In a number of the plays we’ve read this semester, we’ve seen Shakespearean characters take part in scene staging. One of the earliest examples of this was in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Bottom and the craftsmen piecing together a performance for Theseus and Hippolyta. Other cases of scene staging, however, have not been so explicit. For instance, in Measure for Measure, when Lucio coaches Isabella during her first meeting with Angelo, he acts much like a stage director would: providing guidance to his “performers.”The Winter’s Tale is no exception to this pattern of scene staging. In the play’s closing scene, we can see some of the previous strands of scene staging arise–especially with regards to Paulina. Orchestrating Hermione and Leontes’ reunion, Paulina takes on the role of  director in the final scene of The Winter’s Tale.

Paulina’s direction begins before she unveils Hermione’s statue, when she warns Leontes to prepare himself “to see the life as lively mocked” (5.3.19). Much like Lucio kept prodding Isabella to make her pleas more passionate, Paulina’s warning serves to build up Leontes’ expectations about the statue–to make his reaction more passionate. This is the same reason for her comment immediately after unveiling the statue: “I like your silence; it the more shows off/ Your wonder; but yet speak, first you, my liege,/ Comes it not something near” (5.3.21-23). Here, Paulina is baiting Leontes’ passion, asking him to give into his admiration  and voice his love for the statue (i.e., Hermione).

The claim that wins Paulina over and causes her to lead to the next “phase” of the scene is his declaration that “no settled senses of the world [could] match/the pleasure of that madness” (5.3.72-73)–that is to say, the pleasure of seeing Hermione “alive” once more. Hearing this, Paulina assures Leontes that she could make the statue move, but only if Leontes “[awakens] his faith” (5.3.95). In both instances, Paulina is acting like a director trying to get a resounding performance from her actors; Paulina is coaching Leontes to become impassioned in order to make the culmination into the final, dramatic moment (Hermione coming to life) a sight to behold.

There is one piece of evidence that not only highlights Paulina’s role of director, but also suggests that she is aware that she is acting like one. After Hermione descends from the statue’s pedestal, Paulina declares that Hermione’s actions “shall be as holy as..[her] spell is lawful (5.3.104-105). Here, Paulina’s comparison of her ability to animate a statue to a spell suggests that she is aware of the power that she holds over this moment. This is further demonstrated by her use of the imperative and interrogative moods towards the end of that same dialogue: “Nay, present your hand./When she was young, you wooed her; now, in age/ Is she become the suitor” (5.3.107-109). Watching Leontes being stunned by the sight of Hermione, Paulina directs him to present himself to her and take her hand like a proper husband. By directing Leontes’ reaction before and after Hermione makes her reappearance in the play, Paulina is exerting a director-like control in the final scene of The Winter’s Tale.