Winters Tale: Acts 4/5
Comments(3) I find it very interesting, how Shakespeare leaves the final scene in a “Winters Tale”. Instead of making it known whether Hermione was resurrected or if she had been faking her death for all these years, he leaves it up to the audience for interpretation. I feel as though Hermione faked her death with the help of Paulina because she knew she had been wrongfully accused of adultery and refused to let the king win. We discussed in class how Hermione was a strong woman, and at times even showed some pretty bad ass characteristics such as when she threatened Leontes at the end of the first act. The fact that she was a strong, proud woman as well as the fact that no one actually saw her die except Paulina (death happened off stage), gives the audience enough hints to put together a theory that she’s been hiding under the radar for years now. Another aspect that leads me to believe Hermione never really died is when Paulina had King Leontes promise to never marry again, maybe believing one day the two of them could reform their union after Leontes had grieved enough to their liking. It is pretty cool the way the play comes to an end in that it started with two Kings and two kingdoms whom clearly had some competition with one another, both had concerns of who their heirs would be, Leontes had insecurity issues which ruined a friendship, and a marriage (all of these events taking place in “winter”). As the play comes to an end we have the “resurrection of the Queen before her King, who knows he has done wrong and wants to make amends for his mistakes, we have Polixenes and Leontes coming together as friends once again, and the realization that Perdita is in fact Leonte’s and Hermione’s daughter who now can marry the love of her life, Florizel. Now both kingdoms have the heirs they always wanted, the same heirs at that, and the King is reunited with his Queen. What began with death, and drama in the winter season ends with rebirth, amends, and re- alliances in the spring time.
I like that you bring up how both kingdoms have the same heir(s?) We didn’t really discuss this in class, but isn’t that really weird? Act I opens up with the theme of competition and one-upping each other between best friends and kingdoms, so we can only imagine the political complexity that might ensue after the end of this play. If Polixenes and Leontes die, will both kingdoms be united under one king and one queen? And is the heir in the oracle Florizel or Perdita? The ideal answer is that Florizel rules Bohemia while Perdita rules Sicily – assuming Queen Elizabeth has set some kind of precedent allowing this to happen – and they have two children to split the kingdoms up again. But the inferiority complexes and egos clashing and power struggle might result in a situation like Act I of Titus Andronicus. In any case, this is another reason the ending of The Winter’s Tale leaves me so unsatisfied…
I also find the ambiguous “death” of Hermoine very intriguing. The stage direction only states “Hermoine faints” (3.2.144); the visual impact coupled with Paulina’s claims that “the news is mortal to the queen” and “…she’s dead; I’ll swear it” would lead the audience to believe Hermoine is really so. Therefore it may, like you said, be an act (or a second blow to Leontes) planned by both of the women. I think this possibly “fake” death also shows Leontes (and us as the audience) that sensory information and words by sway belief, but eventually the truth will overcome both.
The most interesting part of the Winter’s Tale is how it has its characters interpret events in whatever way they choose to. The misconceptions of Leontes in the beginning are choices he made as to how he would read an otherwise benign situation. Likewise, in the end, he chooses to ignore the obvious deception of his wife and live in a reality where she truly was a statue brought to life. I think he knows, like all of us do, that this is a lie, but he chooses to be amazed and simply live the delusion rather than in reality. It’s easier that way. The rest of the story is rather bizarre, and still difficult to get a hold on. It’s quite strange that the girl turns out to be his daughter, or that Polixenes is so cruel initially. The blend of tragedy and comedy is at least refreshing, much like how it was in Measure for Measure.