Theatricality

Abstract

In obvious ways The Winter’s Tale is a highly theatrical play. Leontes’s jealousy fills the first half with dramatic tension. It is complemented in the second half by the sheep-shearing scene which runs the gamut of entertainment from dance and song to graceful romance and broad comedy. Each part ends with a dramatic coup: the sudden entrance of a bear to pursue Antigonus offstage, the apparent coming to life of a statue. In between there is the frankly theatrical device of Father Time, conjuring acceptance of the play’s illusions.