rises weeping; these are flowers of middle summer, and I think they are given
to
men of middle age. Y'are very welcome" Plants are being handed over to suit
the customer, in this case Camillo. He has been given flowers that rise in
mid-summer which represents his age.
In this play, Location is tightly linked with chronology . This is the period
of time passed within the play and before it. Before the play, we hear of 9
months having been passed "Nine changes of the watery star hath been the
shepherds note since we have left our home" this is how long Polixenes have
visited Sicilia for. In our first visit to Sicilia, we spend at least
twenty-three days there during the trial of Hermione. We then turn to Bohemia
were we only spend one single day , Also it is in one single act. Maybe this
is meant to signify simplicity and youth in Bohemia. The total passage of time
between our visits of Bohemia and sicilia is sixteen years represented to us
by Father Time. All of these time sequences are separated into acts. The first
three acts are set in Sicilia they all notify us of Leontes and Polixenes'
long friendship with each other. It then spirals out of control due to
Leontes' jealousy over Polixenes, the death of Mamillius and the aparent
death of Hermione. All of these incidents are filled with horror, miserly, and
deceit. Which fits well with Sicilia(being dark and dull) . we then see act
four in Bohemia. This is the longest act in the play and possibly the longest
act in all of Shakespeare's play's. It has a lot more contented atmosphere
about it with it being in spring time and the naivety of the people creates a
sense of happiness and belonging without concern. This is were we see young
love first kindle between Florizel and Perdita. And the final act, Act 5 were
we witness the return of Hermione back in Sicilia. And now, thanks to young
love of Perdita and Florizel, the cold winter like Sicilia may have learnt
its lesson and has been influenced by
the young in the final fifth act where it seems season has changed from
winteR, back to spring again and all is well. Seasons play a big part in The
Winters Tale. The main two seasons are winter and spring. They could represent
a number of things. During the winter months the play is usually set in
Sicillia. This could represent the elderly and the middle aged like Leontes
and Paulina being dull and there life almost gone without any inspiration. It
could also represent the jealousy of the corrupted mind in Leontes thinking
dark and devilish thoughts about Hermione and Polixenes. The spring time
represents young, youthful innocence. With this we focus on Perdita
and Florizel. With there young modest love they show there everlasting love.
There love s unspoilt by jealousy and deceit and is natural. A Character
between these two seasons is a man called Autolycous. He has said to of been
a man of the court " I have served prince Florizel, and in my time wore three
pile;but now I am out of service" and now he lives in the countryside. I think
that he represents the mid-point of the year , with spring , bringing
innocence and naivety and winter bringing superstition and deceit. Autolycous
has a bit of both, leaving him to be a comedy character with no real meaning
in the play apart from this. He preys upon unsuspecting rural folk as he has
been from the courts and he realises his advantage over the rustic community.
In this play, Shakespeare sets up several confrontations between two opposites
of genres. Possibly the most obvious one in court versus country. The general
idea of a king is that he is a sensible, rational, reasonable, level-headed
and wise man. However Leontes on the other hand is the complete opposite when
he comes to the conclusion that Hermione is pregnant with Polixenes' son "
But to be paddling palms and pinching fingers as they now are, and making
practis'd smiles........that is entertainment my bosom likes not, nor my
brows!" without hardly any evidence, he is now enraged with the two totally
blowing the matter out of hand, not a type of reaction you would expect from a
king. He uses animal imagery to display his anger "how now, you wanton calf!"
and this displays his mercurial personality as just a few lines ago he was
praising Polixenies, saying how good friends they are This is not how the
audience would expect a king to react. However, in Bohemia, Shakespeare meets
the views of the audience with his over romanticised portrayal of the country
and the rustic community. They are portrayed as pure, innocence and somewhat
naive. Shakespeare uses Perdita as a good example of the country fold being
connected to nature and how they dislike artifice. “For i have heard it said
there is an art which in their piedness shares with great creating nature” in
this she is saying she shouldn't mix the two together like , artifice and
nature are not ment to go together as she explains her views on grafting. This
is quite ironic as she, Perdita represents nature and Florizel, a prince and
representing the court which coincides with artifice,are now deeply in love.
Florizel remains optimistic that their love will prevail. Unlike the Elderly
like Leontes who is still in repentance over Hermione's death , and will not
move on. The old in this play generally reside in the courts, a dark place
with gloomy , dull colours. They are filled with pessimism while the young
are full of life and optmistic towards there young love. The elderly are
committed to their traditional views, Horrified that Florizel loves a peasant
girl.
Another main confrontation in the play is the conflict of men versus women. In
the day when Shakespeare was writing this play, men were still viewed as
superior to women. That women were incapable of dealing with problems and were
irrational. However, in this play , women are seen is a strong light.Paulina
is seen almost as a political 'animal' unlike the noblemen in the court, she
is not just a 'yes' women. She stands up for what she thinks is right. Also
Hermione is extremely credible in this play. She has all the attributes of a
great king. Valiant, brave, rational thinking and level headed. She presents
herself with great elegance not loosing her calm unlike Leontes when she was
under persecution. Perdita also is a perfect juxtaposition of what the women
was potrayed to be at that period of time. Regal in bearing. Idealistic and in
control of things.
Men on the other hand seen as women were ment to be viewed. Take Leontes for
example. He is seen as weak and extremely mercurial. He admits this to himself
in act two, scene three, line 153 “I am a feather for each wind that blows”
throughout the play Shakespeare uses the message of christianity. The idea of
sin, forgivness and redemption. We can see this in Leontes. When Hermione
dies, He vows to weep and visit her grave everyday. “Once a day ill visit the
chapel where they lie, and tears shed there shall be my recreation.” we can
see forgivness in Hermione in act five. After all these years and all she
has suffered she is still willing to forgive her husband. This shows a very
important christian meesage maybe to reassure Shakespeare as an elderly man
that god will forgive you as your days come to an end.
Like the start which was very quick to get into,
the ending and to a climax and an ending very quickly and it seems rather
rushed. Some may say this is an incident of clumsiness. However i still think
this is a piece of shakespeares genious.
As you can see. So much thought has gone into the making of this
play. So many structures and conflicts between juxtapositions. It can be
anything but clumsiness.
