The silence often of pure innocence, persuades when speaking fails.
(Paulina, Act 2 Scene 2)
The King of Bohemia, Polixenes came to visit his good’ O friend in Sicilia, King Leontes. Leontes insisted Polixexs to stay longer and the guest was persuaded when Leontes’ Queen, Hermoine added her plea.
Oddly, the affability between Polixenes and Hermione awaked Leontes’s jealousy. He demanded his servant, Camilio, and hatched a plot to poison Polixenes. Camilio secretly warned Polixenes as he knew Polixenes was driven by unreasonable jealousy. Taken the warning, Leontes and Camilio sneaked out of Sicilian and hurry to Bohemia together.
Leontes accused Hermione of the infidelity and thrown her into the prison. The King even forbade his son to visite Hermione and sent two messengers to the oracle at Delphi for the proof of the adultery; though, Leontes refused to believe when the oracle showed the innocence of Hermione and Polixenes. In the prison, Hermione gave birth to her baby girl; her friend, Paulina thought that by seeing the baby, Leontes would soften his jealousy. However, Leontes demanded Paulina’s husband, Antigonus to a remote place and leave its survival to fate.
Meanwhile, Paulina reported that Hermione collapsed and died when knowing the sudden death of her son, which finally made Leontes fill with regrets and grieves.
On the other hand, a Sicilian shepherd found and adopted the baby girl that Antigonus abandoned on the beach with a quantity of gold and a paper wrote the name “Perdita” in her cradle. The shepherd made a great fortune out of it and kept the rest as the baby girl’s personal property.
Perdita had grown up to an intelligent and elegant 16-year-old young lady, met and fell in love with Prince Florizel, the son of Polixenes. Polixenes was suspicious about Florizel’s frequent visits to the countryside; thus, he persuaded Camilio to postpone his return to Sicilia to find out what Florizel is up to. The two men disguised at the sheepshearing festival, where Florizel called himself as a shepherd named Doricles and escorted Perdita. Florizel revealed his intension to marry Perdita to his disguised father after their debate on the art and nature that enraged Polixenes and uncovered the disguise.
Camilio suggested that the young couple and the shepherd could elope to Sicilia with him, and live in there until Polixenes agreed on their marriage.
Back in Sicilia, Paulina had been engraving the memories of Paulina on Polixenes’ mind. Polixenes was extremely sorrowful these whole years, he saw welcoming and marrying Florizel and Perdita as an atonement for his sin. When Polixenes lamented over the daughter he could have that is the same age as Perdita, the shepherd showed the fortune that is kept for Perdita and revealed that she was the long-lost Princess of Sicilia.
Polixenes arrived Sicilia the following and he forgave Leontes for his foolishness. They threw a royal party for the married couple and the reunion f the friendship. Paulina presented a lifelike statue of Hermione as a gift for Leontes, the later expressed his anguish in front of it. But soon, the statue came to life, as it turned out that Queen Hermione had been hiding in Paulina’s home these years. Finally, the Royal family had reunited.
At last, the winter of Sicilia had ended.
The devil behind the jealousy. 》
The Winter’s Tale was written in 1611 after the story, Pandosto by Robert Greene.
There is no clear flirtation described between Hermione and Polixene because it would contrary indicate that the Queen brings this misfortune is brought on to herself.
However, where comes this serious jealousy of Leontes is unknown.
It’s an emotional monster that couldn’t be understood by logic. Like Leontes, this emotional eruption could be triggered by anything, anyone and at any time, which brings a piercing winter into life. But there is always a cyclical sense of it. The emotional eruption of human will come to an end once it had shown its purpose.
In Leontes’ case, the purpose of this eruption may be a lesson of being blind to the truth and the refusal of the voices.
The fickle look of Leontes. 》
The later half of the play, the audience may pay their attention more to the elegance and intelligence of Perdita. But I have been appealed to the unstable look and the stuttering in the speech of Leontes played by Will Keen.
During the play, Leontes interested me by kept asking questions, answering and refuting himself.
After seeing the friendly interactions between Hermione and Polixenes, Leontes answered to himself with all the 10 questions he asked in mind. He doubted the loyalty of his wife and friend by questioning the “nothingness” of their action.
Is this nothing?
Why, then the world and all that’s in’t is nothing;
The covering sky is nothing; Bohemia nothing;
My wife is nothing; nor nothing have these nothings,
If this be nothing.(Leontes, Act 1 Scene 2)
With the lines that were written by Shakespear and the delicate acting skill; Will’s performance wonderfully delivers a character who is struggling in his mind and definitely creates the craziness of Leontes.
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