I just thought it would be good to post a little venting. I feel like there are some good starts to ideas going on in my brain about The Winter's Tale, but they're pretty scattered and varied. Paul suggested I look at the scene with Hermione's statue coming alive.
I did that today and it's pretty compelling, especially because whether or not her being there is a miracle is ambiguous. I'm thinking about the part that kind of magic plays in Shakespeare's romances versus tragedies, but I can't seem to decide where I stand on whether or not Hermione coming alive was a miracle or just a 16-year long hide-out in Paulina's house, and I'm not sure how to connect that in a meaningful way to what I've read about romance and tragedy. What do you guys think? Is there a direction I could go that strikes you as particularly interesting?
I hope as I go back and read literary criticism and more of the primary text, like what was suggested in class, my stance on Hermione and the connection between her, romance, and tragedy, will be more apparent. Thanks for your help!
It's definitely interesting that Shakespeare left Hermione's magic ambiguous. It's almost like he lets you believe what you want to believe--magic or just plot. I wonder why Shakespeare did that. Was it to play to a superstitious audience while doubting superstition himself? Was he trying to explain why people believe in the supernatural because of strong emotion? (I'm thinking of the guilty parties in the tragedies visited by ghosts again.) I don't know. I can't figure it out either.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot there, though. Keep looking!
And here I was thinking that I was the only one incredibly confused on that point haha - either way though, Hermoine is essentially trapped as a statue (the classical Greek embodiment of beauty) until her loving husband kisses her - it's like Snow White! Romantic? I think yes.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I remember discussing when we read this play in class was that Hermione needed the 16 years to forgive Leontes. She may have wanted to die, but Paulina probably came up with the plan because she figured because of the prophecy that sooner or later Perdita would turn up and she and Hermione would be needed in each other's lives (notice how at the end when Hermione first speaks she addresses Perdita). She also knew that Leontes still loved Hermione, that Hermione still felt the same about him, and she knew they would be much better off if given time to forgive and forget. I think the real miracle of the story is that they are able to come back together in love, as a family--I'm not sure that's what Shakespeare meant to portray, you'll have to figure that out, but that's my spin.
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DeleteI like that reading of the ending, Liz! It's definitely the most positive I've heard. Thanks for your encouragement, guys!
DeleteI analyzed Hermione's role in the play as I wrote my lit crit essay and I found that the events of the play seem almost odd in especially as regards Hermione. I am still, to a certain degree trying to figure it all out, but I think that Hermione serves to tie together the themes of Tragedy and Romance. Her death serves as the tragedy and her life goes to show that love is still real after all that time.
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