The Winter’s Tale: ‘Awake Your Faith’

Abstract

As it enacts the consequences, destructive yet ultimately joyous, of a king’s loss of faith in his queen, The Winter’s Tale tests, more audaciously than any other play called ‘Shakespeare’s’, the fidelity of its audiences — their capacity and willingness to participate, with players and playwright, in the processes of creating and sustaining theatrical life. Composed sometime between 1609 and 15 May 1611 (the date of the earliest performance on record), the play also illustrates two developments — described in Chapter l — central to what proved to be the final phase of Shakespeare’s career. One is a distinct shift, away from tragedy, in the kind of plays he provided for the King’s Men to perform after 1608. The second is a radical change, also after 1608, in the immediate circumstances under which he and they carried out the theatrical work by which they earned their livings.