A Pagan's Perspective in The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale depicts a family torn apart as a result of the jealous actions of Leontes, the King of Sicilia. The actions and personality of Leontes can also be
observed in Greek Tragedies by Homer and Sophocles. The relationship between the members of
the royal family portray direct and subtle parallels to the Classical works before it.
Louis Martz comments on the parallels between The Winter's Tale and Greek tragedies in
his article: Shakespeare's Humanist Enterprise: The Winter's Tale. Martz draws several subtle
parallels to Greek Tragedies with references to location, religion, syntax, speech, chronological
actions of a character and the concept of the tragic hero. Comparisons are drawn to the tragedies
of Agamemnon, Oedipus Rex and Antigone. Martz places emphasis on the characters of Leontes
and Hermione, but also to more subtle characters like the Shepherd and Autolycus. The concept
of The Winter's Tale as a trilogy is also introduced by Martz. The defiance of the Oracle, the
death of Mamillius, and the miraculous rebirth of Hermione are also vital aspects of the
tragicomedy discussed by Martz.
In Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, King Leontes is introduced as a jealous ruler, acting
as a good host. His jealousy and suspicion toward his Queen Hermione and to his guest, King
Polixenes is rooted in the fact that Hermione is expecting a child. Leontes does not trust his
Queen's faithfulness and suspects that the unborn child is the son of Polixenes. Martz argues that
the jealousy in Leontes was present even before the opening of the play, but none-the-...
... middle of paper ...
... of that
trilogy, is lying at the foot of the great stature of Athene in Athens. Then the goddess herself
enters, a living presence, to redeem Orestes from his hereditary curse. Should we add this
reminiscence to the other allusions to Greek tragedy and myth that have long been felt in the
statue-scene of The Winter's Tale..."(131.)
The tragedies of Homer, Sophocles and Aeschylus draw important parallels to William
Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. Although many parallels are subtle, they can be observed
through careful examination of both the texts and historical data.
Bibliography:
Works Cited.
1) Martz, Louis L.: Shakespeare's Humanist Enterprise: The Winter's Tale.
Chelsea House Publishers, New York. 1987
2) Shakespeare, William: The Winter's Tale.
Washington Square Press, New York. 1998
“The Odyssey” is an epic written by Homer between 750 and 650 B.C. It is the tale of the main hero’s, Odysseus’s, journey home to Ithaca from Troy. It takes place after the Trojan War and is the sequel to “The Iliad.” Odysseus and his men set sail from Troy and come across the lair of the lotus eaters. After escaping, they run into the cyclops,
Romeo and Juliet is the tragic story of two young, “star-crossed” lovers from feuding families, destined for disaster. The Capulets and the Montagues have an ancient grudge on one another that has been passed down over generations. Unfortunately, Romeo and Juliet end up victims of their families’ vicious loathing. Romeo and Juliet’s story has several intertwining themes such as the aforementioned hatred between the Capulets and Montagues and the revenge Romeo strives for after his friend Mercutio’s death. Also, the love and passion between Romeo and Juliet and the loyalty of Romeo and his friends. Honour and revenge also feature frquently throughout the play including Juliet’s pressure to honour her family, and the revenge Romeo sees as his duty when Tybalt kills Mercutio.
Dionysus knows that due to being a foreign god, the Greeks do not accept him and are ignorant of his rank. Instead of taking this information into consideration, Dionysus instead decides to prove his superiority by destroying Pentheus for disrespecting him. He seethes stating that the “city has to learn…making mortal man endorse the fact that [He is] a god.” (The Bacchae 397). This blatant challenge to humankind conveys Dionysus’ desire to forcefully correct those who are ignorant of his reputation as a god and force their respect through fear and violence. This is further proven when he succeeds in his plan, by driving Agave to conduct sparagmos on her own son, and becomes distraught at losing their son. Although Agave is Dionysus’ follower, he gives her no mercy as Pentheus is her son and she must be punished as well. As Cadmus begs for mercy, Dionysus refuses to listen to his pleas and insists upon punishment. He tells Cadmus [that he] shall be changed into a snake, and [his] wife, Ares’ daughter…shall take reptilian shape as well.”(The Bacchae 453). Dionysus’ wishes to prove his nobility by punishing those he is nonetheless related to and having no mercy. Dionysus knew of Pentheus’ lack of respect for him and instead of proving himself, chose to create a wicked and sadistic plan in which he could prove to Pentheus his authority. Dionysus is seen using those near
to all of the characters in the poem. In book two, after the argument between Achilles and
Ingri and Edgar Parin D’alaure’s. Book of Greek Myths. New York: Bantam Dowbleday Dell Publishing Group, 1962.
In many works of Literature, a character comes forth as a hero, only to die because of a character trait known as a tragic flaw; Hamlet from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Okonkwo from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Winston Smith from Orwell’s 1984 all exhibit that single trait, which leads, in one way or another, to their deaths. These three tragic heroes are both similar and different in many ways: the way they die, their tragic flaws, and what they learn. All three characters strongly exhibit the traits needed to be classified as a tragic hero.
The common thread of jealousy ties together the main plots in Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and The Winter's Tale. In each of these plays, the main conflict is centered around some form of jealousy. While jealousy is the mutual, most prominent cause for turmoil in these plays, its effects on the characters, and ultimately the plots, is different in each case. This difference has much to do with the way in which the concept of jealousy is woven into each play, and what it is intended to accomplish.
The play, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare revolves around several themes. Specifically, incest and sexism play a major role in the play. The ideologies are first introduced through the actions of Hamlet, but they eventually transpire to other characters.
Aeschylus. “The Oresteia.” Aeschylus: The Oresteia. Tran. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books, 1979. 99-277.
The idea of altering perception is a fundamental one in “The Winter’s Tale”, and art is seen as the way to make this alteration occur. While it is clear to the reader from the very beginning that Hermione is in fact innocent, Shakespeare introduces the reader to Leontes’s persistence to clearly show the beginnings of the conflict brewing. Despite Hermione’s clear innocence, Leontes has been written as a character so belligerent to ever see what is universally accepted as true in nature. The result is a conflict clear to the reader—a conflict of nature on its own merit, a question of truth, versus art, where perception is inherently flawed. Shakespeare creates a truly paranoid, conflicted character in Leontes, which works to make his objectivity, his desire to make truths out of falsities, even more apparent. Leontes speaks to the audience passionately upon his discovery, but his passion sounds so melodramatic, especially when we as readers a...
2. The character of Teiresias should be discussed in your conclusion since he embodies the truth about the absolute finality of fate, which is exactly what the other three characters failed to see.
Tragic heroes, who destined for a serious downfall, are the protagonist of a dramatic tragedy. A tragic hero is usually a great hero, who gets the most respect from other people; on the other hand, a tragic hero can also lose everything he gained because of his mistakes. His downfall is the result of a wrong judgment, a flaw which might combined with fated and external forces. The downfall can cause the tragic hero to suffer for the rest of his life. In many literary works, the downfall of the tragic heroes usually happen in their highest point. In the same way, Macbeth is a tragic hero in the play called “The Tragedy of Macbeth” which is written by a legendary writer, William Shakespeares. Macbeth is a great general who gained many respect from the people and even the king. In the highest point of his life, because of seeking for greater power, it created Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth, a tragic hero, causes suffering for himself and others by committing murders and creating distress, which are the negative effects of seeking for a greater power.
Throughout the first act, the viewer's opinion of Leontes has been corrupted. We have seen the demise of Leontes' sanity, a rise in a sinister attitude, culminating in his plot to kill Polixenes. The act has revealed an intensely paranoid figure, a poignantly insecure character, a man taking pleasure in his envy of Polixenes' relationship with his wife.
The Winter’s Tale and Othello, both by William Shakespeare, contain fantasies of female betrayal. In both play’s these fantasies are aggregated by something, be it Iago in Othello or Hermione’s pregnancy in The Winter’s Tale. Iago confronts Othello in act 3.3, eluding to his wife’s betrayal. Both Othello and Leontes have a seemingly sudden onset of jealousy. However, Othello’s jealousy forms later in the play than Leontes’. This is important when comparing the two because there are acts of the play showing Othello’s nature and character which do not point towards jealousy or concern for his wife’s conduct.
The concept of tragic hero is very important in the construction of tragedy. It is the main cause of pity and fear. The tragic hero is a character between the two extremes; he is neither virtuous nor evil. At the same time, this character is better than the ordinary men or audience, he has some good qualities. Moreover, as a tragic hero, he is moving from happiness to misery by his downfall at the end. In fact, this downfall is caused by an error or a flaw in his character not by a vice or depravity. Another feature in the tragic hero is that he has good reputation and he is a man of prosperity. It can be said that Oedipus is a tragic hero because he has all the previous mentioned characteristics and the whole play is a classical application of this concept.