Talk:The Winter's Tale

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also considered a "problem play" by many. By many what? By many Freshmen? By many Jesuits? By many bulgarians? --Wetman 09:02, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

By many dry individuals.--Jack Upland 09:49, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 Statue 2 "exeunt pursued by a bear" 3 Bohemia's Sea Coast 4 Controversy? 5 Plot based on Polish story? 6 Different Bohemia 7 Tragicomedy? 8 Rowling connection?

[edit] Statue

"It is unclear whether Hermione has been pretending to be a statue for sixteen years, or whether she actually was turned to a statue by magic for that amount of time."

This is a revision of something I wrote:

"(A few web-based commentaries on the play have interpreted the final scene as meaning that Hermione had actually been transformed into a statue and then come to life again, but this seems unlikely to have been Shakespeare's intention.)"

To my mind the revised text badly misinterprets the plot. Hermione's "statue" comes to life on the day of its unveiling - it has not been on display for 16 years. This suggests to me that whatever she's been doing for the past 16 years, she hasn't been a statue, either real or pretend, for all that time, however much I'd like to believe it. Lee M 01:01, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I agree. A careful reading shows:

• The "statue" is described as having aged i.e. it cannot be seen as Hermione resurrected as she was.
• There are several other indications in the text that the "statue" is a living person (warmth, movement) - Paulina is anxious that this not be discovered before she intends.
• The play doesn't show Hermione dying and we only have Paulina's word for it. After all Hermione is facing the death penalty, so she has reason to lie low.
• While a 16-year disappearance might seem unlikely, we are also meant to suppose that the two kings never contacted each other in this time etc. It's a plot device to allow Perdita to attain marriageable age. (Shakespeare isn't the most realistic plotter!)

--Jack Upland 09:49, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "exeunt pursued by a bear"

a sad lack. :) Morwen - Talk

And, interestingly, a very important part of the play. To me, anyway. I just saw Winter's Tale at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and they decided on a different effect (roars of a bear, Antigonus covering the baby to protect it, lights go dark) and, while it created a different mood and meaning in ways, it just made me sad not to see the most famous stage direction ever. -- Masterzora 06:09, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Yes. However I've never seen a stage production where the guy is, in any meaningful sense, actually exiting pursued by a bear. Some productions, or so I'm told, employ an animatronic bear, or a man in a bear suit or whatever (at the risk of unintentional comedy) but surely most productions have to resort to a theatrical convention of some sort, as they did in Oregon. Interestingly there's a lot of speculation among the learned writers that Shakespeare's company probably used a real bear - which would have been perfectly possible since there was a good deal of bear-bating going on in Southwark at that time. AndyJones 08:54, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Don't forget intentional comedy: I've seen more than one slapstick bear chase. Some writers think the bear is intended as a burst of comedy to mark the transition from the tragic first half of the play to the comic second half. The Singing Badger 13:32, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

That's the stance I take, too: that it was intentionally meant to be a comic transition, if only because the idea of a man being chased off stage by a bear seems to be inherently funny from talking to various persons. The more dramatic variation OSF used certainly drew Antigonus as a more important character, but I personally think that it served better as an ending to the Sicilia half rather than as a transition into the Bohemia half. -- Masterzora 01:10, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

Oh, further, something I briefly forgot, it makes the Clown's words awkward. He refers to have seen Antigonus a bit away from the baby being eaten, while the OSF made strong implications that Antigonus was eaten right there by Perdita. -- Masterzora 01:14, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

Did she enjoy him? ;-) AndyJones 21:44, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

*cough* And now I remember why I'm supposed to proofread before hitting the almighty save button. -- Masterzora 22:32, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

But don't forget, Shakepeare did not actually write the stage directions. They were added in later.195.195.218.181 16:44, 7 December 2006 (UTC)larsonj

[edit] Bohemia's Sea Coast

Oh, come on! A deliberate mistake! And I suppose the clock striking in Julius Caesar was deliberate too! Let's face it: Shakespeare didn't know and didn't care!--Jack Upland 09:52, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Controversy?

"The question of whether Hermione is genuinely brought back to life by magical means or whether the "resurrection" is some kind of trick is left unanswered in the text. She says to Perdita, "thou shalt hear that I, / Knowing by Paulina that the oracle / Gave hope thou wast in being, have preserved / Myself to see the issue.""

Under the heading of controversy. How is this a controversy any more than the ending of "The Lady or the Tiger?"? Especially considering that it was intentionally left ambiguous. Move to remove from the Controversies section. -- Masterzora 05:46, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

I changed the header instead, to the less provocative 'Debates' The Singing Badger 13:38, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Plot based on Polish story?

On the page about Henry of Masovia, the duke and bishop of one of Polish regions in Middleages there is a part telling that Part of his story was used by William Shakespeare in his piece, the The Winter's Tale, on the Polish site it's confirmed saying that W.S. just moved the plot to Sicilia and made the persons to be Czech. It would explain the mistake like Bohemia's Sea Coast as Poland has obviously a coast line. Anybody could dig in more for it? Merewyn 19:43, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

No, Shakespeare's play is based on Robert Greene's story Pandosto. But maybe Greene's story is based on Henry of Masovia? The Singing Badger 21:55, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Different Bohemia

According to the post [1] "Bohemia" was also "rarely used ancient name for Italian Calabria (the heel of the Italian boot)" (after one of Bohemunds who ruled there).

Googling finds several places where the name is used [2] (in text about Waldensians), [3] (geogology). The topic is also discussed in detail in "Bohemia in Early English Literature", a paper from 1943 [4].

This location would be better explanation than the landlocked province in the center of Europe. Pavel Vozenilek 17:17, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Intriguing! I have inserted it into the text with citations. The Singing Badger 21:32, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tragicomedy?

Shakespeare wrote three types of play: comedies, tragedies, and histories. In the contemporary collections I've seen, "romances" is the fourth category in which The Winter's Tale is included. I realize the definition is similar, but "tragicomedy" seems like a pejorative term--a meaningless mix of words. I think it should be named as a comedy, just as represented in the complete works table. IrisWings 07:07, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

Definitely. We could impose any number of subjective modern classifications on the play if we chose to. It's a comedy in the folio and that's how we must describe it. I've made the change. AndyJones 09:01, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rowling connection?

Was Rowling's Hermione character really given that name BECAUSE OF this Hermione, or do they just share the same name and this Hermione is an earlier well-known literary character?

• According to the article on Hermione Granger, J.K. Rowling says it was. It would definitely be nice to see an external reference for this, though. IrisWings 06:35, 9 November 2006 (UTC)