The Meaning of The Winter's Tale

Abstract

The Winter's Tale has been curiously neglected in Shakespearean criticism. Scholarly articles on this play are scarce, and in general works on Shakespeare it is seldom given serious treatment. The only major studies on The Winter's Tale in recent years are those by Wilson Knight and S. L. Bethell, and these have, in my opinion, not solved the essential problem, though Mr. Knight has thrown some significant light on it. The purpose of the present article is to stimulate greater interest in the play by attempting a revaluation based on a new and revolutionary interpretation of its meaning. But it is especially at variance with the still prevailing view first formulated by Lytton Strachey: that towards the end of his life Shakespeare was getting weary and satisfied himself with writing idyllic but unprofound poetic drama. H. B. Charlton calls the romances “the products of an old man,” and even E. K. Chambers and Dover Wilson have encouraged a similar attitude. Yet is it at all convincing that a man of the creative energy of Shakespeare should, when he had only reached his late forties, develop signs of senility and soothe himself “after the tempest of Timon and King Lear with the fairytales of youth”? In this paper, first the general thesis will be put forth that only if we approach The Winter's Tale as an allegory can we do justice to its greatness. Then will follow an outline of what I understand to be its meaning and significance.