The Winter’s Tale is neither comedy nor tragedy, containing elements of both. Often categorized as one of the “problem plays”, together with All’s Well that Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Love’s Labours Lost and Troilus and Cressida, I prefer to lump them together under the less negative description of “romance”. The main source was the 1588 Pandosto by Robert Greene. This was the same Greene who had inveighed against the “upstart” Shakespeare, up to then a disregarded actor, on his deathbed, for taking on the task rewriting what would become the Henry VI trilogy. I find this a delightful example of ying and yang: that Shakespeare began his career with a revision of Greene’s work, and then adapted another years later as that career was drawing to a close. This play was probably produced around 1611, just prior to The Tempest. Francis Sabie’s version of the same story in 1595 seems to have influenced The Winter’s Tale as well.

The oracle at Delphi was an actual site in ancient Greece where anyone could go for a prediction of the future or advice on personal matters. It was believed to be inspired by the god Apollo, and therefore could not be doubted or disputed (hence, the shock when Leontes contradicted the message). According to historical accounts, the oracle, usually a priestess of Apollo, inhaled steam from an underground hot spring, supposedly the breath of Apollo himself, which put her in a trance. She then delivered the prophecy, usually in the form of a riddle. This was the real secret of the oracle’s reputation for accuracy — the prophecy was usually worded so ambiguously that it could be interpreted to match any outcome. (Modern-day horoscopes seem to have followed this strategy!) The most famous example was a king who asked whether he should attack a neighboring country: the oracle told him “A great kingdom will be conquered”. The king took this to mean that he should go ahead with the attack; of course, the kingdom that got conquered was his own. By that standard, the prophecy revealed in Act III scene ii is far too specific and clear to have come from the Delphic oracle of history.

I can’t go any further without pointing out one of the greatest contextual errors in all of Shakespeare. Even his contemporaries noted that he mistakenly described the country of Bohemia as having both a coastline and deserts; Bohemia, currently located in the land-locked Czech Republic, has neither. All the blame isn’t our Bard’s; he repeated the error of his source, Robert Greene. It’s impossible to say why he elected to do so, rather than, as in his lighter comedies, use a fictional setting such as the Forest of Arden. Over the years many have suggested that Shakespeare couldn’t possibly have had the education necessary to write the plays attributed to him, and that they were actually written by one of his high-born and better-travelled contemporaries. In light of his ignorance about the geography of Bohemia, I’d say that argument’s blown completely out of the water.

Yet Shakespeare was greatly influenced by the Greek and Roman classics, which he might easily have read either in the original or one of the many Italian or French translations available to him. However, he apparently felt no responsibility to follow their rules when they didn’t serve his purpose. One of these rules, articulated by Aristotle but rigidly followed by the neo-classical dramatists of France, were “the unities”: the idea that a play could concern only a single action in a single location during a single day. (Of course, no Shakespeare play except The Tempest even attempts to follow this convention.) This is especially obvious concerning the sixteen-year gap between Act III and Act IV; whether intended as an excuse or a thumbing of his nose at the neo-classicists, Shakespeare included the character Time to explain to the audience and beg them to “impute it not a crime” that the characters all age so much from one scene to the next. Coincidentally, there is exactly as long a gap in Pericles waiting for the character Marina to come of age, it’s again explained by a Narrator, and again, it’s found between Act III and Act IV. Perdita has another similarity to Marina from Pericles: just as Marina was given her name to reflect the circumstances of her birth at sea, so was Perdita (her name means “lost”).

Even though Perdita seems to know that Florizel is a prince, she doesn’t know his real name, calling him “Doricles”.

Something to think about: If Leontes really repented for his suspicions after the death of Mamillius, why on earth does Hermione spend all that time hiding in Paulina’s house?

Watch for the words “Exit, pursued by a bear”, easily Shakespeare’s most memorable stage direction!

Special vocabulary:

• barne – child
• barricado – fort
• blench – deviate
• bug – bugbear, meaning one’s greatest personal fear
• callat – scold
• cap-a-pe – from head to foot
• caparison – clothing
• changeling – it was believed that fairies sometimes kidnap a human child, substituting one of their own
• clog – impediment. As used here, a rude reference to a wife.
• compters – counters used for calculation
• corse – corpse
• die and drab – gambling and women
• doxy – beggar’s wench
• farthel (fardel) – bundle, package
• flap-dragon – a drink of a raisin floating on burning brandy, to be swallowed quickly
• gainsaying – denial
• gillyvors – pink flowers
• glib – castrate
• heckfer – heifer (calf)
• hobby-horse – slut
• jar (of the clock) – ticking
• lozel – scoundrel
• lunes – fits of lunacy
• moi’ty – moiety, meaning half or share
• neb – mouth
• o’erween – be conceited enough
• of force – necessarily
• Partlet – nickname for chicken
• posterns – back gates
• pruins – prunes
• ‘Shrew – short for “beshrew”, meaning curse
• springe – trap
• troll-my-dames – a game similar to billiards
• turtle – turtledove
• vild – vile
• welkin – sky. In this case, meaning blue eyes.
• Whitsun pastoral – May festival, famous for licentious behavior

Classical allusions:

• Autolycus – He was named after the thieving grandfather of Odysseus, himself a legendary cheat and liar.
• Delphos – the oracle at Delphi
• Dis – Pluto, the god of the dead, who kidnapped Proserpina
• Flora – goddess of flowers
• Jove/Jupiter – god who transformed into a bull to woo the mortal woman Europa
• Mercury – Roman god of, among other things, thieves
• Neptune – god of the sea, who changed into a ram to woo Theopane
• Proserpina – daughter of Ceres, goddess of the harvest
• tremor cordis – fluttering of the heart (Latin)
• yellow – symbolic of jealousy

Synopsis:

ACT I
scene 1
A lord of Sicilia talks with one from Bohemia about the great friendship and hospitality between King Leontes of Sicilia and King Polixenes of Bohemia.
scene 2
After nine months visiting his boyhood friend Leontes, Polixenes announces that he must return to his own kingdom. He firmly puts off any attempts by Leontes to stay longer, but after the pregnant Queen Hermione asks him, he agrees to stay longer. Instead of being pleased, Leontes suddenly flies into a jealous rage, convinced that the two of them are having an affair behind his back. He even goes as far as suspect that Prince Mamillius is not really his son, and neither is the child Hermione carries now.
Leontes tries to convince his courtier Camillo that the Queen is unfaithful, and orders him to poison Polixenes. Instead Camillo warns Polixenes of the unexplained jealousy of Leontes, and they flee Sicilia together.

ACT II
scene 1
Leontes, hearing that Camillo escaped with Polixenes, confronts Hermione with his accusation of adultery, and sends her off to prison. Antigonus does his best to convince him the charge is false.
scene 2
Paulina visits the jail to check on the Queen, and learns that she has given birth to a daughter.
scene 3
Paulina confronts Leontes with the child, despite the intervention of her husband, Antigonus. Leontes orders Antigonus to take the baby to another country and abandon her to her fate. Emissaries to the Delphic oracle return, so the King orders Hermione’s trial to begin immediately.

ACT III
scene 1
The two emissaries discuss the importance of their message for the Queen.
scene 2
At the trial of Hermione, the oracle pronounces her innocent, and threatens the king to have no heir, unless “that which is lost” is found again. Yet the King stubbornly persists with the trial, insisting that the oracle is false. Suddenly word arrives that young Prince Mamillius is dead, and Hermione is removed from court in a dead faint. Leontes instantly repents for all his jealous actions, and Paulina announces that Hermione has died of shock.
scene 3
Antigonus arrives by boat in “the deserts of Bohemia”. He reluctantly leaves the baby, whom he names Perdita, just before being fatally mauled by a bear. A wealthy Shepherd and Clown, his foolish son, discover her, and take her in.

ACT IV
scene 1
A character named Time apologizes to the audience for advancing forward sixteen years, and explains that Polixenes now has a strapping son named Florizel.
scene 2
Camillo, still serving Polixenes in Bohemia, longs to go home to Sicilia before he dies. First, Polixenes asks him to spy on Florizel, who has been spending a lot of time with a Shepherd’s daughter.
scene 3
The career criminal Autolycus takes a break from stealing sheets from laundry lines to pick the pocket of Clown, and also takes note of an upcoming sheep-shearing party, when he will have another opportunity to cheat Clown and his friends.
scene 4
(One of the longest scenes in all of Shakespeare!)
Florizel, pretending not to be the Prince, woos Perdita, who is dressed as a queen for the party. Polixenes and Camillo, also in disguise, size up Perdita and Florizel.
Autolycus arrives as a peddlar, to sell trinkets and ribbon to the vain ladies. He is also disguised in a fake beard, so Clown can’t recognize him.
Florizel asks the Shepherd for Perdita’s hand in marriage. Polixenes, still in disguise, asks Florizel to get his father’s permission first, but Florizel refuses.
Then Polixenes takes off his disguise, calls off the wedding, denounces the Shepherd and Perdita, and orders Florizel to follow him to the palace. Instead, Florizel plots with Camillo to leave Bohemia, so he can be with Perdita, and Camillo can fulfill his dream to return to Sicilia. First they bring Autolycus into the scheme, and get him to change clothes with Florizel.
Now wearing the prince’s clothes, Autolycus tries to stall the Shepherd from running to the King to tip him off to the plot, and cheats him out of gold in the process.

ACT V
scene 1
Leontes, still grieving over his losses from his earlier mistakes, welcomes Florizel to his court. Florizel attempts to pass Perdita off as his wife, and the daughter of a Libyan lord. Somehow, Polixenes arrives in Sicilia almost the same time, foiling the scheme.
scene 2
Several gentlemen relate how Perdita is revealed to be the daughter of Leontes, how the two kings are reconciled in friendship, and how Paulina has a very lifelike statue of Hermione.
scene 3
The “statue” of Hermione turns out to be the queen herself, kept hidden all this time in Paulina’s house.