You’ll recall that the catastrophe (literally “final turn”) in a comedy is the moment when confusions are resolved, disguises removed, estranged families reconciled, marriages arranged, etc. In WT, this moment looks as though it is about to arrive toward the end of 5.1. Shakespeare builds suspense in a number of ways, including repeated references to Perdita as a “princess” (86, 93, 130), as well as Leontes’ unknowing blunders (175-77, 207). Perhaps the most moving irony: Leontes’ recollection of Hermione while gazing on the young Perdita: “I thought of her / Even in these looks I made” (226-27). By acknowledging Hermione’s face in Perdita, Leontes unwittingly extends his restored love for his wife to the child he once rejected as a bastard.
See also suggestions of the restoration of Mamillius in Florizel (115-18) and of Leontes’ reconciliation with Polixenes in the same (125-28).
(This is just speculation, but lines 24-35 may be evidence of Shakespeare further manipulating his audience’s emotions by exploiting their fond memories of Elizabeth I, who had been dead at this time for about seven years. Prior to her death, there was considerable anxiety about who should succeed her (for she was without “issue,” i.e., children). It is “holy” to be comforted by the thought that the former queen (Hermione/Elizabeth) is in heaven (29-30) and that “There is none worthy / Respecting her that’s gone” (34-35). Elizabeth had successfully cultivated an aura of divinity about her person; the English people pretty much loved and worshipped her as a goddess. And in an officially Protestant state, where reverence of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven, was widely considered Catholic idolatry, perhaps the presence of a “virgin” Queen of England was an acceptable “secular” substitute. The second-to-last scene of Shekhar Kapur’s film Elizabeth (the first movie, not Elizabeth: The Golden Age, which is dreadful) captures this very effectively by juxtaposing the young Elizabeth with a statue of Mary.)
After all the build-up, however, the scene suddenly ends and the climactic moment actually occurs off stage, communicated only as a narrative by two Gentlemen in 5.2.
Why do you suppose Shakespeare chose to end 5.1 abruptly and to have the reconciliation narrated in 5.2 rather than staged?
What is your emotional response to the Gentlemen’s descriptions of this catastrophe? Recall 3.3, the transition scene. Are there conflicting moods here as well, a combination of dramatic seriousness and humour? Be specific in your answers.
And how do you respond to Hermione’s “resurrection” in 5.3? Does the fact that she has never been dead detract from the emotional power of the moment? What is more implausible—a statue coming to life, or the idea that Hermione was hidden away in Paulina’s basement for sixteen years? Does any of this matter? Why or why not? Defend your answers.
Finally, are these closing scenes aesthetically effective or do they come off as simply ridiculous? I ask these questions because there has been considerable disagreement in the critical reception of this play as to its artistic value. Some think that Shakespeare, in his later years, was slipping, and that the unity of the play seems contrived and sloppy. Others celebrate The Winter’s Tale as daring and innovative, evidence that Shakespeare never ceased to push the drama in new directions. Again, defend your opinions with argument and reference to the play.