A Pagan's Perspective in The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale depicts a family torn apart as a result of the jealous actions of Leontes, the King of Sicilia. The actions and personality of Leontes can also be
observed in Greek Tragedies by Homer and Sophocles. The relationship between the members of
the royal family portray direct and subtle parallels to the Classical works before it.
Louis Martz comments on the parallels between The Winter's Tale and Greek tragedies in
his article: Shakespeare's Humanist Enterprise: The Winter's Tale. Martz draws several subtle
parallels to Greek Tragedies with references to location, religion, syntax, speech, chronological
actions of a character and the concept of the tragic hero. Comparisons are drawn to the tragedies
of Agamemnon, Oedipus Rex and Antigone. Martz places emphasis on the characters of Leontes
and Hermione, but also to more subtle characters like the Shepherd and Autolycus. The concept
of The Winter's Tale as a trilogy is also introduced by Martz. The defiance of the Oracle, the
death of Mamillius, and the miraculous rebirth of Hermione are also vital aspects of the
tragicomedy discussed by Martz.
In Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, King Leontes is introduced as a jealous ruler, acting
as a good host. His jealousy and suspicion toward his Queen Hermione and to his guest, King
Polixenes is rooted in the fact that Hermione is expecting a child. Leontes does not trust his
Queen's faithfulness and suspects that the unborn child is the son of Polixenes. Martz argues that
the jealousy in Leontes was present even before the opening of the play, but none-the-...
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trilogy, is lying at the foot of the great stature of Athene in Athens. Then the goddess herself
enters, a living presence, to redeem Orestes from his hereditary curse. Should we add this
reminiscence to the other allusions to Greek tragedy and myth that have long been felt in the
statue-scene of The Winter's Tale..."(131.)
The tragedies of Homer, Sophocles and Aeschylus draw important parallels to William
Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. Although many parallels are subtle, they can be observed
through careful examination of both the texts and historical data.
Bibliography:
Works Cited.
1) Martz, Louis L.: Shakespeare's Humanist Enterprise: The Winter's Tale.
Chelsea House Publishers, New York. 1987
2) Shakespeare, William: The Winter's Tale.
Washington Square Press, New York. 1998
“The Odyssey” is an epic written by Homer between 750 and 650 B.C. It is the tale of the main hero’s, Odysseus’s, journey home to Ithaca from Troy. It takes place after the Trojan War and is the sequel to “The Iliad.” Odysseus and his men set sail from Troy and come across the lair of the lotus eaters. After escaping, they run into the cyclops,
In many works of Literature, a character comes forth as a hero, only to die because of a character trait known as a tragic flaw; Hamlet from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Okonkwo from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Winston Smith from Orwell’s 1984 all exhibit that single trait, which leads, in one way or another, to their deaths. These three tragic heroes are both similar and different in many ways: the way they die, their tragic flaws, and what they learn. All three characters strongly exhibit the traits needed to be classified as a tragic hero.
Since then Hermione’s proven to be useful because she spends a lot of her time in the library, so she is very knowledgeable. She...
Dionysus knows that due to being a foreign god, the Greeks do not accept him and are ignorant of his rank. Instead of taking this information into consideration, Dionysus instead decides to prove his superiority by destroying Pentheus for disrespecting him. He seethes stating that the “city has to learn…making mortal man endorse the fact that [He is] a god.” (The Bacchae 397). This blatant challenge to humankind conveys Dionysus’ desire to forcefully correct those who are ignorant of his reputation as a god and force their respect through fear and violence. This is further proven when he succeeds in his plan, by driving Agave to conduct sparagmos on her own son, and becomes distraught at losing their son. Although Agave is Dionysus’ follower, he gives her no mercy as Pentheus is her son and she must be punished as well. As Cadmus begs for mercy, Dionysus refuses to listen to his pleas and insists upon punishment. He tells Cadmus [that he] shall be changed into a snake, and [his] wife, Ares’ daughter…shall take reptilian shape as well.”(The Bacchae 453). Dionysus’ wishes to prove his nobility by punishing those he is nonetheless related to and having no mercy. Dionysus knew of Pentheus’ lack of respect for him and instead of proving himself, chose to create a wicked and sadistic plan in which he could prove to Pentheus his authority. Dionysus is seen using those near
Aeschylus. “The Oresteia.” Aeschylus: The Oresteia. Tran. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books, 1979. 99-277.
A tragic hero is a protagonist with a fatal flaw which eventually leads to a character's downfall. The tragic hero is often introduced as happy, powerful and privileged, and ends up dying or suffering immensely due to their own faulty action. John Proctor’s, the protagonist in the play, flaw that lead to his “downfall” was his inability to accept his fate and his pride in which he holds in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. John Proctor had displayed the four characteristics of a tragic hero goodness, superiority, a tragic flaw, and has an eventual realization
A Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare is a chilling play full of misfortune and comedy. Throughout the play, the themes of death and suffering are present, but yet the way in which they are presented is both comical and strange. The way in which the dialogue takes place or the way in which actions occur seem to be ambiguous. One of the most pivotal points of the story takes place over a very short time span, climaxing over three pages, and declining almost immediately thereafter. In this case, the death of Hermione and Mamillius occurs and is resolved, with their burial following quickly after. The wording throughout the text can be interpreted in several ways, especially in the way which death is represented throughout the play. Death occurs quickly and there is no real indication to when it is about to take place. The characters die off stage, and as an audience we only hear of their deaths from second hand accounts. Is it thus possible to believe all that is said or heard, or is possible that the sounds and sights of the play are written as such to cause doubt? Shakespeare uses death in A Winter’s Tale as a modem for certain events to be interpreted ambiguously, ultimately leading up to the reveal at the end. The way in which death is presented is as a way for the story to proceed, and it allows for the character to mold to the situation.
Ingri and Edgar Parin D’alaure’s. Book of Greek Myths. New York: Bantam Dowbleday Dell Publishing Group, 1962.
The play, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare revolves around several themes. Specifically, incest and sexism play a major role in the play. The ideologies are first introduced through the actions of Hamlet, but they eventually transpire to other characters.
Hermione, however, also feels obliged to reassure her husband; `I love thee not a jar o' th' clock behind'. This reflects the rather tense nature of their marriage, and Leontes' behaviour during it. Hermione is the subject of Leontes' tactless behaviour later on in that scene;
Tragic heroes, who destined for a serious downfall, are the protagonist of a dramatic tragedy. A tragic hero is usually a great hero, who gets the most respect from other people; on the other hand, a tragic hero can also lose everything he gained because of his mistakes. His downfall is the result of a wrong judgment, a flaw which might combined with fated and external forces. The downfall can cause the tragic hero to suffer for the rest of his life. In many literary works, the downfall of the tragic heroes usually happen in their highest point. In the same way, Macbeth is a tragic hero in the play called “The Tragedy of Macbeth” which is written by a legendary writer, William Shakespeares. Macbeth is a great general who gained many respect from the people and even the king. In the highest point of his life, because of seeking for greater power, it created Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth, a tragic hero, causes suffering for himself and others by committing murders and creating distress, which are the negative effects of seeking for a greater power.
The concept of tragic hero is very important in the construction of tragedy. It is the main cause of pity and fear. The tragic hero is a character between the two extremes; he is neither virtuous nor evil. At the same time, this character is better than the ordinary men or audience, he has some good qualities. Moreover, as a tragic hero, he is moving from happiness to misery by his downfall at the end. In fact, this downfall is caused by an error or a flaw in his character not by a vice or depravity. Another feature in the tragic hero is that he has good reputation and he is a man of prosperity. It can be said that Oedipus is a tragic hero because he has all the previous mentioned characteristics and the whole play is a classical application of this concept.
2. The character of Teiresias should be discussed in your conclusion since he embodies the truth about the absolute finality of fate, which is exactly what the other three characters failed to see.
The Winter’s Tale and Othello, both by William Shakespeare, contain fantasies of female betrayal. In both play’s these fantasies are aggregated by something, be it Iago in Othello or Hermione’s pregnancy in The Winter’s Tale. Iago confronts Othello in act 3.3, eluding to his wife’s betrayal. Both Othello and Leontes have a seemingly sudden onset of jealousy. However, Othello’s jealousy forms later in the play than Leontes’. This is important when comparing the two because there are acts of the play showing Othello’s nature and character which do not point towards jealousy or concern for his wife’s conduct.
A tragic hero can be defined by several different factors; the hero usually has a major flaw that prevents him from seeing the truth that lies in front of him, which contributes to the character’s peripeteia due to mistaken judgement. This mistake then leads to achieving anagnorisis, usually at the end of the play, but is too late to change anything, and results in death.