The Winter's Tale

“Or I am much deceived, cuckolds ere now;

And many a man there is, even at this present,

Now while I speak this, holds his wife by the arm,

That little thinks she has been sluiced in’s absence

And his pond fish’d by his next neighbour, by

Sir Smile, his neighbour: nay, there’s comfort in’t

Whiles other men have gates and those gates open’d,

As mine, against their will. Should all despair

That have revolted wives, the tenth of mankind

Would hang themselves. Physic for’t there is none.”

Leontes’s asides include sexist stereotypes that imply it is in women’s “nature” to be unfaithful. However, he does not place blame solely on Hermione, mentioning Polixenes and his own involvement. Claiming there is no “physic” for infidelity connects to the recurring motifs of illness and infection.

“There is a sickness

Which puts some of us in distemper, but

I cannot name the disease; and it is caught

Of you that yet are well.”

Illness and infection are recurring motifs, particularly in this scene. Here, Camillo explains how Leontes is affected—or “infected”—by Polixenes despite Polixenes’s innocence.

“A sad tale’s best for winter: I have one

Of sprites and goblins.”

Mamillius says this to Hermione when she asks for a story to calm him. This line is the most closely tied to the play’s title (The Winter’s Tale), reinforcing its somber tone and winter setting. This line’s delivery by Mamillius also foreshadows his death.

“No, by my life.

Privy to none of this. How will this grieve you,

When you shall come to clearer knowledge, that

You thus have publish’d me! Gentle my lord, You scarce can right me throughly then to say

You did mistake.”

Though the Oracle’s prophecy is the most significant, several other statements act as prophecies, foreshadowing the fate of Leontes. This line from Hermione before her arrest predicts Leontes’s grieving when he finally recognizes his wrongdoing. This quote is one of many examples of Hermione’s devotion to truth, showing how she is unafraid to speak her mind.

“Do not weep, good fools;

There is no cause: when you shall know your mistress

Has deserved prison, then abound in tears

As I come out: this action I now go on

Is for my better grace.”

Like Important Quote #5, this line from Hermione foreshadows the ruin that will come with her wrongful conviction, highlighting her foresight and understanding of the situation. Her arrest being “for [her] better grace” also highlights her status as a martyr.

“The silence often of pure innocence

Persuades when speaking fails.”

In this quote, Paulina suggests that Leontes, upon seeing the “pure innocence” of his newborn daughter, will persuade him of Hermione’s innocence. He refuses to listen to reason, but might listen to a baser instinct, that of his own flesh and blood.

“Nor I, nor any

But one that’s here, and that’s himself, for he

The sacred honour of himself, his queen’s,

His hopeful son’s, his babe’s, betrays to slander,

Whose sting is sharper than the sword’s; and will not—

For, as the case now stands, it is a curse

He cannot be compell’d to’t—once remove

The root of his opinion, which is rotten

As ever oak or stone was sound.”

Paulina says this to Leontes when he accuses her of being a traitor, instead calling the king himself a traitor because of his treatment of the queen, his neglect of the truth. Her mention of a “curse” adds to the play’s use of prophecies. Her comparison of Leontes’s opinion to a rotten root and his resolve to oak or stone frames his certainty as lacking foundation.

“It is a heretic that makes the fire,

Not she which burns in’t.”

Paulina’s line to Leontes contrasts her use of truth and logic with his passion and emotion. She says this after one of his many threats against her supposed treason, foreshadowing his own downfall. Her rebuttal also applies to Hermione, who is suffering the most from Leontes’s jealousy.

“Since what I am to say must be but that

Which contradicts my accusation and

The testimony on my part no other

But what comes from myself, it shall scarce boot me

To say ‘not guilty:’ mine integrity

Being counted falsehood, shall, as I express it, Be so received.”

Hermione’s defense during her trial reveals she knows the power imbalance between her and Leontes prevents her from having a fair trial. Though neither Leontes nor Hermione has evidence to support their claims, she is in a worse position. Despite having the loyalty of all named Sicilian characters, she is nevertheless at the mercy of the king.

“Now, my liege,

Tell me what blessings I have here alive,

That I should fear to die?”

Hermione says this to Leontes shortly after he implies he had their daughter killed and threatens to kill her as well. This quote highlights not only Hermione’s courage but Leontes’s tyranny. Her ability to face death is especially significant to her arc, as she later “dies” and is “resurrected” upon the return of her daughter.

“Apollo’s angry, and the heavens themselves

Do strike at my injustice.”

Leontes says this line upon learning of his son’s death, which comes directly after he denies Apollo’s prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi. He only recognizes the full extent of his tyranny through divine punishment, despite other characters warning him earlier. Though he betrays his family and kingdom, he sees the betrayal of his faith as the most egregious crime.

“Go on, go on

Thou canst not speak too much; I have deserved

All tongues to talk their bitterest.”

Leontes says this to Paulina after she berates him for causing his wife’s death, his regret immediate. She is not afraid to voice his wrongs, and he takes them to heart, using her as a moral compass for the next 16 years.

“Prithee, bring me

To the dead bodies of my queen and son:

One grave shall be for both: upon them shall

The causes of their death appear, unto

Our shame perpetual. Once a day I’ll visit

The chapel where they lie, and tears shed there

Shall be my recreation: so long as nature

Will bear up with this exercise, so long

I daily vow to use it. Come and lead me

Unto these sorrows.”

Like Important Quote #13, Leontes shows he is willing to repent, despite believing he can never be forgiven. His insistence that his wife and son share a grave shows his understanding that he alone caused both of their deaths. His determination to see the body of his wife and visit her grave every day supports the divine nature of Hermione’s resurrection, rather than the possibility that she hid from the public for 16 years.

“[Thou] mettest with things

dying, I with things newborn.”

The Old Shepherd says this to his son, a Clown, when he finds Perdita. This quote speaks to the cyclical nature of the play and its focus on time. In the first three acts, winter brings with it death and destruction; this quote acts as a transition from the “death” of the current plot to new life, to summer and younger characters seeking happy endings.

“Since it is in my power

To o’erthrow law and in one self-born hour

To plant and o’erwhelm custom.”

Time is an important symbol, as this quote is being delivered by the personified character of “Time.” Time references its ability to cause change for better or worse, and is used to enact the play’s 16-year time skip.

“The gods themselves,

Humbling their deities to love, have taken

The shapes of beasts upon them: Jupiter

Became a bull, and bellow’d; the green Neptune

A ram, and bleated; and the fire-robed god,

Golden Apollo, a poor humble swain,

As I seem now. Their transformations

Were never for a piece of beauty rarer,

Nor in a way so chaste, since my desires

Run not before mine honour, nor my lusts

Burn hotter than my faith.”

Here, Florizel references Greek and Roman myths in which gods transform in order to court humans. Though he says this to reassure Perdita of the possibility of continuing their relationship, his comparison of himself to gods only reinforces his higher status. This comparison also shows his faith in his and Perdita’s love, one nobler than the gods themselves.

“O, but, sir,

Your resolution cannot hold, when ‘tis

Opposed, as it must be, by the power of the king:

One of these two must be necessities,

Which then will speak, that you must change this purpose,

Or I my life.”

Perdita says this to Florizel when he declares his love. Unlike the lovesick Florizel, Perdita, given her social station, is more rational and understands the peril of being discovered by Polixenes. In comparing their respective sacrifices, she highlights how her way of life—and possibly her life itself—would be at risk if they were to marry.

“I’ld have you do it ever: when you sing,

I’ld have you buy and sell so, so give alms,

Pray so; and, for the ordering your affairs,

To sing them too: when you do dance, I wish you

A wave o’ the sea, that you might ever do

Nothing but that; move still, still so,

And own no other function: each your doing,

So singular in each particular,

Crowns what you are doing in the present deed,

That all your acts are queens.”

Though overly optimistic in Perdita’s eyes, Florizel often expresses his love and respect through quotes like this. He refers to Perdita and her acts using words like “crowns” and “queens,” foreshadowing the reveal of her royal heritage.

“Methinks I see

Leontes opening his free arms and weeping

His welcomes forth; asks thee the son forgiveness,

As ‘twere i’ the father’s person; kisses the hands

Of your fresh princess; o’er and o’er divides him

‘Twixt his unkindness and his kindness; the one

He chides to hell and bids the other grow

Faster than thought or time.”

In this quote, Camillo tells Florizel and Perdita how he thinks they will be received by Leontes. Though he previously fled Leontes’s wrath, he recognizes his former king’s penance and believes he will show the young couple kindness; this capacity for change is a key message in the play.

“As now she might have done,

So much to my good comfort, as it is

Now piercing to my soul. O, thus she stood,

Even with such life of majesty, warm life,

As now it coldly stands, when first I woo’d her!

I am ashamed: does not the stone rebuke me

For being more stone than it? O royal piece,

There’s magic in thy majesty, which has

My evils conjured to remembrance and

From thy admiring daughter took the spirits,

Standing like stone with thee.”

Leontes addresses both his company and the lifelike statue of Hermione. Not only does he see his wife’s statue as stone, but also himself and his daughter—as they were all affected by his jealousy. This line highlights Hermione’s nobility, further depicting her as a martyr who stood strong against slander.

“Either forbear,

Quit presently the chapel, or resolve you

For more amazement. If you can behold it,

I’ll make the statue move indeed, descend

And take you by the hand; but then you’ll think—

Which I protest against—I am assisted

By wicked powers.”

Early in the play, Paulina is accused of being a witch by Leontes, yet the only power she wields is truth. Here, she references his accusations, adamant that her “powers” are not “wicked” at all. She gives Leontes a choice regarding whether or not he wants to see his wife resurrected—though she herself has guided his actions since Hermione’s death—as she knows his penance is ultimately in his own hands.

“‘Tis time; descend; be stone no more; approach;

Strike all that look upon with marvel. Come,

I’ll fill your grave up: stir, nay, come away,

Bequeath to death your numbness, for from him

Dear life redeems you. You perceive she stirs:

[HERMIONE comes down]

Start not; her actions shall be holy as

You hear my spell is lawful: do not shun her

Until you see her die again; for then

You kill her double. Nay, present your hand:

When she was young you woo’d her; now in age

Is she become the suitor?”

Paulina references magic as she entreats the statue of Hermione to wake. Whether literal or metaphorical, this scene implies a strong bond between her and Hermione, as she promises Hermione that it is safe for her to return to the world of the living. The final line also shows how the power imbalance between Leontes and Hermione has shifted, as his actions have made him forever in her debt.

“You gods, look down

And from your sacred vials pour your graces

Upon my daughter’s head! Tell me, mine own.

Where hast thou been preserved? where lived? how found

Thy father’s court? for thou shalt hear that I,

Knowing by Paulina that the oracle

Gave hope thou wast in being, have preserved

Myself to see the issue.”

This is Hermione’s address to both the gods and her daughter, her final line and the only one delivered after her resurrection. This line reinforces the idea that she was in hiding rather than dead for the last 16 years. What is left unsaid is just as significant as what is said, as she does not address, let alone forgive, her husband.