The Winter's Tale

   

A comedy by William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale is also considered a "problem play" by many. The first three acts are filled with intense psychological drama, but the last two acts are quite comedic and supply a happy ending. This play is one of Shakepeare's later efforts, probably written in 1610 or 1611.

The plot

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Polixenes, the King of Bohemia, is visiting his lifelong friend Leontes, King of Sicilia. At the conclusion of his nine month visit, Polixenes prepares to leave. Leontes begs him to stay to no avail. Only when Leontes asks his wife, Hermione, to add her pleadings does Polixenes agree to stay a while longer. And on this tiny cause, the king's jealousy turns. He believes his queen and his boyhood friend have been having an affair, that the queen is pregnant with Polixenes' child and that his son, Mamillius, is also not his own.

Leontes plots against Polixenes' life and accuses Hermione of adultery. Polixenes flees back to Bohemia, while Hermione delivers her daughter in prison. Leontes sends the newborn to die in the desert. The Oracle at Delphi pronounces Hermione innocent, but Leontes defies the gods. Hermione faints and is reported to be dead. Mamillius dies of grief over his mother's straits.

A shepherd finds the young princess in the desert of Bohemia where her ship has deposited her. This scene provides us with possibly Shakespeare's most famous stage direction: The man delivering her must "Exit, pursued by a bear."

The child grows up beautiful, falls in love with Prince Florizel, son of Polixenes. His father doesn't approve and they escape to Sicilia where Leontes, now repentant, gives them shelter. The girl's heritage is soon discovered and the kings are reconciled. Hermione is also restored, having spent the last sixteen years in a cottage. In the final scene she is revealed to Leontes and her daughter disguised as a statue of herself, and amazes them by coming to life.

In reality Bohemia roughly corresponds to the modern-day Czech Republic and had neither a coast (being landlocked) nor a desert. Shakespeare's fellow playwright Ben Jonson ridiculed the play for this, although some scholars believe his remarks to be simply a joke.

External links
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The Winter's Tale


 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about The Winter's Tale.


Retrieved from "http://www.mywiseowl.com/articles/The_Winter%27s_Tale"

This page has been accessed 227 times. This page was last modified 01:48, 9 Nov 2004. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details).