The Winter's Tale
The Winter's Tale is one of jealousy, betrayal and redemption. While this story involves many characters and opens questions of the flaws in human nature and the power of forgiveness, there are two main characters of particular anomaly. The actions of Leontes and Perdita in this play are unique unto themselves. As King, Leontes' every decision weighs heavily upon the court and his country. As we have seen in several other plays by Shakespeare, when the King is in distress, Nature herself is disrupted. The cosmic connection between Leontes and Nature allows for the supernatural forces that are seen late in the play. He has the opportunity to use these forces to accomplish great things. Instead he chooses to let his own human nature interfere with the order of the Universe. Perdita, as descendent of Leontes, is also connected in a similar way. Perdita, however, does not act against Nature. She represents what was meant to be, what has been divinely decided. Even though they are father and daughter, they are complete opposites. Leontes represents our human ability to exercise free will, and Perdita represents the power of Fate over our lives.
Early in the play, Leontes shows his own fallible nature. He reveals himself to be a jealous, self-doubting tyrant. He brings about the his own demise, curses his family and dooms his own child to death. Though these characteristics are appalling, it is important to remember that Leontes chooses his own path. The actions he takes and the ghastly results they produce are of his own making. Leontes commits these acts of his own volition. Robert Grams Hunter supports these ideas in his book Shakespeare and the Comedy of Forgiveness. He compares Leontes to ...
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...e would have been no resolution. In the end, Hermione forgives his sins against her and the family. With the return of Perdita and the mercy of Hermione, Leontes is also exonerated by Nature. Hermione's act of forgiveness was necessary for his own redemption and also so that the restoration of the order of the Universe.
Bibliography
Brown, James Russell. Shakespeare and his Comedies. London: Methuen, 1962.
Hunter, Robert Grams. "The Winter's Tale." Shakespeare and the Comedy of Forgiveness. New York: Columbia University Press. 1965
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Shakespeare, William. The Three-Text Hamlet. Eds. Paul Bertram and Bernice Kliman. New York: AMS Press, 1991.
There are many topics deeply hidden in the works of William Shakespeare. One of his greatest pieces of works is the story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Not only are the words of Shakespeare meaningful, but there are also many follow up pieces of literature that contain important interpretations of the events in this play. These works about Hamlet are extremely beneficial to the reader. I have found four of these works and will use them as sources throughout this essay. The first source is “The Case of Hamlet’s Conscience,” by Catherine Belsey, and it focuses on the topic of Hamlet’s revenge in the play. The second source is “’Never Doubt I Love’: Misreading Hamlet,” by Imtiaz Habib, and it explains a lot of information about Hamlet’s “love” for Ophelia. The third source is “Shakespeare’s Hamlet, III.i.56—88,” by Horst Breuer, and it talks in depth about the issue of suicide in Hamlet. The fourth and final source is “Shakespeare’s Hamlet 1.2.35-38,” by Kathryn Walls, and it describes the significance of the role the Ghost plays throughout Hamlet. There are many different confusing parts in Hamlet and the best way to fully understand the play is to understand all of these parts. By understanding every miniscule detail in the play, it creates a different outlook on the play for the reader. In this essay, I will explain these confusing topics, as well as explain why the sources are helpful and what insight they can bring. At the end is this essay, the reader will have a complete understanding and appreciation of the play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
...his father, ruined his mother, and even tried to kill Hamlet himself, he is still not confident enough to take action. However just like Laertes, Hamlet does get his revenge in the end, but was it worth all the unwanted death?
Mack, Maynard. Everybody’s Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Shakespeare. Othello. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Ed. Rossi. New York: Longman, 1999. 312-379.
The idea of altering perception is a fundamental one in “The Winter’s Tale”, and art is seen as the way to make this alteration occur. While it is clear to the reader from the very beginning that Hermione is in fact innocent, Shakespeare introduces the reader to Leontes’s persistence to clearly show the beginnings of the conflict brewing. Despite Hermione’s clear innocence, Leontes has been written as a character so belligerent to ever see what is universally accepted as true in nature. The result is a conflict clear to the reader—a conflict of nature on its own merit, a question of truth, versus art, where perception is inherently flawed. Shakespeare creates a truly paranoid, conflicted character in Leontes, which works to make his objectivity, his desire to make truths out of falsities, even more apparent. Leontes speaks to the audience passionately upon his discovery, but his passion sounds so melodramatic, especially when we as readers a...
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed. Vol. C. Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York: Norton, 2005. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Greenblatt, Stephen. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1997.
Wadsworth, Frank W. "Shakespeare, William." World Book Online American Edition. Online Edition. Online. Netzero. 26 Mar 2002.
Clark, W. G. and Wright, W. Aldis , ed. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Vol. 1. New York: Nelson-Doubleday
Hunter, G.K. "Shakespeare and the Traditions of Tragedy." Wells, Stanley, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994.
Hamlet’s tragic flaw was shown to him in a dream by the ghost of his father. His father tells him that he was murdered by his uncle, Claudius. In this scene, the tragic flaw was transferred and manifested itself in Hamlet’s actions. His obsession with revenge and death is all he can think about. He needs to act quickly and decisively but finds himself procrastinating about what to do. In Act III, Hamlet holds the knife over the head of his uncle, Claudius, but cannot strike the fatal blow. Instead, he writes a play about the same scenario to study the reaction of Claudius as to a clue of his guilt. After he decides Claudius is guilty of murdering his father, he still relents from taking his revenge. He says, “Haste me to know ‘t, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thought of love May sweep to my revenge.