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Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale is a story of both tragic and comedic events. The structure of Shakespeare’s play, The Winter’s Tale, creates a mixed genre of both tragedy and comedy. The first half of the play is considered a tragedy, and the second half shifts to a comedy. Shakespeare uses this structure to convey the concept that one must first face struggles in order to experience true happiness. All the characters are facing some type of hardship during the first acts of the play, and then a sudden change is made where the characters start enjoying pleasure and happiness.
In the first act of the play, Leontes conceives the idea that his wife Hermione is cheating on him with his close friend, Polixenes.
After watching their friendliness toward one another Leontes becomes certain the Polixenes and Hermione have both betrayed him.
This is the first tragic event Shakespeare writes in his play. After Leontes accuses Polixenes, Polixenes shares that this event has taken both of their innocence away.
He wishes they could go back to how it was before.
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After a tragic event, one just wishes they were back to the time where they were still innocent. “We were as twinned lambs that did frisk i’th’sun, / And bleat the one at th’other. What we changed / Was innocence for innocence” (1.2.81-83). Affliction takes away innocence, which makes the victim a more enlightened person on the feeling of pain.
While the tragedy in The Winter’s Tale is taking place, Leontes feels as though the world and all existence are pointless and worthless.
When people feel tragedy all they focus on the pain they are in.
Leontes now feels even the people he loves are not worth anything if Hermione has betrayed him.
The events these characters are facing constantly grow more dreadful and heartbreaking. They are feeling as though their lives are meaningless and insignificant due to this constant pain they are feeling.
The second act brings readers to Hermione and Mamillius, who is there to keep her company. Hermione asks Mamillius to tell her a story and he replies, “A sad tale’s best for winter. I have one / Of sprites and goblins” (2.1.33-34). This famous quote adverts to the title of the play, The Winter’s Tale. When Mamillius says that a sad tale is better in the winter, Shakespeare is portraying the notion to the reader that because it is winter time, something sad is going to take place. Later on, in the act, Mamillius becomes ill which Leontes tries to blame on his mother’s unfaithfulness but is truly from his mother’s grief.
Act three contains the dramatic shift from comedy to tragedy. It opens with continued tragic events. Atrial is held where Hermione tries to defend herself, but Leontes is convinced she is guilty and should be put to death. In scene two, Mamillius dies and Leontes realizes the mistake he has made. Hermione immediately faints, and then dies of a broken heart. Leontes feels a great deal of grief and swears he will spend the rest of his life in penance for his sin.
This event has put an unmeasurable amount of shame on Leontes. He is now willing to give up the rest of his life so that he may visit their grave and cry over them daily. He feels guilty for the death of his wife and son. In the future, he will be able to better appreciate the blessings in his life because he has now truly experienced loss and hardship.
Up until this point, Shakespeare has been building the tragic themes and events of the play. The struggles continue to build and build as readers think nothing worse could possibly happen. Act three, scene two is the climax, or the turning point, in the play. Shakespeare finally reached the climax where the characters have experienced a multitude of tragic events. From here on, Shakespeare shifts the play to more comedic themes to resolve the previous conflict.
Sixteen years later, in act four, readers are introduced once again to Leontes, Hermione’s long-lost daughter, Perdita, and Autolycus. Perdita was abandoned as a baby because Leontes thought she was an illegitimate child. Readers are informed of Perdita and Florizel’s (son of Polixenes) love for one another. Autolycus is a peddler and pickpocket that steals an abundance of possessions from the clown. He is a drastic contrast to the winter tragedy of the first half of the play because of his free-spirited nature. Autolycus is a key player in adding a sort of comic relief to this once tragic story. Autolycus declared his falsehood when he shares, “Though I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by chance” (4.4.785-786). Shakespeare uses Autolycus in this scene to remind the reader that even though a catastrophic event may seem like the end of the world, there are enjoyable moments that still occur. Autolycus is a character that lightens the tone of a story and adds a more light-hearted approach to the hardships, while also returning Perdita and Florizel to Sicilia later on in the play.
In scene four of act four, Perdita shares her view on winter and tragedy. She gives Polixenes flowers and explains the purpose behind them. “For you there’s rosemary and rue. These keep / Seeming and savour all the winter long. / Grace and remembrance be to you both, / And welcome to our shearing!” (4.4.83-86). Perdita is giving Polixenes the flowers rosemary and rue which symbolize grace, repentance, and remembrance. She hopes these symbols will last throughout the winter, or throughout tragic times in his life. Polixenes then replies with, “Shepherdess, / A fair one are you—well you fit our ages / With flowers of winter” (4.4.87-89). He informs Perdita that he is pleased with her selections of winter flowers since he is older and has experienced more hardship in his life. Perdita prefers winter flowers over spring flowers. However, she believes the shepherdesses need spring flowers in contrast to Polixenes. Perdita declared to Dorcas and Mopsa.
Perdita believes the shepherdesses deserve flowers of spring because they are still innocent and have not experienced winter, or true affliction yet. They are still in their adolescence, so they are unfamiliar with the tragedies they may encounter in the future. A young innocent person cannot truly appreciate the happiness of young life because they have not experienced hardships as Perdita has. People do not appreciate the happiness of their childhood because they do not know what sadness actually feels like.
In act.five, the play is back in Sicilia where Perdita and Florizel are asking for Leonte’s blessing of their marriage, and the characters learn that Perdita is the lost daughter of the king and queen. This brings a new and lively atmosphere to Shakespeare’s play. Paulina declared in her excitement, “Go together, / You precious winners all. Your exultation / Partake to every one” (5.3.157-159). These people had experienced a great tragedy with the believed death of Hermione and loss of Perdita, but now the family is back together, and mother and daughter are finally united. The whole group rejoiced in the miracle of Hermione’s resurrection and Perdita’s return. They appreciate the presence of Perdita and Hermione more because they now know what it was like to have them both missing.
Some may argue that innocent children are happier in life because they do not know what it is like to be sad. Once one’s innocence is taken away, they will never feel the child-like happiness of ignorance and evil. Shakespeare’s play shows that one can be happy without experiencing tragedy, but they are not truly happy, and they do not appreciate the delightful times as much. Children may have happiness, but they do not truly appreciate it; they expect it. No one that has experienced hardships expects their lives to always be joyful and carefree like children do. When one that has experienced afflictions enjoys happiness, they are truly joyful and grateful for the joy and happiness they have.
Shakespeare’s message emphasizes that one cannot enjoy the true beauty of spring if they do not know what winter was like throughout the play, The Winter’s Tale. The arrangement of this play notably shows readers that the characters had to experience tragedy within the first half of the play to experience true joy and happiness in the end. Hermione was falsely accused and Leontes lost both his son and his wife. By the end of the play, they were contentedly reunited with their family and were able to appreciate the genuine beauty of joy and love for one another. During affliction, one believes it will never end, similar to how Leontes felt. When tragedy resolves, one appreciates the time and events which follow greater than previously experienced.
The Happiness That I Experienced After Adversity. (2021, Dec 14). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-happiness-that-i-experienced-after-adversity-essay
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