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The Winter's Tale (Shakespeare Project Lecture) (Patreon)

Published:
2025-01-30 21:28:32
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2026-06
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Content

'A sad tale's best for winter...'

Our journey through the works of William Shakespeare continues, and we have now arrived at the late masterpiece that is The Winter's Tale.

We’re discussing romance vs tragedy, monomania, jealousy, paranoia, psychologically complex characterisation, the fantastical, style vs substance, bizarre stage directions, and much more.

Timestamps:

0:00 appreciating mature Shakespeare

2:00 the sublime beginning of this play

4:00 tinges of King Lear & Othello

5:00 the source material for this story

6:00 from upstart crow to national poet

8:00 the Shakespearean difference 

10:00 Leontes, Hermione & Polixenes

12:00 monomania, jealousy & paranoia

14:00 ‘we were as twinned lambs’

16:00 is Leontes in a midlife crisis?

18:00 Shakespearean characterisation

20:00 poetry in the condition of prose

22:00 appreciating Leontes’ soliloquy 

24:00 the breath of English verse

28:00 fractured speech & fractured mind

30:00 dramatic monologues of Browning

32:00 Leontes: ‘Is whispering nothing?’

34:00 sublime crescendo of nothings

36:00 the flight of Polixenes & Camillo 

38:00 ‘a sad tale’s best for winter’

39:00 Shakespeare’s metatheatricality

40:00 ‘all’s true that is mistrusted’

42:00 the king accuses the queen

44:00 are the gods present in this play?

46:00 the bard’s sympathy for women

48:00 the moral strength of Paulina

50:00 moving from tragedy to romance

53:00 the social function of romance

55:00 when were acts first inserted?

56:00 what were the first plays like?

57:00 ‘your actions are my dreams’

59:00 greatest pain of being human

1:00:00 Antigonus abandons Perdita

1:01:00 ‘exist, pursued by a bear’

1:02:00 smashing the classical unities

1:04:00 Time steps forth as Chorus 

1:06:00 Prince Florizel woos Perdita 

1:08:00 the sheep-shearing festival

1:10:00 appreciating the natural world

1:12:00 Florizel & Perdita flee Bohemia

1:14:00 Leontes living in life-long grief

1:16:00 the living statue of Hermione

1:18:00 anticipating our next play

1:19:00 your thoughts on the play?

Recommended Resources:

  • Arden Edition: The Arden edition of this play is excellent. The critical introduction and annotations are incredibly insightful.

  • Radio Adaptations: I highly recommend this version with the legendary thespian Sir John Gielgud in the role of Leontes.

  • Critical Appreciation: One of my personal favourite works of Shakespearean appreciation comes in Northrop Frye's A Natural Perspective, a slim but wonderful volume for any lover of the romance plays to have. On the ending of The Winter's Tale, Frye would say: 'It is the world we want; it is the world we hope our gods would want for us if they were worth worshipping.'

  • Scene Appreciation: Tara Fitzgerald delivers a moving and compelling performance of Hermione in response to her husband's unjust accusation here. You can also see the marvellous Judi Dench performing Paulina taking Kenneth Branagh as Leontes to task here.

  • Television: As we spoke about the origin of the phrase 'upstart crow' in our discussion, you may like to enjoy this television series which takes the insult for its title. The fantastic David Mitchell plays William Shakespeare in a sitcom written by Ben Elton that follows the bard during the early days of his rising popularity. This is a rewarding watch for those who have become familiar with Will over the course of our reading.

  • Our Journey Thus Far: If you want to jump into any specific play, you can check out the works we've enjoyed thus far as part of our read-through here.

Questions for You:

1) In which genre do you think Shakespeare was strongest? And which genre do you think was his personal favourite?

2) Which character resonated with you the most in this play?

3) What line, passage, or idea, struck you the most? And what is your personal grading for The Winter's Tale?

Happy reading, Bardolators!

Files

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Comments

Maria

I feel like Shakespeare may have drawn inspiration from the myth of Pygmalion, who was so disillusioned with real women that he fell in love with a statue he carved himself, (Galatea) who later comes to life. Because it parallels Leontes’ journey in The Winter’s Tale whose jealousy makes him so disillusioned with Hermione, she turns to stone. Despite wrongly condemning her he ends up truly loving and valuing her when she appears as a lifeless statue who is then ‘brought back to life.’ Both men reject real women however in the end their stories highlight the power of love and transformation.

Kathryn

The Winter's Tale is one of my favorite plays. I had low expectations based upon several of the post tragedy works but I was hooked from the powerful beginning. My favorite elements were the writing, mythological themes and strong female characters. I personally found the role of Time exciting and for me it worked well. I did find myself noticing a theme in many Shakespeare plays of people becoming caught in drama they created. This one felt a bit different because there was some self reflection and acknowledgement of harm. Overall this play worked on so many levels for me it is an A+.

Angelina

This play strikes me as very modern. I love the intermezzo of the sheep shearing festival, it is described with such episodes that you really can see it play before your eyes. I love all three strong, female characters. All very assertive and positive. After reading Ovid one can really relate: The gods themselves, humbling their deities to love, have taken the shapes of beasts upon them: Jupiter Became a bull, and bellowed; the green Neptune A ram and bleated; and the fire robbed god, Golden Apollo, a poor humble swain As I seem now. 24-30 Sc. III Act IV This was delightful after reading Ovid, I mean I've known the myths, but reading the direct influence ... to me was just marvellous. This play it's an A. I have still a number of plays to catch up with, it's such a delight, I don't want it to end.

Phil

My two boys, age 13 and 11, are best friends. When a neighbor commented on how well they play together I told her: They are as twinned lambs that do frisk in the sun, And bleat the one at the other. And she replied: boys eternal indeed. I really enjoyed this play

Jo

I also enjoyed reading this play but appreciated it much more after Ben's wonderful lecture and all of the deep and insightful comments of all the members. I am discovering that maybe it is better to get to the work a little later than everyone else to soak up all this wisdom. Junior high has been frantic the past two weeks with mid-terms and I had to laugh when I read, " I would there were no age between ten and three and twenty,or that youth would sleep out the rest. For there is nothing in the between but getting wenches with child, wronging the ancient or stealing, fighting, Harken them. Would any but these boiled brains of nineteen and two and twenty hunt this weather?" Will and I are on the same page here - at least on some days. The flower scene was my favourite. Flowers don't change colours but humans change nature all the time. I wonder if Will is thinking about artists changing things all the time the way that he does as a writer. Also, is he wondering what are the limits of art?

Ellen M
>>163248416

Such an insightful post Maria! I agree with you, particularly since I just read about Pygmalian only yesterday. It’s so satisfying to find parallels and specific instances of Shakespeare’s inspiration from Ovid. I was thinking about whether or not the transformations, in these two cases, are a positive thing. As you say, these men rejected the real women so what does it signify that the transformation to a speechless, lifeless state serves as the catalyst for their love? Interesting to think about in both the mythology and the play.

Margaret

The first 3 acts feel best summed up by the "well, that escalated quickly" meme. I gasped out loud when Leontes denied the oracle as "mere falsehood." I adore the moment of equal anticipation and disbelief when the statue of Hermione awakens. My mind was doing somersaults - I love the idea of the long con that Paulina hid Hermione for 16 years for the big reveal, but the magical realism of a statue awakening is so delightful!.

Kate

If you read Browning’s My Last Duchess on poetryfoundation.org there’s an excellent commentary with it ..

Clare Shepherd
>>163541884

Thanks Kate, after 75 years reading, I hadn't come across ekphrasis until Ben mentioned it, now it pops everywhere. I really like Browning, even if he's unfashionable at the moment. I hope to see a revival before too long. Thanks for the link.

Winifred

The 1998 RSC production of The Winter’s Tale with Anthony Sher playing Leontes is available online. My high school students loved the scene with Autolycus and the young shepherd. The RSC production I saw at Stratford in 1976 featured a giant polar bear rug that turned into a marionette at the beginning of Act III.

Jane Knights

I have seen that the RSC is doing a winter’s tale this summer, so i hope to see it there.