I figured as I was going back to look at the primary text that it would be important to find out more about the oracle in The Winter's Tale, as the oracle is a pretty obvious part of the supernaturalness of the play.
A servant comes in during Act II, scene 3, to tell Leontes that his friends had come back with news from the oracle he'd asked about his wife's, Hermione's, fidelity. Leontes says:
'Twenty-three days / They have been absent, 'tis good speed; foretells / The great Apollo suddenly will have / The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords, / Summon a session, that we may arraign / Our most disloyal lady; for as she hath / Been publicly accused, so shall she have / A just and open trial. / While she lives, / My heart will be a burden to me. Leave me, / And think upon my bidding."
Leontes says that he wants his wife to have a fair trial and he himself has called for the oracle. His statement that her living is a burden to him and that she is "[o]ur most disloyal lady" betrays, however, that he does not feel like acting impartially or justly.
During the trial, he asks the officer to read the oracle's words, which are straightforward and unexpected:
"Hermione is chaste, Polixenes blameless, Camillo a true subject, Leontes a jealous tyrant, his innocent babe truly begotten, and the King shall live without an heir, if that which is lost be not found" (l. 130-133 of Act 3, scene 2). Leontes exclaims, upon hearing that Hermione is innocent, "Hast thou read truth?" He will not believe it, considers it falsehood, because it does not agree with his thoughts about his wife's guilt.
In a way, the oracle is a metaphor for the supernatural, or even the romantic, elements of The Winter's Tale. In this case, instead of Leontes, it is the audience asking for dramatic events, for an oracle or a performance, perhaps in search of entertainment or truth. When they are given this truth or entertainment by the actors, however, they claim that this romance or the supernatural elements of it are unreal, "no truth at all." They discount the experiences of romance or the supernatural because, like Leontes said he wanted to listen to the oracle but had already ruled out the truth, truth in romances and the supernatural is unexpected.
I feel like this is a pretty strong connection with the primary text and the essay. Hooray hooray! How are things going?
This is a good connection. The Oracle is just like the Statues scene: you have to choose to believe it regardless of whether or not it's real.
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