The Winter's Tale

A detailed Summary of The Winter's Tale

In Shakespearian times women usually had no rights. They were expected to stay at home, do their husband's bidding and never protest. When a woman broke any of those rules it was considered an outrage.

As we see in Act II Scenes 2 and 3, Paulina was unique in the fact that she defied that unwritten rule. She ignored her husband's request (Lines 44-46 in Scene 3) and protested against the king (Lines 82-90 in scene 3). However, this is made crystal clear to us in the line "He shall not rule me."

It is clear that Paulina is an intelligent woman, and we get this from the line "This child was prisoner to the womb, and is by law and process of great nature thence freed and franchis'd". In this line she convinced the gaoler with the strength of her logic to give her the baby. However, Paulina's intelligence is blinded by fate and innocence, as she believes that the sight of the baby would soothe the king's rage. Also, her believe in fate

In short, Paulina is a thoroughly remarkable character, fearless and gifted with a sharp tongue and a shrewd mind. She is a determinated woman who is undeterred by the threats of men or those who are at a higher rank than her. She argues with the outraged king in spirited fashion, something which the men dared not do. She is not silent when injustice is being done, but like Camillo she strives to right it. Even though during much of the two scenes she seems bold and ill-mannered, beneath that there is a softness of love and femininity, and this is shown in the line" we do not know how he may soften at the sight o'th'child".

Her courage is evident more clearly when Antigonus says, " I told her so, on your displeasure's peril, and on mine, she should not visit you.". The fact the she is not scared from the King's displeasure is amazing. Also, when she defies the king's order of that "none should come to him" shows her courage.

Some common words found in the essay are:
II Scenes, , scene 3, calls king traitor, courage evident, king traitor, calls king, remarkable character,

Approximate Word count = 637
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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The Winter's Tale

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