The Winter's Tale Character Analysis

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In order to grow and learn as a person, one must be a dynamic person and not static. A character is dynamic when a person undergoes an important inner transformation in their personality and/or attitude. A static character is the opposite of dynamic; static characters are defined in such a way that the character does not portray any changes from the beginning of the story to the end of the story. In Shakespeare’s play, The Winter’s Tale, there are a couple of characters that are dynamic, but there are also characters that are static. First of all, dynamic characters are those who either learn a lesson from something that happened to them or are otherwise altered by what they have faced and experienced. These types of characters provide …show more content…

Leontes starts from talking to Hermione in blank verses that are calm by stating “Why, that was when/ Three crabbed months had soured themselves to death /Ere I could make thee open thy white hand/ And Clap thyself my love” (1.2.102-105) to saying “...paddling palms and pinching fingers, / As now they are, and making practiced smiles…” (1.2.116-117). This shows how Leontes goes from a calm tone to harsher tones by using plosive language that helps to display the anger he has when he is describing what just happened between Hermione and Polixenes. As Leontes’s jealousy grows, so does his rage towards others. This leads Leontes to feel as if no one else can see the real truth of what has just happened between his wife and best friend. Also, the reason to his change of language could also be due to the fact that Leontes is becoming scared of Hermione because he sees how Hermione can be powerful enough to convince the King of Bohemia to stay, whereas he could not. Leontes then uses his kingly power and a mix of strong language to threaten others and believes that he has to talk in a certain way and keep changing in order to make other people around him feel that he is in power and that they are …show more content…

Even though she is the daughter of the Emperor of Russia, she never does dishonor Leontes during his time of jealousy. At the beginning of the play, Hermione is seen as this devoted wife who loves her king very dearly and even utters to Leontes, “I am yours forever” (1.2.106). At the end of the play, her loves towards Leontes is still the same and stands true. Hermione may seem that she is a weak and submissive character during her first appearance in act 1, scene 2 and may not seem that she is a static character. This reason is due to the fact that, throughout the play, it looks that Hermione was submissive and as the play starts to unfold she turns into this strong woman. However, it may look that way, but deep down Hermione was always strong. It was because she valued her king so much that she did not really over step her line, which would give off the feeling that she is a submissive character at the very beginning. To prove that she was always strong and powerful from the start, there 's a part of the play when Polixenes, Leontes’s childhood friend, was about to leave their kingdom of Sicilia and Leontes was not able to convince Polixenes to stay a while longer. When he could not convince him to stay, he asks Hermione to convince him. Hermione tells Polixenes, “What lady she her lord. You’ll stay?” (1.2.45) but that does

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