Welcome back to Shakespeare Saturday! Connecting modern hearts to timeless stories. Hosted by myself and Sarah Spring 🎭 Today we look at “The Winter’s Tale”, a tragicomedy about destructive jealousy, the power of forgiveness and redemption, how time heals all wounds and when you take ownership of your mistakes you can earn a second chance. The play follows King Leontes, and he has caught himself in a lethal, self-inflicted jealous rage that his wife Hermione, is sleeping with their best friend, Polixenes. Like Iago, he has no proof, no grounds to be suspicious, but he thinks the opposite. Allowing his insecurity to take full control, he disowns Hermione and Polixenes, blasting them for their betrayal and orders his wife to stand trial and for Polixnenes to be poisoned. On top of this, he gives up his daughter Perdita when she is born before Hermione’s trial, and sends her out into the woods to be left to die. Antigonus, one of his Sicilian noblemen, takes her into the woods where after leaving her is famously “pursued by a bear”. Following this she is rescued by shepherds and begins her new life in Bohemia where the comedy ensues. 16 years later, Perdita and her lover Florizel have to leave the woods as their romance is discovered by Polixenes, and Camillio helps them to escape. Telling them to board a ship to Sicilia and seek refuge with King Leontes. Back in Sicilia, Leontes, drained by years of guilt and shame (famously called out for his this by Paulina in Act 3 Scene 2) feels the full weight of his actions towards his innocent wife, son and daughter. To this, Paulina comes to him with a proposition of an oath, that he cannot take another wife unless she grants him permission to do so. She in turn sets an impossible condition, that he will not choose a wife until “your first queen’s again in breath”, as he was told that both Hermione and Mamillius were dead following the trial. Leontes agrees to this. At the famous ending, Leontes is led to a statue of Hermione, Paulina begs it to wake up and Hermione returns to life before our eyes. Granting Leontes an enormous second chance to make things right and treasure his wife and daughter, who joins him shortly after. A beautiful, beautiful play that reminds us that our thoughts are traitors and the things we cannot prove shouldn’t be thought as fact. As well as reminding us that if we are given the luxury of a second chance, we take it and treasure it. Granting us and Leontes the chance to be the person who we want to be and hold the ones we love the most closer than ever. Stay tuned for more geek out sessions on Shakespeare Saturday, and until next time, keep finding the magic in your own life! Follow Sarah on Instagram: @shakespearemadeclear Her website: damesarahspring.com Oliver Gower Spotlight Link: https://www.spotlight.com/9097-9058-5261 Instagram: @ollietheuncensoredcritic For enquiries and requests: olliegower10@gmail.com Please Like, Download and Subscribe ✍️ Thank you all for your support! Music from #InAudio: https://inaudio.org/ Track Name. Early Morning
