!THE WINTER’S TALE (ca. 1609-11)
The First Folio is the sole authority for this play. The print house copy appears to have been Ralph Crane’s transcript either of Shakespeare’s fair copy or a promptbook.
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THE WINTER’S TALE also contains Shakespeare’s best (or, perhaps, most infamous) stage direction:
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“Exit pursued by a bear” (3.3.58 / TLN 1500)
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The play is about as true a romantic tragicomedy (or “mixed-bag”) as you can get. It starts up as a COMEDY. Then rather suddenly — “If this be nothing” (1.2.295 / TLN 389) — turns into a TRAGEDY. Upon our arrival in Bohemia (at 3.3) and the entrance of the Shepherd (3.3.59 / TLN 1501), it will turn again into a PASTORAL. But, as in all of Shakespeare’s romances, in the end the protagonists are reconciled and something lost is miraculously recovered.
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!!X AXIS (abscisses): 3369 lines
Subdivisions of ACTS & SCENES are according to the FOLIO.
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1.1: line 1
1.2: line 48
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2.1: line 583
2.2: line 819
2.3: line 897
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3.1: line 1144
3.2: line 1173
3.3: line 1136
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4.1: line 1578
4.2: line 1612
4.3: line 1667
4.4: line 1795
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5.1: line 2724
5.2: line 3009
5.3: line 3183
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!!Y AXIS: ENTRANCES & EXITS
Entrances & exits of Characters
According to their order of appearance.
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• (2,47) reads "enters at line 2, exits at line 47".
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• DISGUISED as Doricles (1796,2262)
is inserted at the end of a character’s list (in this case Florizel’s) to indicate the “duration” of said disguise.
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• PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS are capitalized.
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CAMILLO (Lord of Leontes’ Court)
(2,47) (49,582) (1613,1666) (1857,2552) (3184,3369)
DISGUISED (1857,2324)
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Archidamus (a Bohemian Lord)
(2,47)
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LEONTES (King of Sicily)
(49,453) (628,818) (989,1143) (1174,1435) (2725,3008) (3184,3369)
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HERMIONE (his Queen)
(49,264) (584,733) (1185,1338) (3208,3369) DISGUISED as a Statue (3208,3312)
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Mamillius (his son)
(49,294) (584,660) RIP
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POLIXENES (King of Bohemia)
(49,264) (467,582) (1613,1666) (1857,2285) (3184,3369) DISGUISED (1857,2260)
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ANTIGONUS (Lord of Leontes’ Court)
(628,818) (928,1124) (1437,1500) RIP
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PAULINA (wife of Antigonus)
(820,896) (928,1058) (1185,1338) (1357,1435) (2725,3008) (3184,3369)
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Jailer
(824,842) (844,896)
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Emilia (attendant of Hermione)
(844,896)
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Cleomines (Lord of Leontes’ Court)
(1145,1172) (1303,1435) (2725,2868) (2878,3008)
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Dion (Lord of Leontes’ Court)
(1145,1172) (1303,1435) (2725,3008)
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Mariners
(1437,1456)
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SHEPHERD
(1501,1577) (1857,2309) (2566,2711) (3131,3182)
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CLOWN (Shepherd’s son)
(1520,1577) (1700,1785) (1857,2144) (2566,2711) (3131,3182)
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Time
(1579,1611)
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AUTOLICUS (a rogue singer)
(1668,1794) (2043,2144) (2471,2723) (3010,3182)
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FLORIZEL (Son of King Polixenes)
(1796,2552) (2878,3008) (3184,3369) DISGUISED as Doricles (1796,2262)
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PERDITA (long lost daughter of Leontes)
As baby: (928,1124) (1437,1577)
As young woman: (1796,2552) (2878,3008) (3184,3369)
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Mopsa & Dorcas (shepherdesses)
(1857,2144)
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Servant announcing the “dance of twelve satyrs”
(2145,2163)
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Twelve Satyrs (stage direction: “Here a dance of twelve satyrs”)
(2164)
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Sicilian Gent#1 (3010,3120)
Sic. Gent#2 (3029,3120)
Sic. Gent#3 (3052,3120)
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!!PLOTS & COLOURING
The play takes place in two distinct locations:
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• SICILY (1,1435) & again (2724,3369)
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• BOHEMIA (1436,2723)
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The SICILIAN characters are:
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LEONTES
CAMILLO
HERMIONE
MAMILLIUS
ANTIGONUS
PAULINA
EMILIA
CLEOMINES & DION
PERDITA
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And the BOHEMIAN characters:
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POLIXENES
ARCHIDAMUS
SHEPHERD
CLOWN
AUTOLICUS
FLORIZEL
MOPSA & DORCAS
THE TWELVE SATYRS
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!!METATHEATRE
• Four characters are disguised:
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POLIXENES: DISGUISED as a Gentleman (1857,2260)
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CAMILLO: DISGUISED as a Gentleman (1857,2260)
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FLORIZEL: DISGUISED as Doricles (1796,2262)
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HERMIONE: DISGUISED as a Statue (3208,3312)
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• The masque/dance of TWELVE SATYRS is an instance of play-within-the-play, even if it is a rather brief one (at least “textually”): (2164)
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• Furthermore, that HERMIONE makes her final appearance as a painted STATUE standing behind a “curtain” upon a “stage” (since the first must be “drawn” and she must “descend” from the second) is a moment of meta-“something-or-other” that certainly deserves FRAMING: (3208,3312).
