Barber, Charles. "The Winter's Tale and Jacobean Society." In Shakespeare In A Changing World, edited by Arnold Kettle, pp. 233-52. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1964.

Compares themes of the play to problems in seventeenth-century English society, especially in the contrast between court life and country life.

Bellette, A. F. "Truth and Utterance in The Winter's Tale" Shakespeare Survey 3 (1978): 65-75.

Examines the capacity of words to accurately represent truth, how words are used in relationships, and Leontes's failure to understand others or himself.

Bergeron, David M. "Hermione's Trial in The Winter's Tale." Essays in Theater 3, No. 1 (November 1984): 3-12.

Focuses on Hermione's courageous defense of herself in her trial, and how it contrasts with Leontes's irrational passion.

Blisset, William. "This Wide Gap of Time: The Winter's Tale." English Literary Renaissance 1 (Winter 1971): 52-70.

Discusses the symmetry of the play's two halves in terms of dramatic irony.

Cohen, Derek. "Patriarchy and Jealousy in Othello and The Winter's Tale." Modern Language Quarterly 48, No. 3 (September 1987): 207-23.

Describes the perceived role of female fidelity in maintaining social order, and compares the motives for and growth of jealousy in Othello and Leontes.

Cuvelier, Elaine. "'Perspective' in The Winter's Tale." Cahiers Elisabethains, No. 23 (April 1983): 35-46.

Examines the basis of Leontes's jealousy from a Jacobean perspective.

Dawson, Anthony B. "King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, and The Winter's Tale." In Indirections: Shakespeare and the Art of Illusion, pp. 129-55. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1978.

Compares The Winter's Tale to King Lear and Anthony and Cleopatra, and discusses the metaphor of "seeing" in all three plays.

Felperin, Howard. "Our Carver's Excellence: The Winter's Tale" In Shakespearean Romance, pp. 211-45. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972.

Compares The Winter's Tale with Shakespeare's other romances and argues that its combination of romance and realism makes it one of his greatest works.

Foster, Verna A. "The Death of Hermione: Tragicomic Dramaturgy in The Winter's Tale." Cahiers Elisabethains, No. 43 (April 1993): 43-56.

Describes the subtle methods by which Shakespeare prepares his audience emotionally for the resurrection of Hermione.

Hartwig, Joan. "The Winter's Tale: The Pleasure of That Madness.'" In Shakespeare's Tragicomic Vision, pp. 104-36. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1972.

Considers the methods by which Leontes is protected from the immediate condemnation of the audience, and examines the relationship of Leontes and Paulina and the roles they fill for each other.

Lindenbaum, Peter. "Time, Sexual Love, and the Uses of Pastoral in The Winter's Tale." Modern Language Quarterly 33, No. 1, (March 1972): 3-22.

Discusses two patterns of development in the scheme of the play: fall and redemption, and a gradual development from disease to health.

Ludwig, Jay B. "Shakespearean Decorum: An Essay on The Winter's Tale." Style 8, No. 2 (Spring 1974): 365-404.

Describes a pattern of "merged opposites" in The Winter's Tale, as revealed in the language of the characters, and the structures and themes of the play.

McCandless, David. "'Verily Bearing Blood': Pornography, Sexual Love, and the Reclaimed Feminine in The Winter's Tale!' Essays in Theatre 9, No. 1 (November 1990): 61-81.

Compares Leontes's jealous delusion to a type of pornographic fantasy replaying the archetypal female deceit—the Fall of Eve—and the rehabilitating power of the female characters to transform Leontes and preserve the patriarchy.

Morse, William R. "Metacriticism and Materiality: The Case of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale." ELH 58, No. 2 (Summer 1991): 283-304.

Considers the role contemporary political forces played in shaping The Winter's Tale, and conversely, the role of Shakespeare's dramas in shaping audience atttitudes towards the absolutist culture of the royal court.

Palmer, Daryl W. "Entertainment, Hospitality, and Family in The Winter's Tale." Iowa State Journal of Research 59, No. 3 (February 1985): 253-61.

Explores the relationship between the extended family and hospitality or entertainment in Jacobean England, extending the discussion to the families of The Winter's Tale, and demonstrating that the fractured relationships begin to heal only once Leontes reexercises hospitality.

Schalkwyk, David. "'A Lady's 'Verily' Is as Potent as a Lord's': Women, Word, and Witchcraft in The Winter's Tale." ELH 22, No. 2 (Spring 1992): 242-72.

Examines the influence of women's language in the play, and the challenge it presents to men's power.

Smith, Hallett D. "The Winter's Tale and Pandosto." In Shakespeare 's Romances: A Study of Some Ways of the Imagination, pp. 95-121. San Marino: Huntington Library, 1972.

Considers the sources which inform The Winter's Tale and other plays by Shakespeare, most notably Robert Greene's Pandosto.

Sokol, B. J. Art and Illusion in 'The Winter's Tale'. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994, 283 p.

Discusses the influences of Renaissance art on The Winter's Tale, and Shakespeare as an artist himself.

Taylor, Michael. "Innocence in The Winter's Tale." Shakespeare Studies 15 (1982): 227-42.

Describes Leontes's actions in terms of a childish innocence, claiming that such hysterical behavior is akin to that of a spoiled child; however, he argues, the play concludes with a new innocence, ushered in by the confident female characters and Leontes's own personal growth.

Ziegler, Georgianna. "Parents, Daughters and 'That Rare Italian Master': A New Source for The Winter's Tale." Shakespeare Quarterly 36, No. 2 (Summer 1985): 204-12.

Reviews sources from which Shakespeare possibly could have learned of Julio Romano, the "rare Italian master."