The Winter S Tale Essay Prompt 6 Outline

Mimi Rondeau Ms. Wang AP Literature and Composition 星期三, 四月 4, 2018

The Winter’s Tale Essay – Prompt 6 – Outline

Thesis: For every thing destroyed there is a chance at redemption (compensation?) or rebirth, but not without commensurate suffering and sacrifice. Redemption in possible if an equal sacrifice is made.

Introduction

Death by fire is both a harsh punishment, and at the same time, considered to be purifying.  Fire is used as a destructive entity o Embodies rage o Embodies hatred o Used for punishment  Fire is used as a purging entity o Is followed up by rebirth (like phoenix?) . Rebirth from the ashes (?) o  Fire purifies at expense of life subject who is burning.

Leontes jealousy is a disease that drives him to do regrettable things to the ones he loves.  A blind rage  Consumed by emotion  Acts on impulse rather than reason  Destructive  Pays no attention to effect of actions  Inevitably hurts the very people who he was paranoid about

[Animal lore has a great impact in the destruction of human lives.  Basilisk o Beast with fatal gaze (mythical) o (1.2.387-390) . Reference to basilisk  Beast with fatal gaze . Polixenes want to know if he is cause of all commotion  Can’t see how he incited problem o  Spider o (2.1.39-45)  “Spider in cup” imagery  If see spider  will die  If no see spider  wont die o Pox’s situation o  Bear o Kills Antigonous o Rips him apart  Wolves o Generically harmful to lambs and sheep o Hazardous to innocence  Kites  ] Mamilius plays the part of the sacrificial lamb in order to restore the universe to its former state of perfection. 

Perdita is lost/found at the expense of pure hearted Antigonus’ life and Leontes chance to raise his one living child. (Sin of abandonment; resulting loss of original parental bond) 

Hermione’s “rebirth” after her “death” shows that even for death there is a possibility of rebirth and redemption if enough is lost in exchange. (Mamil dies, Per doen’t know mother or father, Leo + Hem + Per no see for 16 years; time and relationship is lost) 

Even divine/supernatural not exempted from justification of actions; reflects death and the rebirth of life. (Ceres sad, Pros sad, winter kills, spring returns)

Flowers/nature is often used as a direct representation of the birth of life and subsequent rebirth at the restart of the seasons.

Conclusion The Winter’s Tale Essay – Prompt 6 – Notes

(1.1.38-44)  Old man not content to die until Mamil was born  People would postpone their own deaths to be able to watch Mamil grow up o Ironic b/c Mamil is only one to truly die o Mamil is/becomes “sacrificial lamb”

(1.2.204-207)  Ref to disease

(1.2.296-298)  Cami pleads Leontes no be so unreasonable  “diseased” opinion is bad/negative idea which is poisonous to their relationship and will do no good

(1.2.304-307)  If Hem’s liver was diseased as she was guilty, she would not live the hour  Leo is wishing/elaborating on the intensity of his suspicion of Hem  Pox referred to as if cause of disease  Part of rant

(1.2.316-318)  Leo ask Cami to kill Pox  Result of “madness” (Leo)

(1.2.318-324)  Cami no wish violence on Pox  No want destroy relationship

(1.2.324)  Leo wishes Cami “rot” in response to Cami’s reluctance  Cami can go to hell if he no agree w/ Leo’s POV

(1.2.361-363)  Cami refer to own death if he no flee court b/c he no want poison Pox

(1.2.384-383)  Cami talk about “sickness” that has taken hold of Leo  Unknown “disease” is causing Leo to act irrationally  “disease” caught from Pox

(1.2.387-390)  Ref to basilisk o Beast w/ fatal gaze  Pox want to know if he is cause of all commotion o Can’t see how he incited problem 

(1.2.408-412)  Cami tell Pox what he was ordered to do  Pox must run away or Pox will die  Cami must run away or Cami will die

(1.2.420-424)  This is worst thing that has spread like a disease and infected the king

(1.2.441.447)  Pox recognizes jealousy  saddened by degree of destructive force

(1.2.460-462)  Pox entrusts life with Cami

(2.1.39-45)  Spider in cup imagery  If see spider  will die  If no see spider  wont die o Pox’s situation

(2.1.127-129)  Leo’s jealous rage will harm 3 most important people to Leo

(2.1.146-150)  Antig shows depth of certitude by violence toward family (graphic examples)

(2.2.24-25)  Emilia describes Hem as born before her time

(2.2.26-29)  Per is born o Innocent o Prisoner of prisoner

(2.2.39-42)  Pau argue  Perhaps sight of child will “cure” Leo of his “illness” and restore old Leo

(2.3.10-18)  Servant and Leo  Mamillius falls ill, debilitating sickness, wasting away

(2.3.53-57)  Pau play doctor for Leo b/c she truly is loyal  Truly want to see his well again

(2.3.94-95)  Leo condemns child to burn

(2.3.108-109)  Leo condemn Pau to hang to shut her up

(2.3.113)  Leo want burn child, Antig and Pau

(2.3.113-115)  Pau is firm in her conviction  States that Leo is one at fault, not Hem  Guilty one doing accusing and burning  Death by fire is severest punishment for heretics

(2.3.131-141)  Leo rant  Orders Antig to burn baby or else Leo will burn him and his wife (Pau)

(2.3.141-143)  Mamil dies  Servant fears Hem’s reaction to news

(2.3.155-156)  Leo express his fear  Let bastard child live and curse it then

(2.3.167-168)  Sword is thing of violence  Sword is thing of purity that is fit to swear oaths over

(2.3.183-191)  Antig pity child  Wish child luck  Wild animal imagery o Kites, ravens, wolves, bears  Hope lost/left up to nature

(3.1.95-97)  Hem argues  Hem is kept away from Mamil as if she were infected  Mamil is her second joy

(3.2.146-147)  Pau to Leo  Death is taking revenge on Leo’s actions by taking first Mamil and then Hem

(3.2.173-200)  Wrathful Pau at Leo’s actions  Expresses emotion towards injustices Leo has made towards others  No sort of torment/torture will change Pau’s mind

(3.2.201-212)  Pau proclaim Hem to be dead  Swear if Leo can resurrect her, she will worship him like a god o Sarcastic  Accuse Leo a tyrant who does not feel weight of actions o No matter how much he repent, gods will not forgive his injustices done Hem o Even if he prayed on hands and knees, naked, fasting, on a barren mountain in a perpetual storm for ten thousand years (such is the depth of his sin against Hem) 

(3.2.236-238)  Leo promise to pray at (combined) grave of Hem and Mamil  his way of repenting

(3.3.2-6)  sea is threatening, angry and dangerous

(3.3.14-57)  Antig talk to self  Hem talk to him in dream

(3.3.86-100)  Clown talk to Shep about storm, ship and then Antig’s death (ripped apart by bear)

(4.2.1-3)  Pox cant stand denying Cami anything but would die if Cami left  it is a sickness to deny Cami anything he desires

(4.2.10-28)  Pox spk  Duentandre for “wipe”, “fatal”, “execute”, “punish”,

(4.3.4)  Auto song  Double meaning for “red blood” and “winter”

(4.3.28-30)  Auto resilient to death threats  Auto never give his future a second thought

(4.3.80)  Auto sarcastic

(4.3.87-89)  “There’s no virtue whipped / out of the court”

(4.4.1-3)  Flora goddess of flowers and spring  Spring = rebirth  Flowers = rebirth  Weeds = stubborn clinging to life/can never truly be gotten rid of

(4.4.24-35)  “transformation” may refer to life to death to reincarnation

(4.4.78-79) (4.4.81-85)  As year ages seasons come and go  Reflect ending and beginning and return of life as seen in flowers that bloom in spring, die in winter and are “reborn” the next year (to begin again)

(4.4.87-88)  “Nature” is an entity which produces/gives life  As in “mother nature”  One who gives birth to life 

(4.4.99-108)  Per compares herself with a flower  Flower gives birth to more flowers  Man breeds with per to make life

(4.4.111-129)  Per talk  Ref to Roman (Greek) myth  Story of Proserpina (Persephone; daughter of Demeter/Ceres earth goddess and Zeus/Jupiter) and Dis (Pluto/God of Hades) o b/c of this story, seasons exist o “death” of Proserpina (go to underworld) means Demeter is unhappy = winter (if unhappy, life on world suffers/dies) o return of Proserpina to world above means Demeter happy = spring, summer (if happy, weather is warm)  each god or goddess has affect on seasons and behaviors of each season  each personifies an aspect  each cam be seen reflected in a flower o all are beautiful in some way o old age/winter is not without its own beauty  Flowers reflect beauty of life/death/rebirth/cycle

(4.4.209-212)  Servant suggests Per were actually a she-angel and danced with the gods.

(4.4.428-429)  Greek Noah  Destruction of all in order to have world remade anew  Deluge of destruction followed by total rebirth

(4.4.435-439)  Pox condemns Shep to painful death

(4.4.451-460)  Shep is angry/upset/distraught b/c he thinks his is condemned to hang  Rather than die peacefully in his bed (Shep is 83?! Fourscore = 4 x 20; three = 3; 4 x 20 + 3 = 83)

(4.4.475-479)  Floz condemns all life in his anger at father (Pox)

() The Winter’s Tale, a later play by William Shakespeare, deals with the theme of redemption. Due to his jealous rage, Leontes, king of Sicilia, loses his wife, his son, his newborn child and best friend, all that was the most important to him. He suffers in isolation for sixteen years until slowly some of what he lost returns to him. Leontes becomes aware of his mistake which he understands will limit what he is able to regain. Leontes’ diseased state of mind is responsible for destroying his family and friends but in the end his suffering allows him to redeem himself with deeper understanding. Leontes’ story of redemption permeates the play in which for everything destroyed there is a chance for redemption or rebirth, but not without commensurate suffering and sacrifice. Even the divine, the supernatural, are not exempted from responsibility for one’s actions; reflects death and the rebirth of life. The play’s theme is grounded in Greek mythology in the story of Proserpina (also Proserpine). Perdita mentions the myth of Proserpina, who was gathering flowers one day when Dis, ruler of the underworld, consumed by lust, forcefully brought Proserpina to the underworld to be his queen (4.4.116-118). Leontes situation parallels that of Dis’ whose actions were also driven by one of the seven deadly sins. Jealousy, an extreme form of envy, was the drive Leontes’ actions and lust drove Dis desire for the beautiful Proserpina. In the myth, Ceres, Proserpina’s mother and goddess of the earth, plunged the world into winter until her daughter was found and returned to her just like how Leontes suffers for sixteen years when he fully realizes what he has done. The return of Proserpina to her mother and the restoration of spring and life to the earth, but a compromise had to be agreed upon because Proserpina had eaten food grown in the underworld and thus was required to return to the underworld for a set amount of time every year. This compromise is reflected in Leontes losses in exchange for redeeming himself. Mamillius plays the part of the sacrificial lamb in order to restore the universe to its former state of perfection. Mamillius is the first of only two characters, the other being Antigonus, to be lost permanently (to death). The servant who is charged to give this news fears Hermione’s reaction, “The prince your son, with mere conceit and fear / Of the queen’s speed, is gone” (2.3.142-143). [The death of Leontes’ son (Mamillius’ death) creates the void required for the marriage between Florizel and Perdita to succeed in healing the relationship injured when Leontes pushed away his best friend Polixenes.] At hearing that his once best friend’s son is requesting audience with him, Leontes and Paulina pause to reminisce about their lost prince. In response to Paulina’s remark that if Mamillius were alive, he and Florizel would have been less than a month apart in age, Leontes protests, “Prithee, no more! Cease! Thou know’st / He dies to me again when talk’d of. Sure, / When I shall see this gentleman thy speeches / Will bring me to consider that which may / Unfurnish me of reason” (5.1.118-122). Leontes is haunted by the death of his firstborn son and every mention of him pulls him to the brink of his sanity. If Leontes had not sunk into such a deep depression in which he could see the gravity of his own mistakes, Leontes would not have desired redemption enough to forgive himself for his sins against his loved ones. Perhaps if Mamillius had lived, Leontes would have been [relatively] content to blame himself for his actions for the remainder of his life and never move on. But Mamillius was taken away by death and Leontes was left with no living kin and the weight of their deaths on his shoulders. With Mamillius out of the picture (for ever), the news that Leontes’ lost child is found, alive, well and wanting to marry his former friend’s son is enough to restore life to the old man, but Leontes is still not willing to forgive himself for his sins against his dear Hermione, “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 asham’d. 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 conjur’d to remembrance, and / From thy admiring daughter took the spirits, / Standing like stone with thee” (5.3.32-42). Leontes ensorcelled, torn between raw fascination of the sheer likeness of Paulina’s “statue” to Hermione’s appearance and resentment towards himself that he can never truly be with he beloved again because of his jealousy driven actions of sixteen years prior. Perdita is lost and later found at the expense of pure hearted Antigonus’ life and Leontes’ chance to raise his one living child. (Sin of abandonment; resulting loss of original parental bond) Antigonus’ last action was a desperate attempt to save baby Perdita from a bear, which ironically, rips him apart instead. The Shepherd and the clown discuss what they saw when they found the infant next to a box of gold, “And then for the land-service: / to see how the bear tore out his shoulder bone, how he / cried to me for help, and said his name was / Antigonus, a nobleman. But to make an end of the / ship: to see how the sea flap-dragoned it; but first, / how the poor souls roared, and the sea mocked them; / mocked him, both roaring louder than the sea or / weather” (3.3.93- 100). Antigonus survives the landing on the deserted shore during a violent storm that rips apart the ship as if it was nothing but is then himself similarly ripped apart by a wild bear. The Clown remarks on how even as the bear tore him apart, the man made a valiant attempt to call for help and pass the knowledge of his identity to the Clown. In the end, Antigonus succeeds in saving the child’s life from the bear and ensures that the proof of the child’s true identity survives, even at the expense of his own life. Antigonus’ sacrifice is not in vain because it ensured that the oracle be fulfilled when the opportunity arose. One of the gentlemen remarks about Paulina’s reaction to her husband’s death and Perdita’s finding, that one of Paulina’s eyes wept for the loss of Antigonus while the other wept for the overwhelming joy of finally finding the lost child of Hermione (5.2.70- 77). That gentleman continues to discribe Leontes and Perdita as Leontes explaines the manner of Perdita’s mother, Hermione’s, death, “One of the prettiest touches of all, and that which / angled for mine eyes—caught the water though not / the fish—was when at the relation of the queen’s / death, with the manner how she cam to’t bravely / confessed and lamented by the king, how / attentiveness wounded his daughter; till, from one / sign of dolour to another, she did, with an ‘Alas!’, I / would fain say bleed tears; for I am sure my heart / wept blood. Who was most marble there changed / could have seen’t, the woe had been universal” (5.2.80-90). The gentleman describes the depth of Leontes’ pain of heart and the hurt that Perdita felt at learning the manner of Hermione’s death and how everyone saw the change in Leontes from his earlier stony depression to this raw expression of pent up emotion and grief. Hermione’s “rebirth” after her “death” shows that even for death there is a possibility of rebirth and redemption if enough is lost in exchange. (Mamillius dies, Perdita doesn’t know mother or father, Leontes + Hermione + Perdita no see for 16 years; time and relationship is lost) Hermione’s “death” and later “rebirth” or “reanimation” is carefully orchestrated by Paulina in a delicate plot to make Leontes come to terms with the sins he himself made against his loved ones, save Hermione from further harm and even, if the right time came, reunite Hermione and Leontes. Flowers/Nature is often used as a direct representation of the birth of life and subsequent rebirth at the restart of the seasons. [Conclusion]