The Winter's Tale

One of Shakespeare's most structurally daring plays — and one of his most moving — The Winter's Tale divides into two halves separated by sixteen years: a tragedy of jealousy and destruction, followed by a pastoral comedy of renewal and (almost) miraculous restoration.

At a Glance

Dramatis Personæ

Character Description
LEONTES King of Sicilia; destroyed by irrational jealousy; repents 16 years
HERMIONE Leontes's queen; accused of adultery; "dies"; restored as the statue
MAMILLIUS Young prince; dies of grief for his mother
PERDITA Daughter to Leontes and Hermione; exposed; raised as a shepherdess
PAULINA Hermione's fierce defender; keeps the "statue"; the play's moral center
ANTIGONUS Paulina's husband; ordered to expose Perdita; killed by a bear
CAMILLO Sicilian Lord; helps Polixenes escape; later helps Florizel and Perdita
CLEOMENES Sicilian Lord; brings the oracle from Delphos
DION Sicilian Lord
A GAOLER
Other Sicilian Lords, Officers, Servants
POLIXENES King of Bohemia; Leontes's childhood friend; unjustly suspected
FLORIZEL Polixenes's son; loves Perdita; disguised as Doricles
ARCHIDAMUS A Bohemian Lord
AN OLD SHEPHERD Reputed father of Perdita; the discovery's agent
CLOWN The Old Shepherd's son; comic
AUTOLYCUS A rogue; ballad-monger; thief; opportunist; accidentally advances the plot
A MARINER
A GAOLER
EMILIA A lady attending on Hermione
MOPSA and DORCAS Shepherdesses
TIME As Chorus; announces the 16-year gap

Plot Summary

Acts I–III (Sicilia — the Tragedy): Leontes and Polixenes are childhood friends; Polixenes is visiting Sicilia. Leontes, without any external instigation, suddenly becomes consumed with the irrational conviction that Hermione and Polixenes are having an affair. He orders Camillo to poison Polixenes; Camillo instead warns Polixenes and flees with him. Leontes has the pregnant Hermione imprisoned. She gives birth to Perdita; Leontes sends Antigonus to expose the baby in "some remote and desert place." He sends to the oracle at Delphos. The oracle declares Hermione innocent; Leontes rejects it. News arrives: Mamillius has died. Hermione falls (apparently dead). Leontes immediately recognizes his guilt. Antigonus has left Perdita on the shore of Bohemia; he is chased and killed by a bear (the stage direction: "Exit, pursued by a bear"). A shepherd and his clown find the baby.

Act IV (Bohemia — the Pastoral): Time announces sixteen years have passed. Perdita has grown up as a shepherd girl; Florizel, Polixenes's son, has fallen in love with her in disguise. At the sheep-shearing festival, Autolycus sells ballads and picks pockets. Polixenes reveals himself and forbids the match. Camillo helps Florizel and Perdita escape to Sicilia.

Act V (Sicilia — the Miracle): Leontes, still penitent after sixteen years, receives Florizel and Perdita. The Old Shepherd and Clown arrive; Perdita is recognized as Leontes's daughter. All go to see Paulina's "statue" of Hermione — so lifelike it seems to breathe. Leontes reaches to touch it. The statue moves. Hermione steps down from the pedestal. She is alive — preserved by Paulina. Hermione and Leontes are reunited; she speaks to Perdita. Paulina and Camillo are paired. "It is required / You do awake your faith."

Key Themes

Notable Quotations

"It is required / You do awake your faith." *(Paulina, V.iii)*

"Exit, pursued by a bear." *(Stage direction, III.iii)*

"A sad tale's best for winter: I have one / Of sprites and goblins." *(Mamillius, II.i)*

"What's gone and what's past help / Should be past grief." *(Paulina, III.ii)*

LibriVox Recording

The Winter's Tale audiobook on LibriVox — Free public domain recording.

Cross-references