A Winter's Tale of Conflict and Contrast
There is no denying A Winter's Tale is full of contrasting ideas. As weird as this play was, I thought it was kind of poetic that all of these different tones, emotions, and symbols were woven in together to create this tragedy/romance. The Winter's Tale is a coin, with two sides of the same settings, tones, and characters. The following are some of my observations on these apparent opposites:
The first half of the play is set in a cold, harsh, and condemning tone. Sicilia is depicted as being not a happy place, and its king is paranoid to the max. All we see of Sicilia in the play is the castle/stronghold that is home to the royals, and a court room. Castles are traditionally cold and dark due to being created out of stone, and of course the court room in the play is the site of the condemnation of an apparently innocent woman (Hermione) and the sentencing of a little baby to exile. If that isn't cold, I don't know what is.
On the other hand, the second half of the play shows a bright environment and feel to Bohemia. There is dancing, and to me it seemed to be spring or summer while Sicilia seemed to be winter (as told to us by the title and the coldness of the first half of the play. Perdita and Florizel are very much in love, and aside from his ongoing and extensive love paragraphs, it is really sweet how much they love each other. It appears to be one of the most semi-healthy relationships we have read in this class, which I think is the reason I enjoyed it as much as I did. This love creates a warm feeling which is opposite the feeling of condemnation and paranoia that was present in Sicilia.
In addition to contrasting settings, certain characters had contrast with each other at different points in the play. Leontes is paranoid and condemning of his wife and best friend. On the other side of the coin, Polixenes is kind and warm towards Leontes and Hermione. All of that was in the first half of the play. In the second half, the coin flips. Polixenes is now condemning of his son who wants to marry a farm girl. In fact, he completely freaks out on Florizel, a side we would have expected to see from Leontes, not Polixenes. Leontes appears to be repenting, or at the very least recognizes he was wrong to some extent, which is also a stark difference from his behavior in the first half.
I think the most obvious difference from the first half to the second half is tragedy versus romance. In the first three acts, it is reminiscent of Othello, with Hermione pleading and standing firm in her righteousness and honor, and Leontes not believing anyone otherwise. It ends in her death as well as her son's, and the exile of his infant daughter. Tragedy is the only word that really describes the first half accurately. Additionally, the second half is primarily about the romance of Florizel (the Bohemian prince) and Perdita (the Sicilian princess). Their union effectively unites the two sides of the coins, and in a way resolves the differences between the two kingdoms.
As much as this play did not make sense on the surface, the comparison of these differences and how they are "resolved" make a sort of poetic sense. While probably totally improbable, the meeting of Florizel and Perdita seem like fate, and it was one thing I actually liked about the play. Two sides of a coin were united in the end and grievances were "forgiven."
On a different note, something I did not like about the play was Perdita's reaction, or lack of reaction to her father, who had left her to die and subsequently was a key player in her mother's death. She really had no reaction. Everything was ok, when really, it was not. What kind of person immediately forgives and forgets someone who left them to die and denied their relation to them? It bothers me. A. Lot. It was my biggest grievance with the play.
The first half of the play is set in a cold, harsh, and condemning tone. Sicilia is depicted as being not a happy place, and its king is paranoid to the max. All we see of Sicilia in the play is the castle/stronghold that is home to the royals, and a court room. Castles are traditionally cold and dark due to being created out of stone, and of course the court room in the play is the site of the condemnation of an apparently innocent woman (Hermione) and the sentencing of a little baby to exile. If that isn't cold, I don't know what is.
On the other hand, the second half of the play shows a bright environment and feel to Bohemia. There is dancing, and to me it seemed to be spring or summer while Sicilia seemed to be winter (as told to us by the title and the coldness of the first half of the play. Perdita and Florizel are very much in love, and aside from his ongoing and extensive love paragraphs, it is really sweet how much they love each other. It appears to be one of the most semi-healthy relationships we have read in this class, which I think is the reason I enjoyed it as much as I did. This love creates a warm feeling which is opposite the feeling of condemnation and paranoia that was present in Sicilia.
In addition to contrasting settings, certain characters had contrast with each other at different points in the play. Leontes is paranoid and condemning of his wife and best friend. On the other side of the coin, Polixenes is kind and warm towards Leontes and Hermione. All of that was in the first half of the play. In the second half, the coin flips. Polixenes is now condemning of his son who wants to marry a farm girl. In fact, he completely freaks out on Florizel, a side we would have expected to see from Leontes, not Polixenes. Leontes appears to be repenting, or at the very least recognizes he was wrong to some extent, which is also a stark difference from his behavior in the first half.
I think the most obvious difference from the first half to the second half is tragedy versus romance. In the first three acts, it is reminiscent of Othello, with Hermione pleading and standing firm in her righteousness and honor, and Leontes not believing anyone otherwise. It ends in her death as well as her son's, and the exile of his infant daughter. Tragedy is the only word that really describes the first half accurately. Additionally, the second half is primarily about the romance of Florizel (the Bohemian prince) and Perdita (the Sicilian princess). Their union effectively unites the two sides of the coins, and in a way resolves the differences between the two kingdoms.
As much as this play did not make sense on the surface, the comparison of these differences and how they are "resolved" make a sort of poetic sense. While probably totally improbable, the meeting of Florizel and Perdita seem like fate, and it was one thing I actually liked about the play. Two sides of a coin were united in the end and grievances were "forgiven."
On a different note, something I did not like about the play was Perdita's reaction, or lack of reaction to her father, who had left her to die and subsequently was a key player in her mother's death. She really had no reaction. Everything was ok, when really, it was not. What kind of person immediately forgives and forgets someone who left them to die and denied their relation to them? It bothers me. A. Lot. It was my biggest grievance with the play.
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