The Winter’s Tale
At the end of this play, Hermione’s return to life seemed extremely suspicious. Was she really dead? Or was she really a stone statue for 16 years? Her absence from the majority of the play also ties into the idea of disguise discussed in earlier posts. Hermione’s disguise for 16 years led to Leontes’ suffering for the false accusations that he made earlier on. At the end, she is seen by Leontes as a statue, a figure of what he lost.
At the end of the play, we also come to see Paulina’s acceptance of the death of her husband, Antigonus, and she’s given to Camillo. I think it’s ironic that Paulina was so against Leontes remarrying but yet she accepted her replacement so quickly.
