"W's Tale" Notes from Wednesday Lecture

Questions of legitimacy and fear of cuckoldry central to conflict in Acts 1-3

Overgeneralization of female sexuality—“bawdy planet” speech

p. 38- daughter presented as a copy of the father; Leontes refuses to look or acknowledge

3.3/p. 53- emblem of transgressive female sexuality

son’s image early in play = visual proof of legitimacy
daughter’s image = not a proof

Why not?

Expectations of a boy - Henry VIII context—see introduction p. xxxv

Henry VIII’s daughters separated from him for long time

3.2 Trial Scene
1534 Treasons Act—it’s a crime to even imagine doing harm to king, his queen, or his heirs

“constructive treason”- could be used against Anne Boleyn, Catharine of Aragon, etc.

-sexual misconduct is a quick and easy charge to get rid of undesirable wives

[Hermione’s sexual misconduct vs. Leontes’ tyranny]
-‘two witness rule’ in the period’s law courts denied
-Hermione notes this at p. 47—it’s not law, but whimsy going on

Hermione is denied all of her maternal, political, and social roles & Leontes’ tyranny exposed in this moment; see Introduction p. xxxiii

Romance is a cycle that goes…

Tragedy→ decline to death to upset → Comedy → recovery to birth to maturity

4.1 What is the function of Time? In relation to genre of Romance?

Functions of Art

4.4- debate on Art v. Nature

Is art a good thing? Does it distort or enhance nature?

Can it help call into being a better world or is it merely a temptation to compete with the creator?

p. 68 flower allusions—Prosperpina is the threat of maternal vengeance because of a loss of her daughter.

It’s also a seasonal reflection- 6 months of winter, 6 of summer

Also a story of mother-daughter reunion brought about by a mother’s love & agency

This whole reflection is a good way to think about the two halves of the play

Bohemia in Act 4- Pastoral retreat, healing and hope (but it has its own problems!)

It’s not a Paradise: 1) ominous Prosperpina allusion, 2) disguise and deceit, 3) threatened patriarchy (p. 82)

Threat to young love

p. 67-8 Art-Nature Debate; “nature’s bastards” & purity vs. crossbreading and “art itself is nature”

One position holds nature over art, the other argues for artifice’s role in nature

Polixenes champions art/grafting, etc.. yet he’s the one who wants purity in marriage for son

Dramatic irony with this, and fact that Perdita, arguing for purity, is herself standing as an emblem of hybridity

Art opens up new possibilities for understanding and exploring nature

What happens when you present something real as artifice or false? That’s the segue to 5.3…

Emphasis on faith and miracles on p. 114

Leontes, at 5.3.110, gives himself over to magic.. contains both art and nature

Ending = bittersweet, not joyful. The statue is aged and wrinkled- some of what is lost can never be regained. Also, Mamillius and Antigonus are still dead; some wounds cannot be healed

Play’s end is more about mother-daughter reunion than husband-wife; after all, reunion of Perdita and Paulina is what makes Hermione real again

Partial reunion for imperfect men and women…