LOVE

 Romantic love: Leontes and Hermione Florizel and Perdita  Parental love  Love for a friend  Love of a servant for his/her master  Love of country  Love of nature  Love of a child for their parent  Love’s redemptive power

 Camillo only sees fault with himself when he does not understand Leontes’ jealousy: “if industriously / I play'd the fool, it was my negligence” (I.ii )  It is against his nature to “Forsake the court”  When Antigonus speaks up he makes clear “It is for you we speak, not for ourselves”  Antigonus agrees to take the baby into exile “though a present death Had been more merciful”  Paulina feels it is her duty to speak strongly “If I prove honey-mouth'd let my tongue blister”  True love and genuine loyalty means making sacrifices and choosing what is right not what is beneficial or safe

 Polixenes explains Leontes bad mood by saying it seems as if “he had lost some province and a region Loved”  Camillo is desperate to “Purchase the sight again of dear Sicilia And that unhappy king, my master”  The return of children and servants restores order in the play  Marriage completes this order

 “We were as twinn'd lambs that did frisk i' the sun” – shared fun and innocence (I.ii.67)  They both light-heartedly talk of the way their lives have changed since meeting their wives  Indeed Leontes’ jealousy destroys the friendship  It is predicted that “rooted betwixt them then such an affection, which cannot choose but branch now” (I.i.23-25)  Leontes says “To mingle friendship far is mingling bloods”  Notably in his last speech Leontes is keen to restore his friendship with his “brother”

 “I love thee not a jar o' the clock behind What lady-she her lord” – Hermione about Leontes, being apart will not affect their relationship  Jealousy is either a “disease” or “venom”  For Leontes jealousy quickly turns love to hate: “My wife's a hobby-horse”. He belittles her  Yet we can see that without trust love, life, the “world and all that's in't is nothing”  Love relies on trust and loyalty

Romantic Love – Florizel and Perdita  Florizel’s happiness means that he can “Apprehend nothing but jollity”  He longs for the ability to capture his love in its first, special moments:  “when you do dance, I wish you A wave o’th’sea, that you might ever do Nothing but that – move still, still so”  Their love is youthful and fresh  In Polixenes’ rage it is this youthful beauty he wants to destroy: “I'll have thy beauty scratch'd with briers”  But it is strong and eternal: “for all the sun sees “

 The language of F & P’s speeches links their love to nature – it is shown in spring  Perdita shows a love of Nature which befits her innocent and caring character  However, there is a strength and practicality about her which is also attractive  She speaks of the transformative power of Nature: “daffodils... Take the winds of March with beauty”  Her debate with Polixenes suggests deep-seated traits of faithfulness and purity Love of Nature

 “If the king had no son, they would desire to live on crutches till he had one” (1.1)  Polixenes speaks for himself and Leontes when he says of his son: “He makes a July's day short as December”  When Leontes is first infected with jealousy he seeks refuge in his son and the fact they are “Almost as like as eggs”  But he is tainted by “the dishonour of his mother”  Mamillius’s guilt by association means that Leontes has lost all that makes life worthwhile Parental Love

Love’s Redemptive Power  Love is hugely powerful in the play  It, as much as Apollo or the stars, seems to guide the fate of the characters  It must be coupled with reason, trust and loyalty  But if it is it can create regeneration, transformation and awe