Yin and Yang

Create a symbol for Hermione. Why does your symbol represent her? Write a short description of your symbol. Blog it.

       Hermione, the beloved queen of Sicilia is perceived to be yang; the opposing force to yin. As yang symbolizes the bright, active, upward, hot, expanding, and strong. Hermione represented all of the good attributes which highlighted all the bad characteristics of Leontes whom is perceived to be yin. Ironically, yin and yang are considered female and male respectively. However, Leontes had similar corresponding    aspects to yin; dark, passive, downward, cold, contracting, and weak.

      These two energies are considered to cause everything to happen which in effect did happen in the book. The conflict was caused by Leontes’ (in this case yin’s) jealousy and everyone sympathized with Hermione’s (yang’s) misfortune as a result.  

Leontes' Stupidity

Because of the King’s stupidity he suffers terribly. Do you think he got what he deserves? Justify your answer.

    Throughout Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, King Leontes has been described as evil, despicable, irrational, petulant, jealous and delusional. Although Shakespeare takes pains to make the audience sympathize with Leontes, it seems to be a lost cause.

      In Acts 1-3, the audience sees the King so overcome with anger and jealousy that he becomes irrational and fixated on his own false beliefs. He imprisons his wife; He defames her innocent reputation; He banishes his daughter; He plotted to kill his best friend and he even drove Mamillius, his only son to his deathbed.

      Did he deserve the harsh fate of his sentiments being false the entire time? Did he deserve the death of his only son and wife? Did he deserve the suffering that he had banished his daughter to an unknown fate?; Accusing and plotting to kill his friend for his make-belief tale of jealousy?; And accusing his loyal servant of betraying him? Did he deserve the harsh words he received in the end? The answer is a resounding yes.

     As the story unfolds one is ceased on the wrong path that King Leontes has followed throughout which leads to the death of his only son and wife. The banishing of his daughter based on his false premise was another example of his irrationality and paranoia of King Leontes.

     Shakespeare skillfully has woven a plot of unfortunate incidents based on an entirely false notion and everything crumbles around Leontes. All familial relationships crumble as his fixation unfolds throughout the story. King Leontes does not put any faith in the virtues and fidelity of his wife; he is distrusting of his servant which points to certain egocentricity and selfishness on his part. He clearly believes only in his values and the perceived good he sees in himself blinds him to the actual good in others.

      For instance, the manner in which King Leontes deals with his unborn daughter is a clear premise to highlight the stupidity and ignorance:

King Leontes imprisons Hermione while pregnant with the innocent babe causing Hermione to have a premature birth due to the grief arising from her husband’s callous actions. Paulina dutifully carries the newborn baby and shows it to the King thinking that once he sees her he will have mercy on Hermione and the baby. However, he then is so outraged that he speaks of burning the baby and thereafter decides that he will only banish it to fend for itself.

         Thus, Leontes did in fact get his just deserts. He allowed jealousy to take over his rationality and as a result lost his family, friends and loved ones due to the misconceptions and accusations he wrongfully made. 

Mamillius & Shakespearean Society

In the beginning of Act 2 Scene 1 Mamillius exchanges the ideas about women with his mother and ladies in waiting. How might his conversation evoke larger social arguments about men and women in Shakespearean culture?

In The Winter’s Tale Act 2 Scene 1, Mamillius exchanges his ideas about women with his mother and the ladies in waiting. It is evident in this discourse that his viewpoint is a direct reflection of the wider society and inequality between the sexes seems to be a faltering aspect of the Shakespearean Era having influence on the minds of the members of society.

In the beginning of this scene Mamillius posits:

Not for because

Your brows are blacker; yet black brows, they say,

Become some women best, so that there be not

Too much hair there, but in a semicircle

Or a half-moon made with a pen.

In actuality, Mamillius is mocking women for using cosmetics. However, in essence his words portray the fact that men often noted every detail of a woman’s beauty and shows how much of an integral part it was for choosing a mate. Men often only saw women for their beauty and nature not their personality or sophistication. They had to look presentable; fair-skinned, slim, fashionable, right down to the very last hair on her brow.

Unfortunately, the same idea did not apply to the men of this society rather; men were chosen based on their status, looks, and education or even because they seemed interested. The prejudicial preference was given to males in that society due to the societal beliefs that men were smarter and were inclined to be of a better disposition than a female.

This scene illustrates the inequality within the socially stratified society with men being at the forefront and women being at the bottom of the social pyramid. For although Mamillius was but a child, the women still had to attend to his every whim, not because of his status as a prince but merely because of his ascribed status as a male. For instance when the young prince addresses the waiting ladies statement:

 Nay, that's a mock: I have seen a lady's nose

That has been blue, but not her eyebrows.

 This shows that women hardly had a say in anything even when referring to herself. In a man’s eyes she was almost always wrong and in society’s eyes, Men were always right whilst women’s opinions never mattered.

Even his mother had to put his opinion before hers. For example when Mamillius disregards his mother’s want of a ‘merry tale’:

A sad tale's best for winter: I have one

Of sprites and goblins.

In reality, Mamillius is only half-right. A sad story would, in fact, be best for the winter but a happy-ending had to be the result; a promise for the spring. However his mother did not want to discredit the young prince and instead agreed and allowed him to tell the sad tale. The reason being that women were often times socialized to be soft-spoken and submissive to their male counterparts. If they dare spoke out against their husbands or even had a simple argument or disagreement they were referred to as shrews or scolds by the wider society.

Similarly, once they were accused of cheating by a male they were instantly labeled as an adulteress and the men; cuckolds. Women ran the risk of being called such simply by being seen with a different man; no fair trial, no innocent until proven guilty; they were instantaneously shunned by society whereas men could just dismiss the accusation or society would be apathetic to such a claim.  Men could commit infidelity and fornication and still hold the same position he was in before.

Thus, Mamillius’ views on women were thought to have a relation to societal norms and values and were, in the least, objective. He merely upheld the Shakespearean culture of the inequalities between males and females and was seen as an innocent pawn in the play, used only to show these inequalities and set the scene for his father’s arrival.

The Beginning's Tale

1. What is the purpose of the first scene?

In Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale the first scene acts as a prelude to the novel. At the beginning, the reader marks Camillo and Archidamus engaging in a discussion about the two territories; Bohemia and Sicilia. In this discussion, it is obvious that the countries in this case are actually symbolizing the two kings that reign over those territories; Leontes and Polixenes. This is mainly because it infers human-like charcteristics to the said countries so much so that the reader perceives that it is, in fact a form of characterization. 

Shakespeare cleverly creates the first scene peculiarly in such a way as to draw attention to the characters and create dramatic significance. This refers to the elements of drama, acting in unity to effect the purpose of the play. If something is dramatically significant it may serve to advance the plot, develop a character, heighten the conflict, create audience expectancy and create irony. It also serves as a form of foreshadowing as to the relationship between the two kings.