Venting: Hermione's 16-year long hide-out?

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!

Do You Believe in Magic?

magic from Creative Commons: OUCHcharley

I'm wondering:

• Do the romantic elements of The Winter's Tale in fact make it more applicable to life than a tragedy?
• How does the supernatural element of a romance make it more true-to-life?  
• What role does fate play in a romance?