As you know if you have been reading this blog, there a few plays from the Bard that have let me feeling less than satisfied. However, A Winter’s Tale (similar to Timon of Athens) proved to be an absolutely delightful surprise.
This was one of those that I really didn’t know anything about going into it. Scratch that. I knew two things: a) there was a character named Hermione (as a huge Harry Potter nerd, of course I knew that), and b) that it was the home of the famous “exit, pursued by a bear” line (which, let’s face it, has got to score major points in the race for “most random stage direction of all time”). Part of me assumed it wouldn’t be anything spectacular, but there is so, so much to love about this play!
I’ll freely admit that there is plenty to criticize about this play. It’s definitely not his most perfect or most gripping, but I loved it anyway!
If you have not read this play, I highly recommend it! (Perhaps not if you are wholly unfamiliar with Shakespeare, but if you’ve read at least 2-3 of his other plays, then definitely read this one!) And I strongly recommend reading it without knowing anything about it. I know it sounds ridiculous to say about a play that is more than 400 years old, but you’ll want to avoid spoilers. So if you haven’t read it, and you want to eventually, stop reading because we’re going into spoiler territory.
The end of A Winter’s Tale has one of my favorite Shakespearean images of all time. The image of Hermione as a statue and then coming to life in front of her mourning husband who thought her dead is an incredible one. So incredibly beautiful and moving. Agh! I get chills just thinking about it. I can imagine it is pretty hard to pull off convincingly on stage, but I am seriously in love with that image!
Even aside from the awesome coming-back-to-life thing (I mean, not actually coming back to life, but seeming to), there is a lot to admire about Hermione. She has courage in her convictions, which is a trait I find admirable above almost any other. And while she can certainly be accused of not adequately standing up for herself, there is something very moving about her ability to forgive the person who had wounded her so deeply.
Even though I feel her forgiveness is moving, there is no denying that the relationship of Leontes and Hermione is problematic. Leontes’ accusation and treatment of his wife is nothing short of abusive. However beautiful the message about the power of love and forgiveness, we should make a point of telling ourselves and each other that abuse in relationships is never acceptable, no matter how repentant the abuser is.
In a way, A Winter’s Tale is a microcosm of Shakespeare’s entire body of work: there are moments of profound beauty and powerful lessons, mixed right into uncomfortable stereotypes and intensely problematic notions, actions, and ideas. Shakespeare is not unique in this way, but that doesn’t make it any easier to grapple with. I don’t know that there’s any easy answer to the questions that inevitably arise from this cognitive dissonance that his work can cause, but I do know this, in the most un-Shakespearean language:
Throwing the baby out with the bath water still leaves us with dirt in the tub. And no baby to make it better.
