Justifying Leontes
Justifying Leontes In the play, The Winter's Tale, by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare presents the character Leontes, King of Sicilia, as an irrational tyrant. In the play, Leontes falsely accuses his wife, Hermione, of committing adultery with his childhood friend Polixenes, the King of Bohemia. Leontes' is driven into the jealousy that caused him to accuse Hermione so impulsively. According to the events preceding his accusations, Leontes' reasons for becoming this angry are completely justifiable. In Act 1, Scene 2 of The Winter's Tale, Polixenes has been on vacation in Sicilia for, "nine changes of the wat'ry star" (1.2.1), or nine months. The fact that nine months is the time from conception to birth, and Hermione is about to give birth, causes jealousy to begin to build in Leontes over his wife's relationship with Polixenes. In this scene, Leontes develops curtness in his tone towards Hermione and Polixenes that indicates his seething anger. For example, Leontes' first words to Hermione are, "Tongue-tied, our Queen?/Speak you." (1.2.35). Leontes' tone is rude and full of repressed venom; yet Hermione and Polixenes suspect nothing. Leontes jealousy is further justified when Leontes, Polixenes, and Hermione are talking in Act 1, Scene 2. In this scene Hermione and Polixenes address each other in flirtatious tones. Hermione's responses to Polixenes are almost
Although ‘The Winters Tale’ seems to challenge contemporary attitudes towards women, in the final analysis it affirms them, do you agree?
English Literature Coursework Question: - Although 'The Winters Tale' seems to challenge contemporary attitudes towards women, in the final analysis it affirms them, do you agree? In 'The Winters Tale' there is arguments for both sides of this statement. The play starts off with Leontes watching his wife, Hermione, and his best friend Polixenes talking to each other, he seems to think they are flirting and becomes jealous. He even worries that he is not the real father of his son Mamiillius. He says "Why that's my bawcock. What! Hast smutched thy nose? Leontes sees Hermione some how as his possession. At the time when this play was being written women did not have very many rights. This is shown by a quote which explains how suspected witches were treated, this treatment was inhumane and shows the lack of women's rights "Having taken the suspected Witch, she is placed in the middle of a room upon a stool, or table, cross-legged, or in some other uneasy posture, to which if she submits not, she is then bound with cords; there she is watched and kept without meat or sleep for the space of 24 hours. . . A little hole is likewise made in the door for the imps to come in at; they that watch are taught to be ever and anon sweeping the room, and if they see any spiders or flies, to kill them, then they may be sure they are her imps." (John Gaule, 1646) Leontes thinks that
Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale
Christen Hall Shakespeare Dr. Doug Sonheim December 5, 2004 Dear Dr. Sonheim, While we have read Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale together, this time I enjoyed reading it much more. Instead of wondering what would happen, I was able to focus more intently on the characters. Although I remembered her role in unveiling Hermione's statue, I did not really begin to recognize the significance of Paulina's character until I read the play for a second time. Because she does not appear until Act II, scene 2 and is present in only three of the five acts, Paulina seems to be no more than a minor character. Nonetheless, Paulina's action is critical to the plays classification as a tragicomedy, and her depth of character make her a lovely candidate for best-supporting actress. In the first three acts, which constitute the plays tragic storyline, Paulina proves a loyal friend to Hermione and a decided woman. Her first appearance presents her addressing the jailer, who acknowledges that he knows her "[f]or a worthy lady / And one who much I honor" (II, ii, 8-9). Despite recognizing her admirable character, the jailer cannot allow Paulina to see Hermione. However, her determination to at least see one of Hermione's attendants in order to check on the imprisoned queen demonstrates Paulina's devotion. When meeting with Emilia, Paulina shows herself smart and strong-willed. She
Shakespeare's A Winters Tale Scene by Scene Analysis.
Shakespeare's A Winters Tale Scene by Scene Analysis Scene One establishes characters and situation. We learn that the kings of Sicilia and Bohemia have been good friends since childhood, and that Sicilia has a young prince who shows great promise. Although Archidamus is not particularly important as a character, Camillo is one of the play's most important characters. From his praise of his king and his prince, we see that he is a faithful and patriotic courtier, full of love for his position. He is an ideal advisor, happiest when he has a good ruler to serve. In Scene Two, Shakespeare gives us a deep psychological portrait of Leontes. Directors control the level of the flirtatiousness between Hermione and Polixenes in productions of The Winter's Tale, but an important part of the characterization of Leontes is that his fears are not grounded in any real impropriety. The less proof he has, the more crazed he becomes. Although people at court speak often of how much Mamillius resembles him, he persists in the delusion that the child's paternity is questionable. And when his most trusted advisor insists that Hermione is innocent, his rage shows unequivocally that he will not have his delusions questioned. He dwells obsessively on the idea of being a known cuckold, a man whose wife is an adulterer, although Camillo's responses indicate that no one at court views the king that
"The Winters Tale is not so much about the triumph of time but the triumph of women" Examine Shakespeare's presentation of the female characters in the play and assess the significance of the play for a modern audience
"The Winters Tale is not so much about the triumph of time but the triumph of women" Examine Shakespeare's presentation of the female characters in the play and assess the significance of the play for a modern audience The Winter's Tale is a play that focuses on the strength of women; this is not unusual for Shakespeare as his plays often contained strong willed and strong-minded women, for example; Lady Macbeth and Katherine from Taming of the Shrew. What is unusual however is the success of these plays in a male dominated society, a society that saw women as inferior and had adopted a negative attitude towards females of strength, including their own queen, Elizabeth, whose 44 year reign had ended not long before The Winters Tale was written. Shakespeare admired Queen Elizabeth for her strength in such an oppressive society. She was single-handedly responsible for turning "the weakling of western Europe" into a strong and powerful nation, consequently defying the opinions of many who believed that as a female she would make an incompetent leader. Shakespeare mirrored Queen Elizabeth's strength in Hermione, Perdita and Paulina's actions. It has also been suggested that Shakespeare wrote The Winters Tale in honour of Queen Elizabeth so that it could be performed in celebration of her reign and her triumphs. This reinforces modern critical interpretations of the play that
It has been said that in "The Winter's Tale" Shakespeare dramatises the contemporary struggle between masculine and feminine power. In light of this comment, examine the presentation of the relationships between men and women.
It has been said that in "The Winter's Tale" Shakespeare dramatises the contemporary struggle between masculine and feminine power. In light of this comment, examine the presentation of the relationships between men and women. Since the beginning of time a struggle for equality has been present between masculine and feminine powers. The biblical stories of creation have often been used as an excuse to mistreat women. The mythical story of "The Garden of Eden" has been used to display women being easily seduced into wrong doing "The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good the fruit would be to eat... so then she took some of the fruit and ate it"; how women corrupt men into wrong doing; "Then she gave some (fruit) to her husband, and he also ate it," this illustrates women's dependence on men, "made him cultivate the soil from which he had been formed". Also because the male was created first "God took some soil from the ground and formed man out of it" and is often thought of as being the perfection of creation, where as the female is a helper "he formed woman out of the rib (Adam's.)" Even after the Women's Social and Political Movement, the work that the women achieved during the World Wars and the feminist movement of the 1960's political, economical and social, inequality still exists. The search for equality began through the work of Chaucer in the "Canterbury