The Winter’s Tale: Magic, Art, and Belief

The On-Stage Statue of Hermione, Do you think Shakespeare’s intention and the reaction of his audience at the time to the statue scene was to see the statue as A)Just a very realistic piece of art? B)The real-life Hermione pretending to be a statue? C)A very realistic piece of art that was magically turned into a living human being? D)Confusion over what exactly was happening. E)None of the above.

In the first act of the play, Paulina is accused by Leontes of witchcraft: “Out / A mankind witch!” (Leontes, ) “I’ll ha’ thee burned” (Leontes, ).

In the last act of the play, the specter of witchcraft resurfaces: “O there’s magic in thy [the statue’s] majesty, which has / My evils conjured to remembrance, and / From thy admiring daughter took the spirits, / Standing like stone with thee.” (Leontes, ) “Do not say ‘tis superstition that / I kneel [before the statue].” (Perdita, ) “It is required/ You do awake your faith; then, all stand still. / Or those that think it is unlawful business / I am about, let them depart.” (Paulina, ) “Start not; her actions shall be holy / As you hear my spell is lawful.” (Paulina, ) “If this by magic, let it be an art / Lawful as eating.” (Leontes, ).

So what are we witnessing in the final scene with the statue? A)An act of the art of witchcraft to transform and bring to life or make natural inanimate artifice. B)An act of the power of faith in the nature of God’s grace to work miracles.

Who is the most powerful female character we have seen represented in the plays we have read this quarter? A)Kate in The Taming of the Shrew B)The Duchess of York in Richard II C)Portia in The Merchant of Venice D)Gertrude in Hamlet E)Paulina in The Winter’s Tale