Tag Archives: Time

The Winter’s Tale is the only play we’ve read (and perhaps the only play Shakespeare has written?) that takes up a period of 16 years. The importance of time in the play is obvious and I think multiple factors contributed to why Shakespeare decided to implement the usage of a time skip after act III. Below are just some of my thoughts as to why Shakespeare used the time skip as well as scenes/lines in the play that highlighted the significance of time.

1. Polixenes could’ve been staying at Leontes’s kingdom for 9 days, 9 weeks, 9 years but Shakespeare intentionally uses 9 months, “nine changes of the watery star” (1.2.1), to show the possibility that Hermione’s pregnancy is somehow caused by him (although it’s not). In this case, time plays a negative role in arousing Leontes’s suspicions about Polixenes and Hermione’s relationship.

2. By the time The Winter’s Tale was released, Shakespeare had already a done so many different plays. Perhaps he knew he was near the end of his career and reflected on what he had accomplished up till now. He might have realized the importance of time and how fleeting it was (the time between The Comedy of Errors, his first written play, and The Winter’s Tale is roughly around 16 years). Maybe at this point, Shakespeare also wanted to try something he had not done before in his previous plays and therefore went with a time skip.

3. The mass production of the watch: I remember Professor Berggren mentioned in class that more and more people at this time were getting watches. At first you had to be very wealthy and privileged to get your hands on one but by the early 1600s, it was more widespread than ever before. The idea of time ticking away must have played a role into why Shakespeare thought of speeding time up in The Winter’s Tale.

Why do you think Shakespeare used a time skip? Were there any other interesting moments in the play that stuck out to you in regards to time?