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The winter’s tale.

Aldo Billingslea (Polixenes) and Katie deBuys (Hermione) in  The Winter’s Tale, Folger Theatre, 2018. Photo: Teresa Wood Photography.

Introduction to the play

The Winter’s Tale , one of Shakespeare’s very late plays, is filled with improbabilities. Before the conclusion, one character comments that what we are about to see, “ Were it but told you, should be hooted at / Like an old tale .”

It includes murderous passions, man-eating bears, princes and princesses in disguise, death by drowning and by grief, oracles, betrayal, and unexpected joy. Yet the play, which draws much of its power from Greek myth, is grounded in the everyday.

A “winter’s tale” is one told or read on a long winter’s night. Paradoxically, this winter’s tale is ideally seen rather than read—though the imagination can transform words into vivid action. Its shift from tragedy to comedy, disguises, and startling exits and transformations seem addressed to theater audiences.

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A sad tale’s best for winter. I have one Of sprites and goblins.

… My father named me Autolycus, who, being, as I am, littered under Mercury, was likewise a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles.

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Essays and resources from The Folger Shakespeare

The winter’s tale.

Learn more about the play, its language, and its history from the experts behind our edition.

About Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale An introduction to the plot, themes, and characters in the play

Reading Shakespeare’s Language A guide for understanding Shakespeare’s words, sentences, and wordplay

An Introduction to This Text A description of the publishing history of the play and our editors’ approach to this edition

Textual Notes A record of the variants in the early printings of this text

A Modern Perspective An essay by Stephen Orgel

Further Reading Suggestions from our experts on where to learn more

Shakespeare and his world

Learn more about Shakespeare, his theater, and his plays from the experts behind our editions.

Shakespeare’s Life An essay about Shakespeare and the time in which he lived

Shakespeare’s Theater An essay about what theaters were like during Shakespeare’s career

The Publication of Shakespeare’s Plays An essay about how Shakespeare’s plays were published

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Early printed texts

The Winter’s Tale was printed for the first time in the 1623 First Folio (F1), and that text is the basis for all subsequent editions of the play.

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The Winter's Tale

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Discussion Questions

Evidence points to two theories regarding Hermione’s resurrection: She was either brought back to life by magic or hid from the public for 16 years. How does the ambiguous nature of Hermione’s resurrection relate to Leontes’s penance? What is William Shakespeare implying by including this ambiguous ending?

The Winter’s Tale features strong female characters who are unafraid to speak up, even in the presence of kings. Who are these characters and what are their roles? How does sexism shape the plot?

Antigonus sees Hermione in a dream, in which she tells him to name her child “Perdita,” a name that means “lost.” What is the significance of this name?

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The Winter's Tale Essays

Introduction The Winters Tale, written by William Shakespeare discusses aspects of life in England during his time, with certain fantastic elements added to the tale which gives the play the strength and the capacity to teach lessons to the masses and be characteristically important as a tale. The...

....... It is time for Polixenes, King of Bohemia, to end his visit with his boyhood friend Leontes, King of Sicily. While the two kings prepare to bid farewell in a state room of the Sicilian palace, a Bohemian lord named Archidamus and a Sicilian lord named Camillo are in an antechamber...

2 491 words

The central conflict in The Winter's Tale is the violation of Nature on the part of the patriarch of the old generation, Leontes. I believe that in “The Winter’s Tale” the nature of each character and their fateNature in The Winter's Tale is best understood as the ordered character of the universe...

1 021 words

In the play The Winter’s Tale, the significance of the title The Winter’s Tale is that it highlights foreshadowing and slight irony by giving the character with the least lines, Maxmillius, one of the most important lines: “A sad tale’s best for winter. I have one of sprites and goblins”...

1 307 words

?COLLEGE READING AND STUDY A TROPICAL WINTER’S TALE: LITERAL COMPREHENSION ;WHO (CHARACTERS IN THE STORY): Li HuaParents of Li Hua Bei XiongAh Beng Claritathe Doctor AnnaRelatives of Anna ;WHAT (TOPIC OF THE STORY): It narrated the life of Li Hua in relation to Bei Xiong. ;WHERE (SETTING OF THE...

Introduction to Shakespeare Final Paper Assignment Defiance in The Winters Tale From Shakespeare’s work The Winters Tale, the audience is given a vivid representation of gender politics. Like most of Shakespeare’s plays, the character development of the women is particularly profound, specifically...

1 405 words

“A sad tale's best for winter: I have one of sprites and goblins.” — Page 80 — “Exit, pursued by a bear.” — — “I do feel it gone, But know not how it went” — — “Though I am not naturally honest, I am sometimes so by chance.” — Page 87 — “What a fool honesty is.” — — “I have drunk and seen the...

"Winter fairy tale" - this is the first philosophical play about evil, which is hidden in the human soul and destroys your happiness, and the happiness of those whom you love. It has plenty of incredible, fabulous events, which are quite difficult to correlate with reality. Like many works of...

1 963 words

The Winter's Tale William Shakespeare

The Winter's Tale literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Winter's Tale.

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The Winter’s Tale Essays

Transgenerational redemption in the winter's tale anonymous, the winter's tale.

Shakespearean romances are characterized by conclusions in which all conflicts are happily resolved. It is easy to see these resolutions as humorous but unlikely contrivances which the author invents to neatly tie together loose ends. There is...

'Tis Time John Nam

Leon. No foot shall stir.

Paul. Music, awake her; strike! [Music]

Tis time; descend; be stone no more; approach;

Strike all that look upon with marvel. Come!

I'll fill your grave up: stir, nay, come away:

Bequeath to death your numbness; for from him

The Circle of Life: Art vs. Nature in Achieving Natural Order in the Winter's Tale Anonymous

The debate between Perdita and Polixenes about the merits of beautiful, but unnaturally crossbred flowers condenses Shakespeare's discussion on man-made art and God-made nature (represented by physical, ecological Nature as well as the characters'...

A Meeting of the Petty Gods Anonymous

Act IV, Scene IV, of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale marks a shift away from the Sicilian, courtly world that dominates the previous three acts and much of Act IV. The chaos and disorder resulting from court happenings, Hermione's apparent...

Leontes' Jealousy in The Winter's Tale Anonymous

The opening act of The Winter's Tale is atypical among Shakespeare's late romances. Cymbeline, The Tempest, Pericles, King Lear, and Othello all open by unfolding the plays' major, and most dramatic, crises. The Winter's Tale, however, offers the...

Trial by Ire: Hermione’s Inquisition Aaron Hintz

The trial of Hermione (Act III, Scene 2), Queen of Sicily is the pivotal moment in William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. It effectively closes the tragic chapter of the play, making way for the short comedy that follows. It sets up the...

Marginal Female Roles and the Development of Plot in "The Winter's Tale" and "Gawain and the Green Knight" William Day-Brosnan

In Shakespeare’s <i>Winter’s Tale</i>, the “death” of Hermione catalyzes the narrative development. Quantitatively, she plays little role beyond the first three acts, but the play revolves and eventually unites around her. It is,...

Structure and Absurdity in The Winter's Tale Ethan J Smith 12th Grade

It is easy to accuse Shakespeare of absurdity and shapelessness in The Winter’s Tale, because, as a play, it shifts between genres (tragedy and comedy) and certain events are beyond reality. However, The Winter’s Tale is a work of art, and a...

An End and a Means to an End in Titus Andronicus and The Winter's Tale Jennifer Wei College

Two similarly flawed notions of love are presented in Shakespeare’s plays Titus Andronicus (TA) and The Winter’s Tale (TWT). Both are rooted in differing degrees of misogyny, yet diverge significantly in their overarching objective. The model of...

Camillo’s Influence in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale Alexis Paige Lyda College

In The Winter’s Tale , Shakespeare carries his characters from a court setting in Sicilia to a rural area in Bohemia, and then reconciles the plot in the original court. This play incorporates a pastoral theme by showing the role of providence...

Florizel and Perdita's Relationship: Analyzing Act IV, Scene IV Jessica Amy Rose 11th Grade

Florizel and Perdita are depicted in The Winter’s Tale as the epitome of young love. Whilst the majority of the play is surrounded by heartache, pessimism and paranoia, Florizel and Perdita’s relationship serves as a reminder of hope and happiness...

The Winter’s Tale and Cardenio: Evaluating and Attributing Shakespeare's "Lost" Play Anonymous College

When a transcript of Cardenio emerged and was soon labeled one of Shakespeare’s “lost plays,” several critics and scholars nodded their heads in a unified disagreement while others became instantly interested in analyzing its contents. Throughout...

Mythology In Shakespeare Benjamin McEvou College

Many of Shakespeare’s plays contain the structural and symbolic elements of mythology. The inheritance of mythological conventions, which shall be explored in this essay, create an effect that is ritualistic and leads to Nietzsche’s observation of...

The Significance of Time and Place: Comparing 'The Tempest' and 'The Winter's Tale' Anonymous College

The utilisation of time and place is of great consequence in the late plays, The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale . In the former, Shakespeare creates unity of both time and place in order to explore his central concerns, whereas the latter is...

The Relationships Between Fathers and Daughters in 'Titus Andronicus' and 'The Winter's Tale' Anonymous College

Explore the relationship between fathers and sons, or fathers and daughters, in two of the plays we have studied. Freud hypothesized that, “The earliest affection of the girl-child is lavished on the father”[1] Shakespeare seems to explore the...

Different Forms, Meanings, and Roles of 'Faith' in The Winter's Tale Omar Ibrahim College

In The Winter’s Tale , by William Shakespeare, the concept of ‘faith’, both in a religious and social sense, plays a pivotal role in the interactions between major figures in the play, and which underpins and re-affirms the consistent theme of...

Exit, Pursued by Bear: The Implications of an Infamous Stage Direction Andrew Cowan College

In 1611, William Shakespeare, tired of convention and determined to write a play that was both new and bold, wrote A Winter’s Tale . Today the show is most famous not for its dialogue or story, but for a single stage direction in Act III Scene iii...

Paulina's Feministic Role in in The Winter's Tale Anonymous 12th Grade

Paulina’s participation in The Winter’s Tale offers a strong sense of feminism to the play, as her outstanding character stands out to men with high power like Leontes and she is the only character in the play that is not afraid to stand up for...

The Tragic Comedy of The Winter’s Tale Christa Ryan College

William Shakespeare’s vast collection of plays can generally be categorized by genre: his plays such as Romeo and Juliet , Macbeth and Hamlet are considered tragedies, while Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are considered comedies. One...

A Challenge to Divine Right: The Kingship of Leontes in Act 2 Scene 3 of 'The Winter's Tale' Leia Azizuddin College

In the time period of Jacobean England, the King’s words and opinions were treated as gospel. The people’s steadfast belief in the Divine Right of Kings, where the King was said to be chosen directly from God, and therefore the King’s word was God...

So Long to Sicilia: Shakespeare's Presentation of Bohemia and Its Values in Act 4 Leia Azizuddin College

Although Sicilia is introduced in the first scene of the play as a country of opulence and wealth, Bohemia’s full-fledged appearance in Act 4 Scene 4 of the play easily enchants and fascinates the audience more. Unlike Sicilia, Bohemia is full of...

The Metaphorical Bloodshed of Shakespeare: Examining Love's Labour Lost and The Winter's Tale Anonymous College

We live in a violent world. One only needs to watch the nightly news to find this to be the truth. Theft. Murder. Rape. Fires. Car crashes. Natural disasters. All of these forces bring violence into our lives, and it should come as no surprise...

Persuasion in The Winter’s Tale and Cymbeline Sara Manlowe College

Both Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and Cymbeline are about persuasion in one form or another. Key features of the plot hinge on the characters’ varying level of success in convincing others to do or believe something. If Paulina had persuaded...

Your Floral Highness: Debating Theatrical Art in The Winter's Tale Samuel Wilcox College

Inaugurated as the queen of the mid-summer festival, Perdita stands on stage, in Act 4, Scene 4 of The Winter’s Tale, dressed in royal garments and draped in flowers. It is a moment of visual splendor, with the floral arrangements of Perdita’s...

• The Winter's Tale

William Shakespeare

• Literature Notes
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• Play Summary
• About The Winter's Tale
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Act I: Scene 1
• Act I: Scene 2
• Act II: Scene 1
• Act II: Scene 2
• Act II: Scene 3
• Act III: Scene 1
• Act III: Scene 2
• Act III: Scene 3
• Act IV: Scene 1
• Act IV: Scene 2
• Act IV: Scene 3
• Act IV: Scene 4
• Act V: Scene 1
• Act V: Scene 2
• Act V: Scene 3
• William Shakespeare Biography
• Cite this Literature Note

Study Help Essay Questions

1. Romantic conventions appear in many sections of The Winter's Tale . Name three influences on events at the sheep-shearing feast. Identify Romantic conventions in relation to some settings in this play. Comment on any which might have damaged the ending of this play.

2. Is Leontes the same loving husband and friend at the end of this play as he was at the beginning? If not, why not?

3. How does Shakespeare use characterization to threaten, then save, the infant Perdita? Use quotations if they help.

4. Describe how Shakespeare sets up and resolves the basic problem in this play.

5. Identify at least three parallels between the main plot and the subplot in The Winter's Tale . Is the effect an enhancement or a redundancy?

6. How does Autolycus gather passengers into the boat which is sailing from Bohemia?

7. Identify the major conflict in The Winter's Tale . How is the conflict resolved?

8. How probable are the events in Act V?

9. Paulina has often been described as a character whose actions grow from motivation. What is her motivation? Is she likable?

10. Is it unrealistic to portray a man, like Leontes, who kills indiscriminately because of unjustifiable jealousy?

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — The Winter’s Tale — The Role of Female Characters in The Winter’s Tale

The Role of Female Characters in The Winter’s Tale

• Categories: Character The Winter’s Tale

About this sample

Words: 1058 |

Pages: 2.5 |

Published: Jun 29, 2018

Words: 1058 | Pages: 2.5 | 6 min read

Works Consulted

• O’Donoghue, Bernard. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , United Kingdom: Penguin Books, 2006. Print.
• Shakespeare, William. The Winter’s Tale . Fourth ed. The Arden Shakespeare, 1963. Print.
• Stone, Brian. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight . Penguin Classics, 1975. Print.
• Yeats, William B. The Collected Poems of Yeats . Penguin Books, 1991. Print.

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The Winter's Tale

William shakespeare, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Loyalty, Fidelity, and Honesty

Issues of loyalty, fidelity, and honesty are crucial to the play’s main plot points. Camillo’s exile from and return to Sicilia, for example, are based on his presumed disloyalty and actual loyalty to his king Leontes . And Hermione’s perceived lack of marital fidelity is what causes Leontes to order for her death. There is a variety of different kinds of loyalty in the play, all doubted at various points: fidelity in marriage (as between…

Friendship and Love

The Winter’s Tale explores different kinds of relationships between family members, spouses, and friends. The play is especially interested in the strong friendship between Leontes and Polixenes . In the first scene of the play, Camillo and Archidamus speak of the kings’ close relationship, and soon after Polixenes describes the two of them as like “twinned lambs” in their youth, frolicking innocently together. Their perfect friendship is complicated, though, as they mature and take wives…

Youth, Age, and Time

Shakespeare’s play signals its interest in time rather obviously in the beginning of act four, when Father Time himself comes on-stage and introduces a (remarkable) sixteen-year jump forward in the play. Time’s inevitable movement forward affects everything in the play: thanks to the temporal jump forward in act four, we see time age Leontes , Polixenes , Paulina , and others. We also see Perdita grow from an infant to a young woman ready for…

Seriousness, Levity, and Humor

The Winter’s Tale is notorious as a so-called “problem play,” because among the plays of Shakespeare it is one of the most difficult to categorize in terms of genre. It begins like a tragedy, but then has an extended episode drawn from pastoral romance, and ends like a comedy. This mixed-up quality of the play is about more than simply categorizing Shakespeare’s play. Its genre-bending nature speaks to its unique—and at times bewildering—mixture of seriousness…

Evidence, Truth, Persuasion, and Belief

Once Leontes is convinced that his wife has cheated on him, he makes up his mind and remains stubborn. No one can persuade him otherwise, and no proof or evidence can change his firm (but false) belief in Hermione’s infidelity. As Hermione is put on trial, and Leontes sends men to get an oracle from Delphos (which he ultimately ignores), a central concern of the early part of the play is what might count as…

Justice and Natural Order

The Winter’s Tale abounds in unfair punishments and faulty attempts to enforce justice. Leontes unfairly punishes Hermione for a crime she hasn’t committed, leading not only to her death but also to the death of Mamillius and the abandonment of Perdita . And Polixenes , after discovering his son’s secret engagement to Perdita, drives him out of Bohemia and unfairly threatens to punish Perdita’s shepherd father for her relationship with his son. The play can…