LOVE
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Romantic love: Leontes and Hermione
Florizel and Perdita
Parental love
Love for a friend
Love of a servant for his/her master
Love of country
Love of nature
Love of a child for their parent
Love’s redemptive power
Camillo only sees fault with himself when he does
not understand Leontes’ jealousy: “if industriously / I
play'd the fool, it was my negligence”
 It is against his nature to “Forsake the court”
 When Antigonus speaks up he makes clear “It is for
you we speak, not for ourselves”
 Antigonus agrees to take the baby into exile “though
a present death Had been more merciful”
 Paulina feels it is her duty to speak strongly “If I prove
honey-mouth'd let my tongue blister”
 True love and genuine loyalty means making
sacrifices and choosing what is right not what is
beneficial or safe
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Polixenes explains Leontes bad mood by
saying it seems as if “he had lost some
province and a region Loved”
Camillo is desperate to “Purchase the sight
again of dear Sicilia
And that unhappy king, my master”
The return of children and servants restores
order in the play
Marriage completes this order
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“We were as twinn'd lambs that did frisk i' the sun”
– shared fun and innocence
They both light-heartedly talk of the way their
lives have changed since meeting their wives
Indeed Leontes’ jealousy destroys the friendship
It is predicted that “rooted betwixt them then
such an affection, which cannot choose but
branch now”
Leontes says “To mingle friendship far is mingling
bloods”
Notably in his last speech Leontes is keen to
restore his friendship with his “brother”
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“I love thee not a jar o' the clock behind
What lady-she her lord” – Hermione about
Leontes, being apart will not affect their
relationship
Jealousy is either a “disease” or “venom”
For Leontes jealousy quickly turns love to hate:
“My wife's a hobby-horse”. He belittles her
Yet we can see that without trust love, life, the
“world and all that's in't is nothing”
Love relies on trust and loyalty
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Florizel’s happiness means that he can “Apprehend
nothing but jollity”
He longs for the ability to capture his love in its
first, special moments:
“when you do dance, I wish you
A wave o’th’sea, that you might ever do
Nothing but that – move still, still so”
Their love is youthful and fresh
In Polixenes’ rage it is this youthful beauty he
wants to destroy: “I'll have thy beauty scratch'd
with briers”
But it is strong and eternal: “for all the sun sees “
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The language of F & P’s speeches links their love to
nature – it is shown in spring
Perdita shows a love of Nature which befits her
innocent and caring character
However, there is a strength and practicality about
her which is also attractive
She speaks of the transformative power of Nature:
“daffodils... Take the winds of March with beauty”
Her debate with Polixenes suggests deep-seated
traits of faithfulness and purity
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“If the king had no son, they would desire to live on
crutches till he had one” (1.1)
Polixenes speaks for himself and Leontes when he
says of his son: “He makes a July's day short as
December”
When he is first infected with jealousy he seeks
refuge in his son and the fact they are “Almost as
like as eggs”
But he is tainted by “the dishonour of his mother”
Mamillius’s guilt by association means that
Leontes has lost all that makes life worthwhile
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Love is hugely powerful in the play
It, as much as Apollo or the stars, seems to
guide the fate of the characters
It must be coupled with reason, trust and
loyalty
But if it is it can create regeneration,
transformation and awe