go to heaven, while the evil will go to hell. Christians also believe
that, since the "Fall" of Adam and Eve, all humans are sinful from birth. So, Polixenes exaggerates his and Leontes's childhood innocence → we should have answer'd heaven Boldly 'not
guilty;' the imposition clear'd Hereditary ours → we could have gone to heaven and honestly told God that we'd never sinned.
• In Shakespeare's day, men whose wives cheated on them were called "cuckolds," and depicted with "horns" growing out of their foreheads. Leontes refers to the metaphorical horns he
believes he's growing, evidence of his wife's affair with his best friend.
NB!
• In Shakespeare's time, both boys and girls wore gowns from birth to early childhood. Boys began to wear pants (breeches) around age 6. Like Polixenes, Leontes reminisces about his pregendered, pre-pubescent life.
• This "sword," like most in Shakespeare, is a phallic reference. Sharp swords and budding sexuality threatened Leontes as a child.
• In Renaissance England, the liver was believed to be the seat of the passions—including lust.
• A cupbearer was a servant who tasted his master's food and drink before the master ate, to test for poison.
• A basilisk is a mythological creature that could kill with a look.
• In the New Testament, Jesus's follower Judas betrays him to the Romans. To call someone "Judas" is to compare him or her to the most hated, despicable man imaginable.
• Note that Mamillius is telling a "winter's tale"—a fairytale or old wives' tale with fantastical, magical elements.
NB!
• An oracle is a human with the divine power to speak to the gods. In classical mythology, the god Apollo spoke through a female priest who lived in his temple in the city of Delphi.
• "Gaol" and "gaoler" are archaic spellings of jail/jailer. These spellings are still used today in Britain.
• Infant mortality rates during the Renaissance were extremely high. Most children didn't survive their first year of life.
• In the Renaissance as now, godparents were family friends appointed to be a child's spiritual guardians. In Shakespeare's day, godparents (or "gossips," a contraction of the word
"godsiblings") acted as religious mentors throughout the child's life.
• In the original text, "dotard" may refer both to someone whose age makes them seem foolish, and also to someone made foolish by love. Both meanings are present in Leontes's speech.
• "Dam" was a word usually used for animal mothers, in the same way that "bitch" and "sire" refer to the mother and father of a litter of puppies today. Leontes' uses "dam" to degrade
Hermione.
• A "heretic" is someone who believes things about God or the Bible that are outside the Church's official doctrine. Before and after the Protestant Reformation in England, heretics were
burned to death. Paulina turns Leontes' threat around, saying that he's the heretic because his beliefs (about Hermione) are both dangerous and unshared by others.
NB!
NB!
• Perdita's name in Latin means "lost." As the prophecy from Delphi will reveal, Leontes is doomed until he can recover his lost daughter.
• In this play, characters pray aloud to classical gods. Even though Shakespeare's England was Christian, English playwrights often set their stories in the classical past. The play mixes Christian
and pagan religious imagery, as Shakespeare's audiences saw fictional pagan faith and gods as a loose metaphor for their own Christianity → Great Apollo Turn all to the best!
DID YOU KNOW?
• Then as now, an indictment is an official charge against the accused (the "defendant"), usually read out by a clerk or a judge.
• Adultery was considered treason (a crime against the state) in the Renaissance. Extramarital pregnancy could raise questions about paternity, threatening inheritances. Henry VIII's wife
Anne Boleyn was executed on charges of treason for adultery. Nonroyal women adulterers could be charged with "petty treason," also a capital offense. There was no equivalent criminal
category for men who cheated on their wives.
• In the original text, "liege" identifies the legal and social relationship binding Hermione and Leontes. In the feudal system, a liege lord must reward his servant's loyalty with protection. In
calling Leontes "my liege," Hermione emphasizes that she continues to uphold their relationship's terms, but Leontes has broken them.
• The church teaches repentance in four parts: contrition (remorse), repentance (apologizing), penance (punishment), and absolution (forgiveness). A priest could offer God's absolution for
sins. By saying Leontes is past forgiveness and even extreme penance, Paulina shows the extremity of his legal and spiritual crimes.
• Paulina highlights the absurdity of gender stereotypes which claim women are highly emotional and irrational, as Leontes (a man) has displayed these qualities
• "Mariner" is another word for sailor.
NB!
• The shepherd speaks with a Scottish or northern English accent, and some of his words (like "bairn" for baby) are regional slang.
NB!
• The shepherd guesses that Perdita is abandoned because she was the unwanted product of an extramarital affair. His guess is ironic, considering that she was born in wedlock, but her
father chose to believe a story much like the one the shepherd invents.
• A "clown" in Shakespeare's English can refer to a comedian, but more commonly refers to a rural person (comic characters in early modern plays were often lower-class and/or rural).
• According to English folklore, fairies (friendly but mischievous spirits) sometimes swapped babies without the parents' knowledge. When a baby didn't resemble its parents, people in
Shakespeare's day would call the baby a "changeling"—someone "changed" (switched) at birth.
NB!
• Many early modern plays had explanatory speeches ("choruses") before each act. Actors would change choruses for revivals of the same production, or even from night to night. Thus,
temporary choruses weren't often sent to the printer along with the script and didn't make it into the version of the play we have. Scholars believe that the chorus, Time, may have had or
speeches in this play that are now lost.
NB!
• According to classical Greek dramatic convention, a play's plot should cover a single day. Renaissance playwrights tried to follow this standard. Shakespeare apologizes for breaking this
"rule," but also pokes fun at writers and critics who adhere to it. Shakespeare influentially phased out classical rules for drama; later, plots spanning greater lengths of time became
standard.
• Autolycus' ballad (popular song) has stanzas of four lines each, with alternating rhyme, and a refrain ("Say "hey!"). The song's wordplay relates to flowers and sheep—symbols of
innocence, spring, beauty, the female body, and nature (important to the sheep-shearing in Act 4, Scene 3). Autolycus compares beer to women to show he's not picky about sexual
partners.
• Larks, Thrushes, and Bluejays are types of birds.
• Autolycus improvises the second part of his song. Most productions use the same tune as the spring ballad, though Autolycus now sings about his life as a pickpocket and crook.
• The word "sheets" stands in for beds and sex, but also refers to songs and stories. English ballads were known as "broadsheets" because they were printed on large, single pages.
• Autolycus suggests that, if he visits your house, he'll steal your sheets (so you should hide the expensive ones). Following the sheets/sex metaphor, Autolycus warns that he may seduce
NB!
your wife (so you should hide her if she's beautiful).
DID YOU KNOW?
• Christians believe that sinners who don't repent spend eternity in hell. Autolycus, a non-believer and a criminal, fears he'll go to hell if it's real.
• The shepherd's son (Perdita's foster brother) prepares for a traditional spring festival in which shepherds shear their sheep's winter wool, and celebrate with beer, food, and dancing.
• The "puritan" in the original text would be part of a conservative English religious group: they took Reformation principles (simple worship, undecorated churches, modesty) beyond the
Anglican Church's standards. Persecution led many of them to flee to colonies in America, only about a decade after this play was written.
• The Prodigal Son is one of Jesus's parables about a profligate man who ultimately finds redemption.
• In Shakespeare's day, "bearbaitings" were ticketed events (public events) in which bears were chained to stakes and attacked by dogs.
• In planning to make the shearers his sheep, Autolycus plays off his name's wolfish meaning. He will prey on and steal from the weak, foolish country people like the shepherd's son.
• A "stile" or "cattle-guard" is a gap in a fence through which people can pass, but hoofed animals cannot. Suspended metal bars cover a hole metal bars and get out, not falling in the gaps
between.
NB!
NB!
• Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, associated with fertility and youth (themes which play a part in Florizel and Perdita's relationship).
• Greco-Roman legends in where the gods turned themselves into humans or animals to seduce beautiful human women.
• In the Renaissance, flowers were heavily symbolic in literature and culture. Rosemary and rue symbolized remembrance and repentance. Rue's nickname—Herb of Grace—connects it to
the gracious Hermione.
NB!
• Gillyvors are a hybrid, red-and white flower, made when humans breed two different species of flowers together.
• Perdita is morally opposed to cross-breeding plants, because she thinks only God (or "Nature") should have the power to create life.
• Grafting is a gardening technique in which a cutting from one plant is attached to grow on the stalk or trunk of another. Polixenes argues that even a weed can produce a beautiful plant if
combined with a purebred garden variety. Likewise, a poor peasant like Perdita can marry a royal like Florizel and have a noble child. Polixenes said earlier that he didn't want his son to
marry a shepherdess, but, ironically, Perdita is actually a princess.
• In the original text, "virgin branches" is the first of many phrases in Perdita's speech that link spring flowers with sexual love and marriage. (She and Florizel haven't consummated their
love yet.)
NB!
NB!
• Pluto (the god of the underworld) abducted Proserpina, the goddess of spring and flowers. She spent half the year in the underworld, and the other on earth, with her mother Ceres
(goddess of grain). The myth was used to explain the seasons. Perdita identifies with Proserpina, flowers, nature, and youth.
• Doricles - Perdita calls Florizel a conventional name used for male shepherds in Renaissance pastoral poetry. She teases him for his disguise and reminds him that he's a prince.
• In the Renaissance, people often chewed garlic to cover bad breath → Mopsa must be your mistress: marry, garlic, To mend her kissing with! → Dance with Mopsa . . . though you might
need some strong stuff 12 to cover her bad breath!
NB!
NB!
• In Greek, "Autolycus" translates to "the wolf itself," and emphasizes the character's wolfish qualities.
• The shepherd refers to the money and jewels he found with baby Perdita sixteen years ago. If Perdita marries Florizel, she'll bring that secret fortune as a "dowry," or wedding-gift.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Autolycus' song describes the items he has for sale → Linen as white as snow, Cotton black as a crow, Sweet-smelling gloves, Masks for your face, Beaded bracelets, gemstone necklaces,
Perfume for ladies' bedrooms, Golden hairpieces and belts For young men to give their girlfriends, Steel pins and clips For ladies that need them: Come buy from me; come buy, come buy,
Boys, buy up, or your girlfriends will be sad. Come buy!
• In the Renaissance, premarital sex was discouraged. Yet, in common law, a couple was considered married if they exchanged a a promise to marry and consummated that vow through sex.
The "jilted woman"—abandoned after that consummation—was a cultural trope. Dorcas suggests that the shepherd's son impregnated and jilted Mopsa. In many productions, Mopsa is
portrayed with a pregnant stomach.
NB!
• Usurers were bankers who charged excessive rates of interest on loans, thereby making a profit off of the poor. Since there were laws against Christians committing usury in most of
Europe, the roles of banking and lending were often filled by Jews, leading to negative cultural stereotypes like this one.
NB
• Satyrs are mythological half-goat, half-man creatures, traditionally associated with nature; the gods Pan and Bacchus; and debauchery.
• In Shakespeare's time, people believed in witchcraft. King James I had published his own book about witches only a few years before this play. Black magic was associated with satanism, the
rejection or subversion of Christian faith (and, in Protestant England, with Catholicism). → By wicked powers. → But I'm afraid you'll think I'm a witch using black magic.
NB!
NB!
Highlighted QUOTES – ACT 1 TO 3
(as per Impaq online classes)
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 1, Scene 2
HERMIONE Verily!
You put me off with limber vows; but I,
Though you would seek t'unsphere the
stars with oaths,
Should yet say 'Sir, no going.' Verily,
You shall not go. A lady's 'Verily' is
As potent as a lord's. Will you go yet?
Force me to keep you as a prisoner,
Not like a guest; so you shall pay your fees
When you depart, and save your thanks. How say you?
My prisoner? or my guest? by your dread 'Verily,'
One of them you shall be.
POLIXENES
Your guest, then, madam:
To be your prisoner should import offending;
Which is for me less easy to commit
Than you to punish.
HERMIONE Truly!"
•
You can keep putting me off with promises, but even if you
swore by all the stars in the sky, I'd still say, "Sir, you're
•
staying." Truly, you can't leave—a woman's "truly" is as NB!
strong as a man's. Are you still intent on leaving? You'll
force me to keep you as a prisoner rather than as a guest.
•
Instead of thanking me, you'll have to pay your fees when
you leave. What do you say to that? Will you be my
prisoner, or my guest? Judging by your oh-so-serious
"truly," you'll have to be one of them.
POLIXENES
I'll be your guest, then.
For me to be your prisoner would imply that I'd
committed some crime against you. It'd be harder for me
to do that than it would be for you to punish me.
Hermione is trying to convince Polixenes to
extend his visit in Sicily.
Hermione is joking with Polixenes – it is
horribly ironic that she will soon herself be
kept as a prisoner by her own husband.
Verily → truly
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 1, Scene 2
LEONTES [Aside]
Too hot, too hot!
To mingle friendship far is mingling bloods.
I have tremor cordis on me: my heart dances;
But not for joy; not joy. This entertainment
May a free face put on, derive a liberty
From heartiness, from bounty, fertile bosom,
And well become the agent; 't may, I grant;
But to be paddling palms and pinching fingers,
As now they are, and making practised smiles,
As in a looking-glass, and then to sigh, as 'twere
The mort o' the deer; O, that is entertainment
My bosom likes not, nor my brows! Mamillius,
Art thou my boy?
LEONTES [To himself]
Too far, too far!
Friendships that get too close always end with
the "friends" having sex. I'm having a heart attack.
My heart is racing, but not with excitement—definitely
not. They might as well be relaxed and open with
each other here at the party, and blame it on the
plentiful food and drink. But holding hands and
linking fingers, and smiling stupidly at each other and
sighing as if they were having an orgasm—that kind of
"party" hurts my heart and my head .
NB!
[To MAMILLIUS]
Mamillius, are you my son?
• Leontes is not happy with the friendship between his
wife and Polixenes.
NB!
• Leontes suddenly grows suspicious, when
Hermione takes Polixenes' hand. In this soliloquy he
expresses his passionate fears.
• Taking friendship too far is making it a love
affair.
• Be innocent, my wife's generosity may come from
warmth and make her more attractive.
• The alliteration of the 'p' sounds suggests to the
audience how Leontes spits out these words in
passion – though at the moment suppressed
violence.
LEONTES
Look on me with your welkin eye: sweet villain!
Most dear'st! my collop! Can thy dam?—may't be?—
Affection! thy intention stabs the centre:
Thou dost make possible things not so held,
Communicatest with dreams;—how can this be?—
LEONTES
Come here, buddy, look at me with your dreamy eyes!
You precious thing! My dear! My son! Could your
mother—can it be?
• Leontes is speaking to his son Mamillius.
NB!
• The speech is full of fits and starts, and selfquestioning. Leontes appears to be thinking the
situation through, and he feels he is coming to
logical conclusions, but in reality he is convincing
himself of his own poisonous fantasies.
• Jealousy's intensity strikes me through to my heart
and make things that are impossible seem possible.
That jealousy speaks in dreams.
• Welkin eye – sky blue eyes
• Collop – my flesh
NB!
LEONTES
Go, play, boy, play: thy mother plays, and I
Play too, but so disgraced a part, whose issue
Will hiss me to my grave: contempt and clamour
Will be my knell. Go, play, boy, play.
Now while I speak this, holds his wife by the arm,
That little thinks she has been sluiced in's absence
LEONTES
Go play, boy—play! Your mother's playing, and I play
such a horrible part that its reviews will put me in my
grave; booing and hissing will be the last thing I hear.
As I'm speaking, holding his wife by the arm not
knowing she slept with someone else while he was
NB!
gone.
• Part of Leontes soliloquy.
• He means that Hermione has behaved disgracefully
– a pun on his part – it is he who is in disgrace.
• Clamour - Without suspecting that she has been
unfaithful in his absence.
• The onomatopoeic sound of 'sluic'd' reflects the
perverted imaginings.
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 1, Scene 2
LEONTES
Is whispering nothing?
Is leaning cheek to cheek? is meeting noses?
Kissing with inside lip? stopping the career
Of laughing with a sigh? —a note infallible
Of breaking honesty—horsing foot on foot?
Skulking in corners? wishing clocks more swift?
Hours, minutes? noon, midnight? and all eyes
Blind with the pin and web but theirs, theirs only,
That would unseen be wicked? is this nothing?
CAMILLO
Good my lord, be cured
Of this diseased opinion, and betimes;
For 'tis most dangerous.
LEONTES
Is whispering nothing? Leaning against each other,
touching cheeks? Rubbing noses? French-kissing?
Laughing until you can't breathe? Here's one you
can't ignore—playing footsie? Hiding in corners?
Counting down the minutes and hours until midnight,
when, while all eyes but theirs are closed in sleep,
they might be wicked in secret? Is all that nothing?
NB!
CAMILLO
Sir, please stop believing this sick lie, and soon; it's
really dangerous.
• Leontes is speaking to Camillo.
• This series of sharp questions, culminating in a series
of 'nothing', reflects Leontes' mounting passion of
totally irrational jealousy.
LEONTES
• Interrupt their laughter with sighs. A certain sigh
they are in love.
• This is ironic: it is Leontes who is in fact blind to the
truth – that his wife and Polixenes are innocent.
• They could be wicked without being seen.
CAMILLO
• Refers to image of disease and the necessity of
healing.
LEONTES
Why, he that wears her like a medal, hanging
About his neck, Bohemia: who, if I
Had servants true about me, that bare eyes
To see alike mine honour as their profits,
LEONTES
To give mine enemy a lasting wink; Which draught to
me were cordial.
LEONTES
Without ripe moving to't? Would I do this?
LEONTES
Um, the guy who's carrying her around like a trophy—
Polixenes! And if I had loyal servants working for me,
that kept an eye out for my reputation instead of just
for their own profit and gain, they would do what
needs to be done to end all this
NB!
LEONTES
you who see clearly how wronged I am, should poison
him. Put him to sleep for good—that would be the
best medicine for me.
LEONTES
Do you really think I would just bastardize my son (who
I think is mine and who I love as my own) without a
good reason? Would I do that? Would any man
have the guts to do that?
• Leontes is trying to convince Camillo to poison his
friend Polixenes.
• Again, Leontes thinks he alone sees the truth
• In asking the honest and faithful Camillo to poison
Polixenes, Leontes shows the depths of his own
depravity. It would make Leontes feel better.
• Irony – Leontes is indeed acting without any
motive except his own insane jealousy.
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 1, Scene 2
CAMILLO
There is a sickness
Which puts some of us in distemper, but
I cannot name the disease; and it is caught
Of you that yet are well.
CAMILLO
He thinks, nay, with all confidence he swears,
As he had seen't or been an instrument
To vice you to't, that you have touch'd his queen
Forbiddenly.
CAMILLO
There's a sickness affecting some of us, but I
don't know what to call the disease. And,
even though you're well, you're the one
who's contagious.
CAMILLO
He thinks—actually, he swears as
confidently as if he saw you do it or
told you to do it himself—that you're
having a secret affair with Hermione.
• Camillo warns Polixenes that Leontes wants to kill him.
• Jealousy is depicted as a disease which infects those who come
near.
NB!
• But even though you are still well, you have caught it, too.
• He thinks, no, he swears with as much confidence as if
he had seen it or even helped you do it, that you have
touched his queen in a forbidden way.
• 'Forbiddenly' comes at the end of Camillo's words, hanging in
the air and so striking the audiene – as well as Polixenes – most
forcilbly.
POSSIBLE EXAM QUESTION:
Do you think that Leontes is unreasonable
to suspect his wife and Polixenes of having
an affair?
• YES. Leontes and Polixenes have been friends for a very long
time, he should know to trust his friend. He should also trust his
wife and should know that she would not have an affair with his
best friend.
• NO. Hermione and Polixenes shouldn't hold hands and be so
affectionate with each other, it would make any husband jealous
of his wife. The fact that Hermione could so easily convince
Polixenes to stay longer where Leontes couldn't makes his
suspicious as well. The fact that Polixenes has been with them
for nine months also makes him suspicious.
NB!
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 2, Scene 1
LEONTES
How blest am I
In my just censure, in my true opinion!
Camillo was his help in this, his pander:
There is a plot against my life, my crown;
All's true that is mistrusted: that false villain
Whom I employ'd was pre-employ'd by him:
LEONTES
I am so blessed—I knew it; I was right.
Camillo was his accomplice; they're planning to
kill me and take over my throne. Everything I
suspected turned out to be true. That dirty
liar—who worked for me— was a double agent
working for Polixenes.
• With his jealous imagination still gnawing at him, Leontes leaps to
an even more serious accusation against Hermione – treason.
• A lord reports that he saw Camillo, Polixenes and Polixenes'
attendants rushing to their ships.
• Immediately, Leontes exclaims: I'm so blessed to have such
accurate judgement, and such a correct opinion!
• But Leontes fails to remember his own wicked, recently conceived
poison plot!
• Pausing only to regret the knowledge he now has, he declares,
with no further information: Camillo has helped him and acted as
his pimp. There is a plot to kill me and take my place as king.
Everything that I suspected is true. That traitorous villain I
employed actually worked for Polixenes. (refer back to Act 1,
Scene 2).
• As Polixenes predicted, Leontes' jealousy "for a precious
creature" is enormous, and because of his powerful position, that
jealousy now turns "violent".
• In fact, Leontes becomes increasingly paranoid.
• The disruption of his senses (his "nature") seems alarmingly
probable.
NB!
• He declares that sometimes it's better not to know unpleasant
facts, Leontes illustrates this "truth" with fevered imaginary.
NB!
LEONTES
There may be in the cup
A spider steep'd, and one may drink, depart,
And yet partake no venom, for his knowledge
Is not infected: but if one present
The abhorr'd ingredient to his eye, make known
How he hath drunk, he cracks his gorge, his sides,
With violent hefts. I have drunk,
and seen the spider.
LEONTES
If someone has a cup with a poisonous spider
hiding in it, he can drink and not be poisoned
because his knowledge isn't infected. But if you
pull the spider out of the cup, show it to him,
and explain that he just drank poison, he'll start
vomiting. I have drunk, and seen the spider.
This chilling image provides a clue to Leontes' insane- like
disturbances:
• There may be a spider in your cup, and if you drink without
realising it, you aren't hurt.
• But if you see the spider and know you have drunk it, you will
wretch and heave violently.
• I have drunk form the cup, and I know that the spider was in it.
He compares the news of Camillo and Polixenes' departure to a
deadly cup of liquid that a venomous spider has poisoned.
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 2, Scene 1
LEONTES
I have said She's an adulteress; I have said with whom:
More, she's a traitor and Camillo is A federary with her,
[To all] I've said it: she's having an affair,
and I said with whom.
• Later, Leontes decides that Hermione is also involved in the
non-existent plot against him. He accuses her of a second
crime – treason.
• Leontes is saying: I have said she is an adulteress, and I have
said with whom. Even more than that, she is a traitor, and she
is in league with Camillo.
• To Leontes, the casual sequences of Camillio's departure with
Polixenes – immediately after Leontes' accusation that
Polixenes committed adultery with Hermione – are proof
enough that all three of them are involved in a treasonous plot.
• Of course, Leontes can provide no reasonable motivation for
such a plot, and the audience is well aware that they have seen
nothing to substantiate the accusation.
NB!
LEONTES
Why, what need we
Commune with you of this, but rather follow
Our forceful instigation? Our prerogative
Calls not your counsels, but our natural goodness Imparts
this; which if you, or stupefied
Or seeming so in skill, cannot or will not
Relish a truth like us, inform yourselves
We need no more of your advice:
LEONTES
Well, what do I need you guys for? I can
carry out the investigation myself. I don't
ask your opinions because I want them; I
ask because I'm a generous guy. If you're
too idiotic and inept to realize the truth
like I have, then I guess I don't need your
advice anymore.
• Leontes now escalates the tyranny that he first showed when
he conspired with Camillo.
• As in the scene with Camillo, Leontes is suspicious of anyone
who will not substantiate his illusions.
• Leontes refuses to listen to any opposing opinions.
• He even shows a streak of meanness when he pinches
Antigonus.
• He then reveals even more of his evil nature when he forbids
anyone to offer an opposing opinion as he sends Hermione to
prison.
• After it becomes clear that the lords will not cease arguing, he
calmly declares:
➢ Why do I have to debate this with you, instead of just following
my own strong impulse?
➢ As king I'm not required to seek your advice, though I tell you
this information out of natural goodness.
➢ But if you, who are either confused or pretend to be, can't
understand the truth as I do, then I don't need any more of
your advice,
• With this speech, Leontes now isolates himself with his
insanity.
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 2, Scene 2
PAULINA
Here's ado,
To lock up honesty and honour from
The access of gentle visitors!
Is't lawful, pray you,
To see her women? any of them? Emilia?
PAULINA
I dare be sworn
These dangerous unsafe lunes i' the king,
beshrew them!
He must be told on't, and he shall: the office
Becomes a woman best; I'll take't upon me:
If I prove honey-mouth'd let my tongue blister
And never to my red-look'd anger be
The trumpet any more. Pray you, Emilia,
Commend my best obedience to the queen:
If she dares trust me with her little babe,
I'll show't the king and undertake to be
Her advocate to the loud'st. We do not know
How he may soften at the sight o' the child:
The silence often of pure innocence
Persuades when speaking fails.
EMILIA
Most worthy madam,
Your honour and your goodness is so evident That
your free undertaking cannot miss
A thriving issue: there is no lady living
So meet for this great errand. Please your ladyship
To visit the next room, I'll presently
Acquaint the queen of your most noble offer; Who
but to-day hammer'd of this design,
But durst not tempt a minister of honour,
Lest she should be denied.
PAULINA
Well, isn't that something: locking up an innocent woman
and keeping her from friendly visitors. Am I allowed to see
any of her servants? Emilia?
PAULINA
I swear—damn the king's crazy delusions! We have to tell
him about the baby. We will. It's a woman's job and I'll do it
myself. I won't have many nice things to say to him, I can
guarantee you. Emilia, please tell the queen that I'm
completely at her service. If she'll trust me with her tiny
newborn, I'll show it to the king and will advocate for her to
the best of my ability. It's hard to say how he'll react—he
may be touched when he sees her. Sometimes the silent
testimony of pure innocence can persuade when words fail.
EMILIA
Ma'am, you're so obviously good and virtuous that I can't
imagine you not succeeding. There's no better woman for
this job. I'll go into the next room and tell the queen your
plan. Though she only gave birth today, she's afraid to ask
them to take the baby out of this prison. If they deny her
request, who knows—they might kill the child.
• The scene is focused on Hermione's hard and unjust
imprisonment and Paulina's resulting rebellion.
• Paulina must claw her way into a position to argue
the queen's case.
• She is not only a singular volunteer, but she is the
most qualified person to do so, according to Emilia.
POSSIBLE EXAM QUESTION:
Do you think Hermione is a coward for not standing up to
her husband as Paulina did to Leontes?
• YES. She should not have allowed Leontes to speak
to her in such a humiliating way. She wasn't guilty of
any of the accusations and should have defended
herself. She is too soft and gentle. She had the
support of all the attendants and her subjects and
with them she might have convinced Leontes of her
innocence.
• NO. she is the queen and should always remain in
control. She realises that she will never be able to
convince Leontes of her innocence. He is the king
and the opinion of women is of no importance. She
is too much of a lady to get involved in such a
derogatory conversation.
NB!
NB!
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 2, Scene 3
LEONTES
Nor night nor day no rest: it is but weakness
To bear the matter thus; mere weakness. If
The cause were not in being,—part o' the cause,
She the adulteress; for the harlot king
Is quite beyond mine arm, out of the blank
And level of my brain, plot-proof; but she
I can hook to me: say that she were gone,
Given to the fire, a moiety of my rest
Might come to me again. Who's there?
LEONTES
Night and day I get no rest. I'm handling this the way I
am because I'm weak, just weak. If only the problem
weren't her as a person—I can't isolate the problem
or cut it out, because it's her; she's unfaithful.
Polixenes is beyond my reach, out of sight and out of
mind, irrelevant. But Hermione is here and within my
power. If she died, say, in a fire, I might be able to
sleep at night. Who's there?
Leontes is saying:
I can't rest night or day. It is a kind of weakness to be so
affected by this issue. If only the cause of it were no longer
alive – part of the cause, at least, the adulteress. The
lecherous king is away from here, which puts him beyond my
aim and anything I could do to him. But she, the adulteress, I
can keep close. If she were burned at the stake, perhaps I
would have some small bit of rest. Who's there?
• Moiety → part
LEONTES
[To himself] Shame on you! Don't think about Polixenes—
The cruelty of Leontes is clear in this extract:
Fie, fie! no thought of him:
The thought of my revenges that way
Recoil upon me: in himself too mighty,
And in his parties, his alliance; let him be
Until a time may serve: for present vengeance,
Take it on her. Camillo and Polixenes
Laugh at me, make their pastime at my sorrow:
They should not laugh if I could reach them, nor
Shall she within my power.
you can't take revenge on him now without putting
yourself in danger. He's too powerful; he has too many
friends and allies. Leave him alone until the right moment.
Right now, just take your revenge on Hermione. Camillo
and Polixenes are laughing at me; my suffering is a huge
joke to them. They wouldn't be laughing if I could get to
them—and she definitely won't, since she's within my
power.
•
•
•
•
•
•
LEONTES
LEONTES
Mark and perform it, see'st thou! for the fail
Of any point in't shall not only be
Death to thyself but to thy lewd-tongued wife, Whom
for this time we pardon. We enjoin thee, As thou art
liege-man to us, that thou carry
This female bastard hence and that thou bear it To
some remote and desert place quite out
Of our dominions, and that there thou leave it,
Without more mercy, to its own protection
And favour of the climate. As by strange fortune It
came to us, I do in justice charge thee,
On thy soul's peril and thy body's torture,
That thou commend it strangely to some place Where
chance may nurse or end it. Take it up.
Listen closely and do exactly what I tell you. If you fail at
any point, it means death for not only you, but for your
horrible wife (who, at least for now, I forgive). I command
you as my subject to carry this bastard to some deserted
place far away from this country. Leave it there, to the
mercy of the elements. It appeared in my life by a stroke of
bad luck. Therefore, I command that you, on pain of
damnation and death, leave it up to luck whether it lives or
dies. Now pick it up.
Paulina has been chased away by Leontes after showing him his
daughter. He blames Antigonus for his wife's audacity and wants
to punish him, by risking his life.
Leontes is saying:
• Make note of what I tell you, and perform it, because if you fail
to do any part of it not only will you die, but so will your crudely
outspoken wife, whom I'll pardon for now.
• I command you, as my loyal servant, to take this female bastard
away to some deserted place far from my kingdom, and to leave
it there without mercy, left to its own abilities and whims of the
weather.
• Since it came to me because of a foreigner, it is only just that I
order you, on pain of death and torture, to take it to a foreign
place where luck might nurture of kill it.
No! I won't think about Polixenes.
NB!
I fear taking revenge on him.
He himself is too powerful, and he has powerful allies.
Let him be until an opportunity comes.
I'll have revenge now on her.
Camillo and Polixenes laugh at me, and find amusement in my
sorrow.
• They wouldn't laugh if I could reach them, and neither will the
women who is within my power to punish.
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 2, Scene 3
LEONTES
LEONTES
Twenty-three days
They have been absent: 'tis good speed; foretells
The great Apollo suddenly will have
The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords;
Summon a session, that we may arraign
Our most disloyal lady, for, as she hath
Been publicly accused, so shall she have
A just and open trial. While she lives
My heart will be a burthen to me. Leave me,
And think upon my bidding.
They've been gone for twenty-three days; they've
made good time. That bodes well for the truth
Apollo will give us soon. [To the remaining
gentlemen] Men, get ready for a special meeting so
that we can have a trial for Hermione. Since I've
accused her publicly, she should have a just and
open trial. As long as she lives, it'll weigh on my
heart. Now leave me alone, and go carry out my
orders.
Leontes is awaiting the return of Cleomenes and Dion who went to
Delphos to see the Oracle.
Leontes is saying:
• They've been gone twenty-three days.
• Their speedy return predicts that great Apollo wants the truth of this
matter revealed.
• Prepare yourselves, lords. Convene an open trial for this disloyal lady.
• Since she was publicly accused. She'll have an open and just trial.
• While she lives my heart is heavy.
• Leave me, and consider my orders.
ANTIGONUS
I do believe
ANTIGONUS
POSSIBLE EXAM QUESTIONS:
I believe that Hermione died, and that Apollo wants
this baby (who must be King Polixenes's daughter)
to be laid here on its father's land, to either live or
die. Good luck! There you are, and there's the story
of your identity. If you make it, these things might
help you. The storm is beginning! Poor brat, you're
out in the elements thanks to your mother's
mistake, and who knows what will happen! I can't
cry, but my heart is bleeding and I'm damned for
getting tangled up in this. Goodbye!
• Who is Hermione? She is the queen and the wife of king Leontes of
Sicily.
• Explain what causes Hermione's death? During her trial she hears the
news that her son Mamillius has died and because of the shock she dies.
• What role does Polixenes play in her death? Polixenes is Leontes
childhood friend who is wrongly accused by Leontes of sleeping with
Hermione and causing her to become pregnant.
• Who is the 'issue' referred to in line 3? Polixenes child/daughter.
• Why do you think Antigonus brings the baby to be abandoned
specifically in Bohemia? He thinks the child is really Polixenes child and
that she should be left in Bohemia where Polixenes is king, either to live
or die.
• 'That for thy mother's fault art thus exposed To loss and what may
follow!' refer to this line and explain in what way the fate of the child
is her 'mother's fault'. – Leontes accuses Hermione of infidelity with
Polixenes and tell Antigonus to abandon the baby. Antigonus believes
the baby is Polixenes child and therefore blames Hermione for being
unfaithful.
• Antigonus is ordered by Leontes to abandon the baby. Who do you
think Antigonus agreed to do this deed? It was an order of the King and
Antigonus also makes an oath that he will abandon the baby if Leontes
spares the baby's life.
• What does Antigonus place in the blankets of the child? Gold and a
scroll of who she is.
Act 3, Scene 3
Hermione hath suffer'd death, and that
Apollo would, this being indeed the issue
Of King Polixenes, it should here be laid,
Either for life or death, upon the earth
Of its right father. Blossom, speed thee well!
There lie, and there thy character: there these;
Which may, if fortune please, both breed thee, pretty,
And still rest thine. The storm begins; poor wretch,
That for thy mother's fault art thus exposed
To loss and what may follow! Weep I cannot,
But my heart bleeds; and most accursed am I
To be by oath enjoin'd to this. Farewell!
NB!
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 1, Scene 1
They were trained together in their childhoods;
and there rooted betwixt them then such an
affection, which cannot choose but branch
now
They went to school together when they were kids and
became really close, though, naturally, they've grown
apart
FIGURE OF SPEECH - METAPHOR
Shakespeare compares Leontes and Polixenes to plants in
an extended metaphor – like a tree, their love is deeply
"rooted" despite each of them growing, like separate
branches, further from each other with time.
I very well agree with you in the hopes of him:
it is a gallant child; one that indeed physics the
subject, makes old hearts fresh: they that went
on crutches ere he was born desire yet their life
to see him a man.
I couldn't agree with you more; I have high expectations
for him. He's a great kid—like chicken soup for the soul, he
keeps us old folks young. The Sicilians who were old and in
wheelchairs before he was even born are hoping they live
to see him grow up.
Camillo says that the subjects are too old to walk anymore.
He jokes that they should have died long ago, but their
love for the prince keeps them alive.
But let him swear so, and he shall not stay,
We'll thwack him hence with distaffs.
And if he swears that, we'll not only let him go, we'll chase
him out the door with frying pans
Hermione's word "distaff" in the original text refers to the
wheels women used to spin wool into yarn or thread. That
she imagines Leontes and herself chasing Polixenes out
with distaffs makes Leontes into an unusually female,
domestic figure.
NB!
By this we gather You have tripp'd since.
Should we take that to mean that you've slipped up since
then?
Here, Hermione puns on Adam and Eve's "Fall" ("trip").
Because Polixenes talks about innocence in the past tense,
he must have sinned at some point.
yet go on; The offences we have made you do
we'll answer, If you first sinn'd with us and that
with us You did continue fault and that you
slipp'd not With any but with us.
Actually, keep going—we'll admit to being the cause of
your sin as long as you admit you sinned with us for the
first time and swear you haven't sinned with anyone else
since.
Hermione and Polixenes equate sex and desire with "sin."
She teases him by asking him to swear that he and Leontes
have never slept with any women but their wives.
I prithee tell me; cram's with praise, and
make's As fat as tame things
Butter me up with praise 'til I'm as fat as a pig for the
slaughter
Hermione compares herself to livestock: to an animal
fattened up for eating, and to a horse rewarded with sugar
to keep running
Our praises are our wages: you may ride's With
one soft kiss a thousand furlongs ere With spur
we beat an acre. But to the goal: My last good
deed was to entreat his stay: What was my
first? it has an elder sister, Or I mistake you: O,
would her name were Grace!
Your compliments are my reward. For a single kiss, you can
ride me for a mile before you'd have to kick me with your
spurs. Back to the point: if my most recent
accomplishment was convincing him to stay, what was the
first one? This accomplishment must have a sister, unless I
misunderstood you. If only her name were "Grace !"
A plausible interpretation for this obscure line is that
Hermione is becoming hysterical. She exaggerates that
she's only said the right thing twice in her whole marriage,
and personifies her two good speeches as "sisters," one of
whom is named "Grace"—connoting Hermione's mercy
and virtue; values which Leontes lacks.
Act 1, Scene 2
USED TO COMPARE TWO THINGS WITH SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
NB!
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 1, Scene 2
'Tis grace indeed.
That was definitely "grace ," wasn't it?
Hermione makes her "grace" joke sincere, implying her love for
Leontes is undeserved.
[Aside] Too hot, too hot! To mingle friendship far is
mingling bloods. I have tremor cordis on me: my heart
dances; But not for joy; not joy. This entertainment
May a free face put on, derive a liberty From
heartiness, from bounty, fertile bosom, And well
become the agent; 't may, I grant; But to be paddling
palms and pinching fingers, As now they are, and
making practised smiles, As in a looking-glass, and
then to sigh, as 'twere The mort o' the deer; O, that is
entertainment My bosom likes not, nor my brows!
[To himself] Too far, too far! Friendships that get too
close always end with the "friends" having sex. I'm having
a heart attack. My heart is racing, but not with
excitement—definitely not. They might as well be
relaxed and open with each other here at the party and
blame it on the plentiful food and drink. But holding
hands and linking fingers, and smiling stupidly at each
other and sighing as if they were having an orgasm—that
kind of "party" hurts my heart and my head
In Shakespeare's day, men whose wives cheated on them were
called "cuckolds," and depicted with "horns" growing out of their
foreheads. Leontes refers to the metaphorical horns he believes
he's growing, evidence of his wife's affair with his best friend.
. Come, captain, We must be neat; not neat, but
cleanly, captain: And yet the steer, the heifer and the
calf Are all call'd neat.
Did you know that a bull, a cow, and a calf are called a
herd ?
Leontes picks up Hermione's animal metaphor, imagining his family
as cows. He uses the metaphor to express his growing fear that his
son is not his own, but fathered by another man
Thou want'st a rough pash and the shoots that I have,
To be full like me:
You'll need a beard and some horns if you want to be just
like me!
Again, Leontes refers to his imagined cuckold's horns.
Most dear'st! my collop! Can thy dam?—may't be?—
Affection! thy intention stabs the centre:
Could your mother—can it be? I'm going crazy !
The nonsensical quality to Leontes's speech in the original text
reflects how he's losing his mind.
FIGURE OF SPEECH - METAPHOR
USED TO COMPARE TWO THINGS
WITH SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS
NB!
You look as if you held a brow of much distraction Are
you moved, my lord?
Your forehead looks wrinkled with thought. Are you
upset, my love?
The irony of the obvious pun on the cuckold's hard "brows" is lost
on Polixenes and Hermione, who have no idea of the story
Leontes's deranged mind has fabricated.
Twenty-three years, and saw myself unbreech'd, In my
green velvet coat, my dagger muzzled, Lest it should
bite its master, and so prove, As ornaments oft do, too
dangerous: How like, methought, I then was to this
kernel,
I went back in time twenty-three years and saw myself
back before I wore pants , in my green velvet coat, with a
blunt practice sword (it was blunt so that I didn't cut
myself, since that kind of toy is dangerous when you're a
kid).
In Shakespeare's time, both boys and girls wore gowns from birth to
early childhood. Boys began to wear pants (breeches) around age 6.
Like Polixenes, Leontes reminisces about his pre-gendered, prepubescent life.
This "sword," like most in Shakespeare, is a phallic reference. Sharp
swords and budding sexuality threatened Leontes as a child.
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 1, Scene 2
To bide upon't, thou art not honest, or, If thou
inclinest that way, thou art a coward, Which
hoxes honesty behind, restraining From course
required;
To be clear: you're a liar. You're a coward who shrinks away
from honesty and who's afraid to do the right thing.
In the original text, "hoxes" refers to a process of
disabling an animal by cutting its hamstring. Leontes's
extended metaphor accuses Camillo of destroying his
honor, making righteousness impossible.
Ha' not you seen, Camillo— But that's past doubt,
you have, or your eye-glass Is thicker than a
cuckold's horn, —or heard,— For to a vision so
apparent rumour Cannot be mute,—or thought,—
for cogitation Resides not in that man that does
not think,— My wife is slippery?
Camillo, haven't you seen (but you must have, unless your
glasses are as thick as a cuckold's horn ) or heard (since
something so obvious must have started rumors) or thought
(for only someone incapable of thinking wouldn't have
thought of this) that my wife is unfaithful? Unless you're
planning to say "no" or you're willing to claim that you're
blind, deaf, and dumb, admit that my wife's a slut who
deserves every name you'd call a corner prostitute.
By comparing Camillo's glasses to Leontes's imagined
cuckold's horns, Leontes suggests that Camillo would
have to be blind to not see what's happening.
Hours, minutes? noon, midnight? and all eyes
Blind with the pin and web but theirs, theirs only,
That would unseen be wicked?
Counting down the minutes and hours until midnight, when,
while all eyes but theirs are closed in sleep, they might be
wicked in secret?
By "wicked," Leontes means committing the sin of
adultery—having sex with a partner outside of
marriage.
O, then my best blood turn To an infected jelly
and my name Be yoked with his that did betray
the Best! Turn then my freshest reputation to A
savour that may strike the dullest nostril
Well, then I might as well be dying of cancer and be named
Judas Iscariot . My reputation is ruined. From now on, I'll
stink of this.
In the New Testament, Jesus's follower Judas betrays
him to the Romans. To call someone "Judas" is to
compare him or her to the most hated, despicable
man imaginable.
There may be in the cup A spider steep'd, and one
may drink, depart, And yet partake no venom, for
his knowledge Is not infected:
If someone has a cup with a poisonous spider hiding in it, he
can drink and not be poisoned because his knowledge isn't
infected.
The theme that the idea of something is as
dangerous as the thing itself emerges clearly through
Leontes's deranged rambling. Even though Hermione
hasn't really cheated on Leontes, the idea that's taken
ahold of his brain is real and dangerous.
There is no cause: when you shall know your
mistress Has deserved prison, then abound in
tears As I come out: this action I now go on Is for
my better grace
You can cry if and when you find out that I actually deserve
to be in prison. What's happening here is only a chance for
me to demonstrate grace .
We return to Hermione's joke from Act 1, Scene 2
about her good deed named "Grace," but in a darker
setting. Hermione's display of character despite
Leontes's unjust treatment is yet another
embodiment of her grace.
NB!
Act 2, Scene 1
FIGURE OF SPEECH - METAPHOR
USED TO COMPARE TWO THINGS WITH SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 2, Scene 1
It is for you we speak, not for ourselves: You are
abused and by some putter-on That will be
damn'd for't; would I knew the villain, I would
land-damn him. Be she honour-flaw'd, I have
three daughters; the eldest is eleven The second
and the third, nine, and some five; If this prove
true, they'll pay for't: by mine honour, I'll geld 'em
all; fourteen they shall not see, To bring false
generations: they are co-heirs; And I had rather
glib myself than they Should not produce fair
issue.
We're speaking for your sake, not ours. You've clearly
been manipulated by some crook, and we'll punish him
for it. I wish I knew the guy; I would ruin his life. If
NB!
Hermione's corrupt . . . I have three daughters . The oldest
is eleven, the younger two are nine and five. If this turns
out to be true, they'll pay for it. I swear I'll neuter all of
them. They'll never hit puberty and they'll never give birth
to their own bastard children. Keep in mind, they're
supposed to inherit my money and everything equally. I'd
rather castrate myself than see them unable to have their
own families.
Antigonus tests Leontes, trying to shock him into
realizing how ridiculous his accusations against
Hermione are. If Hermione's a whore, according to
Antigonus, then all women must be whores (a
hyperbole meant to stress Hermione's virtue). If
Leontes is so convinced that Hermione deserves to go to
prison, Antigonus threatens to treat his wife like an
animal and mutilate his daughters. This horrifying
imagery is meant to counteract Leontes's horrifying
rejection of his wife, as well as the way he's jeopardized
his children.
Cease; no more. You smell this business with a
sense as cold As is a dead man's nose:
Stop, no more. You're onto the scent about as much as a
dead man's nose.
Here, Leontes says that Antigonus doesn't understand.
Nay, rather, good my lords, be second to me: Fear
you his tyrannous passion more, alas, Than the
queen's life? a gracious innocent soul, More free
than he is jealous.
No, listen, men, follow my lead. Do you care more about
what this crazy, tyrant king thinks of you than you do
about the queen's life? She's incredibly gracious and
innocent, and he's just jealous.
From this point on, "tyrant" (an oppressive king) is an
important word in this play, which shows a dichotomy
between justice and tyranny. Leontes believes he's
executing justice, but Paulina, Antigonus, and others
argue that he's a tyrant.
La you now, you hear: When she will take the rein
I let her run; But she'll not stumble.
Ha, listen to that! She's like a galloping horse —once she
gets it into her head, I have to let her go.
Recall the metaphor used by Leontes in Act 1, Scene 2,
in which he accuses Camillo of dishonesty by referring to
the process of laming animals to prevent movement.
Here, Antigonus compares Paulina to a horse who
cannot be stopped from running ahead.
Thou dotard! thou art woman-tired, unroosted By
thy dame Partlet here.
[To ANTIGONUS] You old fart ! Your wife is the boss of
you, you're completely whipped!
In the original text, "dotard" may refer both to someone
whose age makes them seem foolish, and also to
someone made foolish by love. Both meanings are
present in Leontes's speech.
NB!
Act 2, Scene 3
NB!
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 2, Scene 3
Hence with it, and together with the dam
Commit them to the fire!
Get it out of here and throw it and the bitch
into the fire!
"Dam" was a word usually used for animal mothers, in the same
way that "bitch" and "sire" refer to the mother and father of a
litter of puppies today. Leontes' uses "dam" to degrade Hermione.
Behold, my lords, Although the print be little, the
whole matter And copy of the father,
Behold, gentlemen. Though she might be a
smaller version , she's an exact copy of her
FIGURE OF SPEECH - METAPHOR
father:
Paulina's metaphor equates baby Perdita with a book. The "print"
(the text/font) is small and hard to read, but if you look closely, you
can read the story of Leontes's paternity.
USED TO COMPARE TWO THINGS
WITH SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS
Act 3, Scene 2
Poor thing, condemn'd to loss!
] I hope you're protected from everything
horrible, you poor thing, even though you're
condemned to be lost,
Perdita's name in Latin means "lost." As the prophecy from Delphi
will reveal, Leontes is doomed until he can recover his lost
daughter.
But thus: if powers divine Behold our human
actions, as they do, I doubt not then but
innocence shall make False accusation blush and
tyranny Tremble at patience
But listen: if God watches over us, as he does,
then I'm sure that innocence will triumph over
false accusations, and that patience will defeat
tyranny
Here, the idea of Hermione as the embodiment of grace (described
in Act 1, Scene 2) collides with Paulina's report of Leontes's
tyranny from Act 2. Hermione's grace contrasts with Leontes's
cruelty.
NB!
Now, my liege, Tell me what blessings I have here
alive, That I should fear to die?
So, my king : tell me what blessings I have to
live for, that would make me afraid to die?
In the original text, "liege" identifies the legal and social
relationship binding Hermione and Leontes. In the feudal system,
a liege lord must reward his servant's loyalty with protection. In
calling Leontes "my liege," Hermione emphasizes that she
continues to uphold their relationship's terms, but Leontes has
broken them.
his innocent babe truly begotten; and the king
shall live without an heir, if that which is lost be
not found.
The baby is his biological daughter, And the
king will have no heir Until he finds that which
is lost
We recall that Perdita's name means "lost." The prophecy suggests
that Perdita is the king's only remaining child, which foreshadows
Mamillius's fate.
Woe the while! O, cut my lace, lest my heart,
cracking it, Break too.
Oh, woe is me! My heart is about to break 7 !
In the original text, Paulina refers to the laces tightening the
bodices of women's dresses. Unless her laces are loosened,
Paulina's grieving heart will burst through them.
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 3, Scene 2
But, O thou tyrant! Do not repent these things,
You tyrant! Don't you dare repent what you've
done.
The church teaches repentance in four parts: contrition (remorse),
repentance (apologizing), penance (punishment), and absolution
(forgiveness). A priest could offer God's absolution for sins. By
saying Leontes is past forgiveness and even extreme penance,
Paulina shows the extremity of his legal and spiritual crimes.
I am sorry for't: All faults I make, when I shall
come to know them, I do repent. Alas! I have
show'd too much The rashness of a woman: he
is touch'd To the noble heart.
I'm sorry for that. Any faults that come to my
attention, I'm sure I'll repent for. [LEONTES starts
to cry] Well, well. Just call me a classic, overemotional woman ; I've hurt the king's feelings.
Paulina highlights the absurdity of gender stereotypes which claim
women are highly emotional and irrational, as Leontes (a man)
has displayed these qualities.
Shall be my recreation: so long as nature Will
bear up with this exercise, so long I daily vow
to use it. Come and lead me Unto these
sorrows.
I'll visit the chapel where they're buried every day
and will spend all my time crying over them. I'll do
this for as long as I live. Lead me to my
heartbreak.
Leontes asks Paulina, like a priest, to instruct him in penance. This
relationship will develop in Act 5.
Good luck, an't be thy will what have we here!
Mercy on 's, a barne a very pretty barne! A boy
or a child, I wonder?
Lord have mercy, it's a baby, a very pretty little
baby! Is it a boy or a girl, I wonder?
The shepherd speaks with a Scottish or northern English accent,
and some of his words (like "bairn" for baby) are regional slang.
NB!
though I am not bookish, yet I can read
waiting-gentlewoman in the 'scape. This has
been some stair-work, some trunk-work, some
behind-door-work: they were warmer that got
this than the poor thing is here.
I may not be all that smart, but I can tell from your
face your mama's a high-class lady. This has been
some back-room , behind-closed-doors, underthe-covers business, huh, by two people who
were hotter and heavier than you are now!
The shepherd guesses that Perdita is abandoned because she was
the unwanted product of an extramarital affair. His guess is ironic,
considering that she was born in wedlock, but her father chose to
believe a story much like the one the shepherd invents.
Enter Time, the Chorus
TIME comes in as narrator.
NB!
Act 4, Scene 1
Many early modern plays had explanatory speeches ("choruses")
before each act. Actors would change choruses for revivals of the
same production, or even from night to night. Thus, temporary
choruses weren't often sent to the printer along with the script,
and didn't make it into the version of the play we have. Scholars
believe that the chorus, Time, may have had 5 or 6 speeches in this
play that are now lost.
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
NB!
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 4, Scene 1
Now take upon me, in the name of Time, To use my
wings. Impute it not a crime To me or my swift
passage, that I slide O'er sixteen years and leave
the growth untried Of that wide gap,
I am Time, and I came here to flap my wings. Don't blame me
for flying by, passing over sixteen years as if it were nothing.
In this speech, the Chorus puns on familiar sayings
about time (like "time flies").
since it is in my power To o'erthrow law and in one
self-born hour To plant and o'erwhelm custom. Let
me pass The same I am, ere ancient'st order was Or
what is now received: I witness to The times that
brought them in; so shall I do To the freshest things
now reigning and make stale
It's within my power to defy the rules and pack all of this into
a single hour. I am the same now as I have been since ancient
times, since the dawn of Time. I'm about to bring in
something fresh and new to liven up our current tale, which is
as old (and stale) as Time.
NB!
NB!
Act 4, Scene 3
According to classical Greek dramatic convention,
a play's plot should cover a single day. Renaissance
playwrights tried to follow this standard.
Shakespeare apologizes for breaking this "rule,"
but also pokes fun at writers and critics who
adhere to it. Shakespeare influentially phased out
classical rules for drama; later, plots spanning
greater lengths of time became standard.
When daffodils begin to peer, With heigh! the doxy
over the dale, Why, then comes in the sweet o' the
year; For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale.
The white sheet bleaching on the hedge, With
heigh! the sweet birds, O, how they sing! Doth set
my pugging tooth on edge; For a quart of ale is a
dish for a king. The lark, that tirra-lyra chants,
With heigh! with heigh! the thrush and the jay,
When daffodils begin to bloom, (Say "hey!") roll around in the
grass with your lover Since spring, the best time of the year, is
here, After a winter of waiting and wanting. The clean white
sheets hanging out to dry (Say "hey!") and the birds' beautiful
singing Have me hankering for a hook-up. I'm no snob—an
ugly girl satisfies as much as any other.
Autolycus' ballad (popular song) has stanzas of
four lines each, with alternating rhyme, and a
refrain ("Say "hey!"). The song's wordplay relates
to flowers and sheep—symbols of innocence,
spring, beauty, the female body, and nature
(important to the sheep-shearing in Act 4, Scene
3). Autolycus compares beer to women to show
he's not picky about sexual partners
Are summer songs for me and my aunts, While we
lie tumbling in the hay. I have served Prince Florizel
and in my time wore three-pile; but now I am out
of service:
The lark that chirps, "tweet, tweet!" (Say "hey!" Say "hey!"),
the thrush, and the blue jay Are the perfect soundtrack for me
and my ladies, While we get down in the hay. [He interrupts
his song] I served Prince Florizel back in the day and used to
wear a fancy suit, but now I'm out of a job.
Larks, Thrushes, and Bluejays are types of birds.
But shall I go mourn for that, my dear? The pale
moon shines by night: And when I wander here and
there, I then do most go right. If tinkers may have
leave to live, And bear the sow-skin budget, Then
my account I well may, give, And in the stocks
avouch it.
But am I crying over that, sweetheart? The moon shines in the
night: Its light guides me as I wander around after-hours At
which time I (mostly) do good. If we tolerate handymen Who
live on a piss-poor budget Then I might as well "fix" my
income. I'll pay for it with jail time if I have to.
Autolycus improvises the second part of his song.
Most productions use the same tune as the spring
ballad, though Autolycus now sings about his life
as a pickpocket and crook.
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 4, Scene 3
My traffic is sheets;
I'm in the sheets business .
FIGURE OF SPEECH - METAPHOR
USED TO COMPARE TWO THINGS
WITH SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS
The word "sheets" stands in for beds and sex, but also refers to
songs and stories. English ballads were known as "broadsheets"
because they were printed on large, single pages.
when the kite builds, look to lesser linen.
If you see a hawk like me swooping in, you better
get out your second-best linens .
NB!
Autolycus suggests that, if he visits your house, he'll steal your
sheets (so you should hide the expensive ones). Following the
sheets/sex metaphor, Autolycus warns that he may seduce your
wife (so you should hide her if she's beautiful).
My father named me Autolycus; who being, as
I am, littered under Mercury, was likewise a
snapper-up of unconsidered trifles.
My father named me "Autolycus ." Like me, he
was destined to be a thief, and, like me, he spent
his time snapping up overlooked goodies.
In Greek, "Autolycus" translates to "the wolf itself," and
emphasizes the character's wolfish qualities.
NB!
With die and drab I purchased this caparison,
and my revenue is the silly cheat. Gallows and
knock are too powerful on the highway:
beating and hanging are terrors to me: for the
life to come, I sleep out the thought of it. A
prize! a prize!
I paid for this outfit by pimping—not to mention
the additional profit of cheap booty. The threats
of jail and death are pretty real out here on the
street. I live in constant fear of being beaten or
hanged, and I can't even think about the afterlife!
I drink to forget about it.
Christians believe that sinners who don't repent spend eternity in
hell. Autolycus, a non-believer and a criminal, fears he'll go to hell
if it's real.
A fellow, sir, that I have known to go about
with troll-my-dames; I knew him once a servant
of the prince: I cannot tell, good sir, for which
of his virtues it was, but he was certainly
whipped out of the court.
A guy with a reputation for hanging out with
prostitutes. I know he used to be the prince's
servant. He was kicked out of court for one of his
virtues; I can't remember which one.
Autolycus describes himself here.
Vices, I would say, sir. I know this man well: he
hath been since an ape-bearer; then a processserver, a bailiff; then he compassed a motion of
the Prodigal Son, and married a tinker's wife
within a mile where my land and living lies;
and, having flown over many knavish
professions, he settled only in rogue: some call
him Autolycus.
Vices, yes, that's what I meant. I know this guy
well: he was an odd-jobs guy, then a police
officer, then he wasted all his money for a while,
and then he married a handyman's wife about a
mile away from where I live now. He's tried his
hand at several questionable professions and has
now settled on being a criminal. Some call him
Autolycus.
The Prodigal Son is one of Jesus's parables about a profligate man
who ultimately finds redemption.
NB!
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 4, Scene 3
Your purse is not hot enough to purchase your spice. I'll
be with you at your sheep-shearing too: if I make not
this cheat bring out another and the shearers prove
sheep, let me be unrolled and my name put in the book
of virtue!
You don't have enough money in your wallet to
purchase those spices. I'll be at the sheepshearing, too. I pulled off this trick and I'm
about to make the shearers my next victims . If I
can't pull it off (as if that were possible), I'll
trade my wicked ways for good deeds!
In planning to make the shearers his sheep, Autolycus plays
off his name's wolfish meaning. He will prey on and steal
from the weak, foolish country people like the shepherd's
son.
Act 4, Scene 4
Apprehend Nothing but jollity. The gods themselves,
Humbling their deities to love, have taken The shapes
of beasts upon them: Jupiter Became a bull, and
bellow'd; the green Neptune A ram, and bleated; and
the fire-robed god, Golden Apollo, a poor humble
swain, As I seem now. Their transformations Were
never for a piece of beauty rarer, Nor in a way so
chaste, since my desires Run not before mine honour,
nor my lusts Burn hotter than my faith.
All I want you to think about is having a good
time! You know, the gods turned themselves
into animals for the sake of love: Jupiter
became a bull, Neptune became a ram, and
the sun god, Apollo, became a shepherd just
like I am now. And their transformations
weren't for girls as beautiful as you. Or as
pure—since, you know, I'm not trying to move
too quickly here. My commitment to you goes
beyond physical desire.
The following stories are Greco-Roman legends in which
gods turned themselves into humans or animals to seduce
beautiful human women.
For I have heard it said There is an art which in their
piedness shares With great creating nature
I've heard people say that engineering their
multi-coloredness is "playing God."
Perdita is morally opposed to cross-breeding plants, because
she thinks only God (or "Nature") should have the power to
create life.
I'll not put The dibble in earth to set one slip of them;
No more than were I painted I would wish This youth
should say 'twere well and only therefore Desire to
breed by me
I won't plant a single one. It'd be the same if my
boyfriend only thought I was beautiful after I
put on heavy make-up
Perdita maintains her argument against "art" (something
created by humans) in defense of "nature," extending her
argument to her relationship with Florizel.
What, like a corse?
What, like a dead body?
Florizel jokes that Perdita's desire to cover him in flowers
mimics traditional funeral rites, where mourners throw
flowers onto a coffin as it's lowered into the grave.
He says he loves my daughter: I think so too; for never
gazed the moon Upon the water as he'll stand and read
He says he's in love with my daughter, and I
think it's true. To be blunt, the way he stares at
her completely gives it away!
In the original text, the shepherd compares Florizel's fixed
gaze on Perdita's face to the moon's steady reflection upon
the water.
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 4, Scene 4
So she does any thing; though I report it, That should be
silent: if young Doricles Do light upon her, she shall bring
him that Which he not dreams of.
She's good at everything. And, just between
you and me: if Doricles does marry her, she'll
bring him more than he ever dreamed of
The shepherd refers to the money and jewels he found with
baby Perdita sixteen years ago. If Perdita marries Florizel,
she'll bring that secret fortune as a "dowry," or wedding-gift.
Lawn as white as driven snow; Cyprus black as e'er was
crow; Gloves as sweet as damask roses; Masks for faces
and for noses; Bugle bracelet, necklace amber, Perfume
for a lady's chamber; Golden quoifs and stomachers, For
my lads to give their dears: Pins and poking-sticks of
steel,
Linen as white as snow, Cotton black as a crow,
Sweet-smelling gloves, Masks for your face,
Beaded bracelets, gemstone necklaces,
Perfume for ladies' bedrooms, Golden
hairpieces and belts For young men to give
their girlfriends, Steel pins and clips
Autolycus' song describes the items he has for sale.
He hath promised you more than that, or there be liars.
Unless people are lying, he's promised you
more than that
In the Renaissance, premarital sex was discouraged. Yet, in
common law, a couple was considered married if they
exchanged a a promise to marry and consummated that vow
through sex. The "jilted woman"—abandoned after that
consummation—was a cultural trope. Dorcas suggests that
the shepherd's son impregnated and jilted Mopsa. In many
productions, Mopsa is portrayed with a pregnant stomach.
He hath paid you all he promised you;
He's paid you all he owed you.
Mopsa retorts by suggesting Dorcas is a prostitute whom the
shepherd's son has paid for sex. Mopsa leaves it unclear
whether Dorcas would need to "give" the shepherd's son
some of his money back, or another sexual encounter.
Why, this is a passing merry one and goes to the tune of
'Two maids wooing a man:' there's scarce a maid
westward but she sings it; 'tis in request, I can tell you.
This is a really funny one that's set to the tune
of "Two girls flirting with the same guy ." Girls
all over the country are singing it; it's in vogue,
I'm happy to say.
Autolycus makes a joke, since both Mopsa and Dorcas are in
love with the shepherd's son. His song describes their actual
love triangle.
Old sir, I know She prizes not such trifles as these are:
The gifts she looks from me are pack'd and lock'd Up in
my heart; which I have given already, But not deliver'd.
Sir, she doesn't care about stuff like that. The
gifts she expects from me are the ones that
come from the heart, and I've given those to
her already, though I haven't delivered them .
Florizel has given Perdita his love and a promise to marry
her, though the marriage hasn't happened yet.
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 4, Scene 4
O, hear me breathe my life Before this ancient
sir, who, it should seem, Hath sometime
loved! I take thy hand, this hand, As soft as
dove's down and as white as it,
You must have had some experience with love, sir, at
your age . . . let me explain how much I love her. Watch
me take her hand—her soft, pure white hand . [He holds
PERDITA's hand].
By taking her hand and announcing that he's about to make a
vow, Florizel prepares to go through the traditional marriage
contract parodied by Mopsa and the shepherd's son.
Soft, swain, awhile, beseech you;
Just a minute, Shepherd. Do you have a father?
Polixenes's interruption is the equivalent of someone
shouting "I object!" in the middle of a wedding when the
bride and groom are at the altar.
I not purpose it. I think, Camillo?
I won't try it, then. You're Camillo, right?
Camillo is still wearing his disguise.
It cannot fail but by The violation of my faith;
and then Let nature crush the sides o' the
earth together And mar the seeds within! Lift
up thy looks: From my succession wipe me,
father; I Am heir to my affection.
You could only be ruined if I left you, but that will never
happen! Chin up! My father can disown me; I have my
love to sustain me .
In the original text, Florizel proclaims that if he is no longer
his father's "heir" (successor to the throne), he is still "heir"
to love. Love, not the crown, will provide for him and make
him happy.
NB!
One of these is true: I think affliction may
subdue the cheek, But not take in the mind.
Part of what you say is true: I think suffering may wipe
the smile from your face, but it can never change the
state of your mind.
NB!
Perdita's wisdom resonate with Leontes and Hermione's
past conflict. Hermione remained faithful, despite extreme
suffering; Leontes suffered so much in his mind that he
destroyed the love he had.
Fortunate mistress,—let my prophecy Come
home to ye!— you must retire yourself Into
some covert: take your sweetheart's hat And
pluck it o'er your brows, muffle your face,
Dismantle you, and, as you can, disliken The
truth of your own seeming; that you may—
For I do fear eyes over—to shipboard Get
undescried.
Perdita, I hope my plan works out for your sake! You need
to hide yourself for the time being. Take Florizel's hat and
cover your face, change your clothes, and disguise
yourself as much as possible. I'm afraid you're being
watched, and you need to get onboard the ship
undetected.
Camillo calls his plan a "prophecy"—a way of saying that he
hopes the couple's safe arrival and happy marriage in Sicilia
works out as planned. The word "prophecy" echoes the
prophecy from Delphi about Camillo's loyalty and Perdita's
return.
See, see; what a man you are now! There is
no other way but to tell the king she's a
changeling and none of your flesh and blood.
Well, look where you are now! The only thing to do is to
tell the king she's a changeling and not your biological
daughter.
We remember that "changelings" are babies switched at
birth by meddling fairies in English folklore.
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 4, Scene 4
To the palace, an it like your worship.
To the palace, if it please you, sir
The Shepherd addresses Autolycus formally and with respect
because, now that Autolycus has Florizel's fancy clothes on, the
Shepherd can only assume he's royalty.
A lie; you are rough and hairy.
That's a lie! You're rough and hairy.
Autolycus puns on the shepherd's son's word "plain," which can
mean "simple" (humble) or "nondescript" (ordinary).
Sir, you have done enough, and have perform'd A
saint-like sorrow: no fault could you make, Which you
have not redeem'd; indeed, paid down More penitence
than done trespass: at the last, Do as the heavens
have done, forget your evil; With them forgive
yourself.
Sir, you've done enough; you've grieved
enough. You've redeemed every one of your
sins. You've done more penitence than you
did wrong. For the last time: do what God
does. Forget what your evil actions and
NB!
forgive yourself.
Cleomenes uses religious language to describe Leontes' crimes
("sins") against Hermione, Perdita, and others, and his ensuing
"penitence," or spiritual atonement. Thus, Shakespeare
linguistically opens up the possibility of grace, which Christians
believe God extends to those who confess and do penance for
their sins.
Whilst I remember Her and her virtues, I cannot forget
My blemishes in them, and so still think of The wrong I
did myself; which was so much, That heirless it hath
made my kingdom and Destroy'd the sweet'st
companion that e'er man Bred his hopes out of.
As long as I remember her, I can't forget my
mistakes. I still think about how badly I
messed up, leaving my kingdom without a
prince and myself without a wife.
Recall the herbs Perdita presented to the disguised Polixenes
(rosemary and rue) and what they symbolized (remembrance
and grace). Hermione has been silent for much of the play, and
yet her presence is felt throughout.
If you would not so, You pity not the state, nor the
remembrance Of his most sovereign name;
If you're against him marrying, you're not
thinking realistically about our country or the
fact that Leontes needs an heir to his royal
name .
Dion and Paulina are talking of two different kinds of
"remembrance." When Dion uses the word in the original text,
he looks to the future. Leontes must marry again and have a
child through whom his name will be remembered. Paulina has
been encouraging Leontes to dwell instead on his past—to
remember his sins against Hermione and her goodness.
Act 5, Scene 1
FIGURE OF SPEECH - METAPHOR
USED TO COMPARE TWO THINGS
WITH SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS
Your mother was most true to wedlock, prince; For she
did print your royal father off, Conceiving you: were I
but twenty-one, Your father's image is so hit in you,
His very air, that I should call you brother
Florizel, your mother should be proud: you
look exactly like your father did when he was
your age. So much so that I'm tempted to call
you "brother,"
Leontes uses the metaphor of printing to demonstrate that
Florizel's mother was faithful to Polixenes, because Florizel
looks exactly like his father. In printing, identical copies are
made from type set in a printing press. This is the same
metaphor Paulina used to defend Perdita's legitimacy in Act 2.
Additional QUOTES – Act 1 to Act 5 (LitCharts)
ACT, SCENE
EXTRACT
MODERN VERSION
ANALYSIS
Act 5, Scene 1
Good my lord, She came from Libya.
Sir, she's from Libya
In Shakespeare's day, all English actors (as far as we know) were
white. Florizel's poorly-thought-out backstory—that Perdita is
African—would be funny to contemporary audiences because
of the actor's obviously white skin.
The stars, I see, will kiss the valleys first: The odds for
high and low's alike.
Pigs will fly before that happens. The odds
don't seem to be in our favor.
In the original text, Florizel says that it's more likely for the stars
to fall from the heavens and touch the lowest points on earth
than it is for his marriage to take place.
NB!
My lord, your sorrow was too sore laid on, Which
sixteen winters cannot blow away, So many summers
dry; scarce any joy Did ever so long live; no sorrow But
kill'd itself much sooner.
Sir, you had a lot to grieve for, but sixteen
years should have helped ease that pain. Few
joys last that long, and any other sorrow
would have fizzled out long before now.
Camillo talks about passing years as passing "winters," which
aren't made any less dark by the "summers" that accompany
them, to describe Leontes's continuous grief.
O sweet Paulina, Make me to think so twenty years
together! No settled senses of the world can match The
pleasure of that madness. Let't alone.
Oh, Paulina, I want to believe that she lives.
No perception of reality could be as blissful as
that kind of insanity . Leave it alone.
Believing Hermione is alive so that he can love her again is the
inverse of Leontes' delusion in Acts 1-3, when he wanted her
dead so that he could take his revenge on her NB!
Either forbear, Quit presently the chapel, or resolve you
For more amazement. If you can behold it, I'll make the
statue move indeed, descend And take you by the hand;
but then you'll think— Which I protest against— I am
assisted By wicked powers.
Either restrain yourself, leave the chapel, or
get ready for more amazement. If you can
handle it, I'll make the statue move, walk
down, and take you by the hand. But I'm
afraid you'll think I'm a witch using black
magic
In Shakespeare's time, people believed in witchcraft. King James
I had published his own book about witches only a few years
before this play. Black magic was associated with satanism, the
rejection or subversion of Christian faith (and, in Protestant
England, with Catholicism).
NB!
That she is living, Were it but told you, should be
hooted at Like an old tale: but it appears she lives,
Though yet she speak not. Mark a little while. Please
you to interpose, fair madam: kneel And pray your
mother's blessing. Turn, good lady; Our Perdita is found.
If I just told you she was alive, you would
write it off as an old fairytale But even
though she hasn't spoken, it certainly looks
like she's living. Wait a minute.
This is the fourth reference in the play to "tales." Mamillius told
his mother a tale in the nursery; the gentlemen who related
Leontes and Perdita's reunion to Autolycus called it an "old
tale;" and the play is called The Winter's Tale, another term for
an "old wives' tale" or "fairytale."
Turn, good lady; Our Perdita is found.
Turn around, my lady. Our Perdita is found.
The text includes an obvious pun on Perdita's name: the "lost"
one is found.
NB!
Act 5, Scene 3
SUMMARY OF THE PLAY
In the kingdom of Sicilia, King Leontes is being visited by his childhood friend, King Polixenes
of Bohemia. One of Leontes's lords, Camillo, discusses the striking differences between the
two kingdoms with a Bohemian nobleman, Archidamus. The conversation then turns to the
great and enduring friendship between the two kings, and the beauty and promise of
Leontes's young son, Mamillius.
These two lords go out, and Leontes comes in, along with his wife Hermione (who is
pregnant), Mamillius, and Polixenes, who is making ready to depart for home. Leontes pleads
with him to stay a little longer in Sicilia, but his friend refuses, declaring that he has been
away from Bohemia for nine months, which is long enough. Hermione then takes up the
argument, and Polixenes yields to her entreaties, promising to stay for a little longer. He tells
the Sicilian queen how wonderful his childhood with Leontes was—how "we were, fair queen
/ Two lads that thought there was no more behind / But such a day tomorrow as today / And
to be boy eternal"(I.ii.63-66).
Leontes, meanwhile, tells Hermione that she has never spoken to better effect than in
convincing Polixenes to stay—save for once, when she agreed to marry him. But as his wife
and his friend walk together, apart from him, he feels stirrings of jealousy, and tells the
audience that he suspects them of being lovers. He turns to his son and notes that the boy
resembles him, and this reassures him that Mamillius is, in fact, his son and not someone
else's; his suspicion of his wife remains, however, and grows quickly, until he is certain that
she is sleeping with Polixenes. He sends the two of them to walk in the garden together,
promising to join them later, and then calls Camillo over, asking if he has noticed anything
peculiar about Polixenes behavior lately. Camillo says that he has not, and Leontes accuses
him of being negligent, and then declares that Hermione and Polixenes have made him a
cuckold—that is, a betrayed husband. Camillo, appalled, refuses to believe it, but his king
insists that it is true, and orders the lord to act as cupbearer to Polixenes—and then poison
him at the first opportunity.
Camillo promises to obey, but his conscience is greatly troubled, and when Leontes has gone
and Polixenes reappears, the Bohemian king realizes that something is amiss. Saying that
Leontes just gave him a peculiar and threatening look, he demands to know what is going on,
and Camillo, after a moment of anguish, tells him of the Sicilian king's suspicions and desire to
have him poisoned. He begs protection of Polixenes, who accepts him as a servant,
and they decide to flee the country immediately by sneaking out of the castle and taking ship
for Bohemia. Camillo promises to use his authority in Sicilia to help their escape, and the two
men slip away together. Hermione asks her little boy, Mamillius, to sit by her and tell her a
story. Meanwhile, Leontes storms in, having just learned of Polixenes's escape and Camillo's
role in accomplishing it. To his diseased mind, this is proof positive that his suspicions were
correct—he decides that Camillo must have been in Polixenes's pay from the beginning. He
orders Mamillius taken away from Hermione, and then accuses his wife of being pregnant
with the king of Bohemia's child.
Hermione, astonished, denies it vigorously, but to no avail, and her husband orders her taken
away to jail, along with her ladies-in-waiting. When she has been dragged off, the lords of
Sicilia plead with Leontes, declaring that he is mistaken and his queen is innocent; Hermione's
most vocal defender is a lord named Antigonus. The king will have none of it, however—he is
certain of his own rightness, and says that anyway, the matter is none of their concern.
However, he does promise to ask the celebrated oracle of Apollo, at Delphi, for a verdict
before proceeding against his wife.
In prison, Antigonus's wife Paulina attempts to visit Hermione, but is rebuffed by the guards.
She is, however, allowed to speak with one of the queen's ladies, Emilia, who reports that her
mistress has given birth to a beautiful daughter. Overriding the uncertain jailer, Paulina
decides to take the child from the cell and bring it to Leontes, in the hopes that the sight of
his new-born daughter will release the king from his madness.
Meanwhile, Mamillius has fallen ill since Hermione's imprisonment. Leontes, of course,
attributes his son's ailment to shame over his mother's infidelity; meanwhile, he angrily
wishes that Polixenes had not managed to escape his wrath. Paulina brings the child to the
king, and he grows furious with her, demanding of Antigonus why he cannot manage to
control his wife better. Paulina, instead of falling silent, argues with Leontes, defending
Hermione's honor and then laying the baby before the angry king before she departs.
When she is gone, Leontes orders Antigonus to take the child away and throw it into the fire,
so that he will never have to see another man's bastard call him father. His lords are horrified
by this order and beg him to recon sider. He relents after a moment, but only a little—instead
of burning the infant, he tells Antigonus to carry it into the wilderness and leave it there. As
the unhappy nobleman takes the child and departs, word arrives that his messengers to the
Oracle of Delphi have returned, bringing with them the divine verdict on the matter.
Making their way back from Delphi, the lords Dion and Cleomenes discuss events in their
native Sicilia, and express their hope that the message they bring from the Oracle will
vindicate the unfortunate Hermione. Meanwhile, Leontes convenes a court, with himself as
judge, in order to give his wife a fair trial. She is brought from the prison to appear before
him, and the indictment, charging her with adultery and conspiracy in the escape of Polixenes
and Camillo, is read to the entire court. Hermione defends herself eloquently, saying: that she
loved the Bohemian king "as in honor he required"(III.ii.62), but no more, certainly not in a
sexual fashion; that she is ignorant of any conspiracy; and that Camillo is an honest man.
Leontes, paying little heed to her words, declares that she is guilty, and that her punishment
must be death. Hermione laughs bitterly at this and says that given her sufferings so far, death
would be a blessed release.
At this juncture, the two lords arrive with the Oracle's message. It is unsealed and read
aloud—"Hermione is chaste," it reports, "Polixenes blameless, Camillo a true subject, Leontes
a jealous tyrant, his innocent babe truly begotten, and the king shall live without an heir if
that which is lost be not found"(III.ii.131-34). The courtiers rejoice, while Leontes refuses to
believe it; at that moment, however, a servant rushes in with word that Mamillius has died,
and the enormity of the king's mistake suddenly comes crashing down on him. Hermione
faints, and she is quickly carried away by her ladies and Paulina, who are frantically
attempting to revive her. Leontes, now grief-stricken, pours curses upon his own head, and
Paulina re-enters and tells him that Hermione, too, has died, and that he has murdered her.
One of the lords rebukes her, but Leontes accepts her accusation as no more than his due.
Ordering a single grave for the body of his wife and son, he pledges to spend the rest of his
life doing penance for his sin.
Unaware of the Oracle's revelations, Antigonus has arrived on the desolate Bohemian coast,
bearing the infant princess. He tells the audience how Hermione appeared to him in a dream,
telling him to name the babe Perdita, and declaring that he would never see his home, or his
wife Paulina, again. He lays the infant down in the woods, and places gold and jewels beside
her, and a note telling the child's name, and then makes ready to depart. A storm has come
up, however, and a bear appears and chases him off stage. After a time, a Shepherd comes in
and finds the baby; he is joined by his son, a Clown, who reports seeing a man (Antigonus)
killed by a bear, and a ship (Antigonus's vessel) go down in the storm. The two men then
discover the wealth left with Perdita, and they rejoice in their good fortune and vow to raise
the child themselves.
On the empty stage, an actor appears, playing Time, and announces that in the space
between acts, sixteen years have passed. The scene shifts to Polixenes's castle in Bohemia,
where the king is conversing with Camillo. Camillo asks leave of Polixenes to return to his
native Sicily, since sixteen years away have made him homesick—and besides, the stillgrieving Leontes would welcome him home with open arms. Polixenes replies that he cannot
manage the kingdom without Camillo's assistance, and the two men discuss the king's son,
Florizel, who has been spending a great deal of time away from court, at the house of a
wealthy shepherd—a shepherd whose daughter is reputed to be a great beauty. Somewhat
worried, Polixenes decides that they will visit this shepherd's house, but in disguise, and see
what Florizel is up to.
Meanwhile, in the Bohemian countryside, a jovial vagabond, peddler, and thief named
Autolycus is wandering along a highway and singing loudly. He comes upon the Clown on his
way to market, counting a substantial sum of money with which he plans to buy supplies for a
country sheepshearing (a great event in the area). Autolycus accosts him and pretends to be
the victim of a robbery. As the Clown commiserates with him, the crafty thief picks his pocket,
and when his victim has gone on his way, Autolycus resolves to make an appearance at the
sheepshearing—in a different disguise, of course.
On the day of the sheepshearing, Perdita and Florizel walk together outside her home. She is
decked out in flowers, and he compliments her on her grace and beauty. It quickly becomes
apparent that the couple is deeply in love, but Perdita expresses concern over the possibility
of their eventual union, pointing out that Florizel's father is bound to oppose it. The prince
reassures her, declaring that "I'll be thine, my fair, / Or not my father's"(IV.iv.42-43). As they
talk together, the Shepherd comes in with a huge crowd, including the Clown, a group of
shepherdesses, and the disguised Polixenes and Camillo. The Shepherd tells his adoptive
daughter to act the hostess, as is proper, and so she busies herself distributing flowers to the
new arrivals, which leads to a discussion of horticulture with Polixenes. Watching and
listening to her, Florizel is inspired to another effusive declaration of his love. At this point we
learn that he is going by the alias of Doricles./PARAGRAPH Polixenes remarks to Camillo that
Perdita is "the prettiest lowborn lass that ever / ran on the greensward. Nothing she does or
seems / But smacks of something greater than herself, too noble for this place"(IV.iv.156-59).
He asks the Shepherd about "Doricles," and the Shepherd tells him that his daughter's suitor
is some high-born fellow, and that the two are deeply in love—"I think there is not half a kiss
to choose / Who loves another best"(IV.iv.175-76).
Meanwhile, a peddler arrives, with the promise of entertaining the company with songs. He is allowed
in—it is Autolycus, in a peddler's costume—and sets about selling ballads to the Clown and the
shepherdesses, and then singing for the entire group. As he does so, Polixenes asks Florizel why he has
not bought anything for his love, and the prince replies that he knows that Perdita does not desire
such silly things as the peddler is offering. He then decides to take this moment to ask the Shepherd to
seal their betrothal, and the old man gladly agrees to do so.
Before they make the compact, however, Polixenes asks Florizel why he does not consult his father
before getting engaged, and the prince (still unaware of whom he is speaking with) replies that there
are reasons, which he dares not share, why his father cannot know of his betrothal. He urges the
Shepherd to "mark our contract"(IV.iv.16), but the king now casts aside his disguise and declares that
the betrothal shall not go forward: the Shepherd will be executed for allowing a prince to court his
daughter; Perdita's beauty shall be "scratched with briers"(Iv.iv.424); and Florizel will be disinherited if
he ever speaks of her again. He relents slightly, after a moment, and decides to spare the life of the
Shepherd and the face of his daughter, but tells them that if they ever see the prince again, there lives
will be forfeit. Polixenes then departs, ordering his son to follow him to court, and leaving everyone
horrified.
Both Perdita and the Shepherd despair, with the latter cursing Florizel for deceiving him and then
storming off. The prince is remarkably unfazed, however, and assures Perdita that he will not be
separated from her—that he is willing to give up the succession and flee Bohemia immediately.
Camillo advises him against it, but Florizel insists that he will not break his oath to Perdita for anything
in the world. This resolve gives Camillo an idea, and he advises the prince to flee at once to Sicilia,
where Leontes, believing him sent from Polixenes, will give him a good welcome. In the meantime,
Camillo promises to bring Polixenes around to the notion of his son marrying a commoner.
In truth, however, Camillo hopes that the king will follow his son to Sicilia, and bring him along, thus
allowing him to return to his native land.
Florizel agrees to the old lord's plan, but points out that he does not have an appropriate retinue to
appear in the court of Sicilia as Polixenes's son. While they discuss this problem, with Camillo
promising to furnish the necessary attendants and letters, Autolycus comes in, bragging to himself
about all the cheap goods he sold and all the purses he stole during the sheepshearing. Noticing him,
Camillo asks the rascal to exchange clothes with Florizel. Autolycus, baffled, agrees, and the prince
puts on the peddler's rags, which, he hopes, will enable him to reach a ship undetected by his father.
This done, Florizel, Perdita, and Camillo leave Autolycus alone on stage. The crafty peddler/thief
declares that he has figured out their business from listening to them, but will not go and tell the king,
since that would be a good deed—and good deeds are against his nature.
As Autolycus talks to himself, the Clown and the Shepherd come in. Seeing an opportunity for
mischief, he pretends to be a nobleman (he is still wearing Florizel's clothing). The Clown is advising
the Shepherd to tell King Polixenes how he found Perdita in the forest years before—since if she was a
foundling, he is not her real father and therefore not responsible for her actions. Hearing this,
Autolycus tells them that the king has gone aboard a nearby ship, and sends them in that direction. In
fact, he sends them to the ship that Florizel and Perdita are taking to Sicilia.
In Sicilia, Leontes is still in mourning for Hermione and Mamillius, although some of his lords urge him
to forget the past, forgive himself, and marry again. Paulina, however, encourages his continued
contrition, and extracts from him a promise that he will never take another wife until she gives him
leave. Word comes of the arrival of Prince Florizel and his new wife Perdita from Bohemia, and the
couple is ushered into Leontes's presence and greeted eagerly—since the Sicilian king has had no
word from Bohemia for years. Everyone remarks on the beauty and grace of Perdita, and Florizel
pretends to be on a diplomatic mission from his father. As they talk, however, a lord brings news that
Polixenes himself, along with Camillo, are in the city, in pursuit of Florizel—and that they have the
Shepherd and the Clown (who came to Sicilia on Florizel's ship) in their custody. Leontes, stunned,
immediately resolves to go down and meet his former friend, bringing the despairing Florizel and
Perdita with them.
What follows is told second-hand, by several lords of Leontes's court to the newly-arrived Autolycus.
Briefly, once the Shepherd tells everyone his story of finding Perdita on the Bohemian coast, and
reveals the tokens that were left on her, Leontes and Polixenes realize who she is; both kings—but
especially Leontes—are overcome with joy, and there is general rejoicing. The lords also tell Autolycus
that the happy group has not yet returned to court, since Perdita expressed a wish to see a statue of
her mother, recently finished in Paulina's country house. Then the Clown and Shepherd come in,
having both been made gentlemen, and Autolycus pledges to amend his life and become their loyal
servant.
The scene shifts to Paulina's home, and she unveils the statue, which impresses everyone with its
realism and attention to detail—as well as the fact that the sculptor made Hermione look exactly
sixteen years older than the queen was when she died. Leontes is overcome by the sight of her, and
tries to touch the statue's hand. Paulina keeps him back, saying that she did not expect it to move him
to such grief, and offers to draw the curtain, but the king refuses to allow it. Paulina then offers to
make the statue come down from the pedestal—and, to everyone's amazement, there is music and
the statue moves. It steps down, and embraces Leontes: it is the real Hermione, alive again. She
blesses her daughter, saying that she hoped to see her again, and then Leontes, now overcome with
happiness, betrothes Paulina and Camillo and then leads the company out, rejoicing in the apparent
miracle.
- THE END -