The Winter's Tale | Criticism

  • Overview

    In this essay, Jack Vaughn offers an introduction to The Winter's Tale, commenting on the date the play was written and the source material Shakespeare used. Vaughn discusses in more detail the structure, plot, characters, and themes in the play.

  • Pastoral Elements

    In the first essay, Peter Lindenbaum examines the pastoral elements of the play, noting how pastoral life in Bohemia offers a sharp contrast to the world of the Sicilian court. Lindenbaum argues that although Perdita is presented as an idealized figure and serves as the primary spokesperson of the pastoral world and its values, the pastoral world itself is not romanticized. Thomas McFarland, in the second essay, traces Shakespeare's treatment of pastoral elements in The Winter's Tale. McFarland identifies the ways in which the normlly light and carefree pastoral vision is undercut by sadness and ambivalence throughout the play.

  • Art and Nature

    In the first essay, Edward Tayler contends that the symbols and patterns used in The Winter's Tale emphasize Shakespeare's interest in the philosophical problem of the apparent opposition between nature and art. Maurice Hunt, in the second essay, maintains that the debate in the play between art and nature is informed by a study of the ages of Leontes and Polixenes. Hunt demonstrates how age is significant in some of Shakespeare's other plays and shows that the age of Leontes and Polixenes can be determined by various references in The Winter's Tale.

  • Gender Issues

    In the following essay, Peter Erickson explores the emphasis in The Winter's Tale on patriarchy. Erickson traces the transformation of patriarchy in the play from a crude, tyrannical form to one in which women are treated wore benevolently and valued.

  • Leontes

    In the following essay, Roger Trienens examines Leontes's apparently sudden and unfounded jealousy in Act I, scene ii, of The Winter's Tale. Trienens observes that most critics view Leontes's jealousy as either a weakness in Leontes's nature, or as improbable, and a flaw in Shakespeare's construction of the play. In the second essay, Michael Taylor examines the character of Leontes as an "innocent" figure. Taylor argues that by the play's end, this primal innocence is replaced by a new and more mature type of innocence, in which both intellect and passion, nature and art, are combined.

  • Hermione

    In this essay, David Bergeron studies the way in which Hermione defends herself in the trial scene of Act III of The Winter's Tale. Bergeron argues Hemione's approach is logical and honest, and "full of controlled passion."

  • Paulina

    In the excerpt that follows, Joan Hartwig examines the role of Paulina in the play. Hartwig argues that through the character of Paulina and her relationship to Leontes, the audience's perception of Leontes is favorably adjusted. In the second selection, Myles Hurd assesses Paulina's pivotal role in The Winter's Tale. In participating in the play's action and commenting on major events, Paulina helps to shape the audience's response to other characters and to important scenes in the play, Hurd argues.

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