Winters Tale (Feminism) Flashcards
Antigto L, ostensibly in defense of H, threatens to desex his daughters if H turns out to be guilty:
If this prove true, they’ll pay for’t:by mine honour,I’ll geld ‘emall; fourteen they shall not see,To bring false generations.
(2.1.146-148 p.120)
•‘geld’ = neuter / visceral threat + suggestive of women’s role in society (biological function seen to be only purpose)•‘false generations’–ironic given contempt preoccupation w lineage •Shows pervasive+deleterious impact of misogyny as even those men who recognize injustice generalize women + work to uphold patriarchal control
Paul to Emon her plan to defend H + make L see sense:
the office Becomes a woman best…I’ll…undertake to beHer advocate to the loud’st…
(2.2.31-38 p.125)
- ‘officebecomesawomanbest’→Paul recognizes L can only be “cured” of tox mascby strong, determined fem influ
- ‘advocatetotheloud’st’→femsolidarity+sisterhood
L a/b Mam’s decline in health:Conceiving the dishonourof his mother,He straight declined, droop’d, took it deeply
(2.3.13-14 p.128)
- ‘dishonour’,‘declined’,‘droop’d’,‘deeply’ allitemphasizes Mam dramatic decline since being forcibly removed from mother
- L blinded by misogyny as blames this on H’s apparent ‘dishonour’ rather than on lack of fem nurturance →women’s roles undermined + underappreciated
L to Paul as she challenges him:
A callat Of boundless tongue, who late hath beat her husband And now baits me!
(2.3.90-92 p.133-134)
•Allitof ‘b’ →contemptuous tone•
‘callet’, ‘boundless tongue’, ‘beat’, ‘bait’ position Paul as stereotypical shrewish woman →L relying on these tropes to try + silence women + reinforce his sense of mascpower as patriarchal ruler
•Another example of ‘outlaw fem principles’ being forced upon women rather than exhibited by them
H’s response to L’s threat of death during trial scene:
…from his [Mamillius’] presenceI am barr’d, like one infectious …is from my breast,The innocent milk in its [Perdita’s] most innocent mouth,Haled out to murder
(3.2.95-99 p.147)
•‘like one infectious’ →H aware of patriarchal perceptions of women + seeks to expose them as unjust + unnatural •‘innocentmilk’+‘innocentmouth’maternal imagery highlights important role of women’s nurturance / rep of ‘innocent’ emphasizes H’s position is inline w that of oracle’s
Antigrecounting his dream a/b H to baby Perdas he prepares to abandon her on seacoast of Bo:
…thy mother appear to me last night…in pure white robes like very sanctity…
(3.3.16-22 p.156)
- ‘pure white robes’, ‘sanctity’ connote H’s obvious innocencebut Antigignores this in favourof supporting L + is punished as a result
- New settingofBo/untamedcoast juxw confines of interior spaces of Sic (e.g.court) foreshadowing more oppotunitiesfor fem characters
Clown recounting the sinking of the Sic ship which was:
…swallowed with yeast and froth…(3.3.85 p.160)
- Visceral descript of ship’s sinking positions goddess nature as revenge-seeking for treatment of women in first part of play
- Purgative storm=divineinterventiontocleanseworldofpatriarchalforces+allowfecundityofwomentoflourishinsecondpart
Autolycus sings a raunchy song:
When daffodils begin to peer,With heigh, the doxy over the dale…(4.3.1-2 p.167)
- ‘daffodil’,‘doxy’+‘dale’allitassocsex (doxy = prostitute) w nature suggesting sex is natural + should not be seen as ‘sinful’ as was suggested in first part of play
- Foil to L →contrast w salacious lang earlier in play / Auto’s song appears to mock L’s sterile attittowards sex as / rather he sees sex as playful + fun
- h/w challenge to L X strong as Auto is a rogue + petty thief / contempaudX take him seriously compared w king
Florizelpraises Perdita ahead of the sheep shearing fest:
This your sheep-shearingIs as a meeting of the petty gods,And you the queen on’t.(4.4.2-5 p.174)
- F provides more credible foil to L as he uses his lang to elevate P’s status as opposed to degrade her
- Loves herforwho she is + sees her as ‘queen’ even when he thinks she is a lowly shepherdess →break from patriarchal convens
Florizelassures Perdita that his father will not come b/w them:
Or I’ll be thine, my fair,Or not my father’s. For I cannot beMine own, nor any thing to any, ifI be not thine. To this I am most constant,Though destiny say no.(4.4.42-46 p.176)
•‘fair’+‘father’s’allitof ‘F’ intertwines F + P’s speech throughout their dialogue suggesting equality b/w them •F rejects patriarchal expec by putting his love for P above his duty as heir to throne of Bo
Perd’sspeech on nature:
Proserpina,For the flowers now, that frighted thou let’stfallFrom Dis’swaggon! (4.4.116-118 p.180)
- ‘Prosperina’ = classical allusion to Goddess of Nature / symbiotic r’shipw mother Ceres who saved her from the underworld / presence on Earth = spring + summer / absence = autumn + winter
- PerdreturnstoSicduringspringafter ‘16 barren winters’ →indicates significance of women’s role in society
Pol threatens to kill Perdif she comes near F again:
… And you, enchantment,—… if ever henceforth thouThese rural latches to his entrance open,…I will devise a death as cruel for theeAs thou art tender to’t.(4.4.415-421 p.197-198)
- ‘enchantment’ reminiscent of lang used by L to depict Paul as shrewish woman
- ‘rurallatches’sexualwordplayalsoreminiscentofL’searliersalacioussoliloquy→Pol“tarnishing”Perdw“outlawfemprinciples”•Againwomenreceive blame for actions of men + women / F positioned as passive + Perdas temptress
- UnlikeL,Pol’streatmentof Perdgoes unchallenged
Dialogue b/wL+Pshemakeshimpromise X to remarry:
L:
My true Paulina,We shall not marry till thou bid’stus.
P:
ThatShall be when your first queen’s again in breath
(5.1.82-84 p.223)
- Royal ‘we’ despite contempanxieties around patriarchal lineage L promises X to remarry →has become subordto P during 16 yrspenance
- ‘mytrue’contrastwtreatmentofherinfirstpart→LhascometorespectPaul
- ‘whenyourfirstqueen’sagaininbreath’→PaulhastakenoverfromApollo in prophesisingfate / shift from male to fem deities in 2ndpar
L to F on learning that he is Pol’s son:
Your mother was most true to wedlock, prince;For she did print your royal father off,Conceiving you
(5.1.123-125 p. 226)
- ‘print off’ implies women still play functional role in L’s mind
- Only mentionof F’s mother in whole play is to praise her for delivering legitimate heir
- Despite being“reformed”Lstillappearsfixated on idea of fem chastity + faithfulness
Stage directions:
[Paulina draws back the curtain and reveals] Hermione like a statue
(5.3 p. 241)
- 2ndfem space in play (other is H’s chamber at beginning of 2.1) / play’s reconciliation takes place in fem space + orchestrated by fem characters
- Stage directionsindicativeofagencyoffemcharactersin2ndpartofplay
- H/w H as statue = problematic / classical allusion to myth of Pygmalion →has she been reformed to be L’s “ideal woman” or preserved by Paul in act of fem solidarity?
Paul to L as she explains why H’s statue appears to show her more aged than when he last saw her:
So much the more our carver’s excellence;Which letsgo by some sixteen years and makes herAs she lived now.(5.3.30-32) p.242
- ‘carver’s excellence’ →art which was trad male dominated has been reclaimed + repurposed by fem character to explain unexplained (winter’s tale)
- ‘letsgoby’, ‘lived now’→ideal no longer seen in static space of male pastoral evoked by Pol but in beauty + apprecof present moment
L lamenting the loss of the ‘warm life’ of the woman who not ‘coldly’ stands before him:
Does not the stone rebuke me for being more stone than it?(5.3.37-38) p.242
- L appears reformed as he wishes for H to return to ‘warm life’ where before he lambasted her as actions ‘too hot!’ / desires H to live even to ‘rebuke’ him
- ‘morestonethanit’Lrecognizes lackofempathy+respectheafforded to H in 1stpart
Paul brings H’s statue to life:
Music, awake her; strike! Music
- Paul brings H to life through series of imperatives + through art (music)
- Previously castigated by L for being ‘a mankind witch’ he now wishes for her ‘magic’ to be ‘an art as lawful as eating’ suggesting he has come to appreciate women’s role in society
- Paul taken over as divine force in the play + refuses to explain her powers as she knows they would be ‘hooted at like an old tale’
Paul + H in dialogue after H’s “resurrection”:
P:
OurPerditaisfound.
H:
You gods…pour your graces upon my daughter’s head!(5.3.120-122 p.248)
- Paul reveals oracle fulfilled•‘our’ possessive pnindicative of fem solidarity
- Helevatedtostatus of deity (statue = idol) + wishes to endow Perdw “inlawfem principles” perhaps before patriarchy can inflict “outlaw principles” upon her
- Honlyspeaks to gods + Perd→reinforces symbiotic r’shipb/w mother + daughter (Prosperina+ Ceres) but problematizes r’shipb/w L + H →does she forgive him?
L to Paul:
Thou shouldsta husband take by my consent…
(5.3.135 p.249)
•‘shouldst’ modality indicates expecof women •‘bymyconsent’PauljustperformedmostpowerfulactofwholeplaybutitisquicklydismissedaspowertransfersbacktoL•Dissatisfying end for fem readers
Pol to L (+H) as he begins his reasoning for needing to leave Sic + return to Bo:Nine changes of the watery star hath beenThe shepherd’s note since we have left our throne… (1.2.1-2 p.85)
- ‘nine changes’ = ref to period of human gestation / ‘watery star’ = moon (fem symbol) →pattern of dictserves to draw audience’s attento H’s pregnant body
- Pol uses this lang to begin his reasoning for needing to leave Sic →resentment from L to H b/c sees her as severing homosocbonds
- Maternal imagerypervadescharacter’slangyetroleofwomenundervalued b/c seen as burden
H to Pol as she tries to convince him to stay in Sic:
Verily,You shall not go. A lady’s ‘Verily’ isAs potent as a lord’s. (1.2.48-49 p.88)
•Connotations of ‘potent →perception that H has “forgotten her place” in patriarchal order by implying men + women equal •Irony that this statement is true b/c Hable to convince Pol where L is not•Contrast w/ silence @ end of play•Patriarchal structures of courtly Sicilia inimical to fem self-actualization
Pol to H reminiscing a/b idyllic childhood w/ L:
We were as twinn’dlambs that did frisk i’ the sun(1.2.66 p.89)
- Phonetic qualities e.g.clipped assonance + soft consonance →nostalgic tone
- Pastoral + biblical pattern of dictevokes imagery of prelapsEden before corrupting influof women
Pol to H on how/why halcyon days ended:
O my most sacred lady!Temptations have since then been born to’s(1.2.75-79 p.90)
- Dichotomy b/w ‘sacred’ + ‘temptations (inlaw+ outlaw fem principles) →Pol contradicting himself
- ‘temptations’ bib allusion to Eve as perpetrator for fall of Man
- ‘born to’s’ = passive voice (men abjuring responsibility) / verb choice ‘born’ shows maternal lang pervades character’s speech despite women’s position under patriarchy
- Pol suggests women resp for disrupting homosocbonds = long standing stereotype a/b women
