Themes & Magic

There’s ton of magic leaping off the pages in Shakespeare’s final plays, The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale. Both plays were written around 1611, and it appears (at least to me) that Shakespeare wanted to be more experimental by writing more about the fantastical. There definitely seems to be more magic in The Tempest, while we get some magical elements near the end of The Winter’s Tale. Hermione’s transformation at the end of the play—from statue to real life—adds more mystery to the play itself. In fact, Hermione’s entire role is one that is full of mystery. Her powers of persuasion involving Polixenes, for instance, is something that raises questions not only in the readers but in King Leontes himself. One would think, however, that Leontes would’ve been more satisfied with the result.

Ultimately, it is Hermione’s transformation that leaves the audience with satisfaction due to its happy ending, but also with various questions as to how she was able to hide herself for sixteen years (relating to the age of the statue, if the transformation was due to her own will or by Paulina’s direction, and so forth). While The Tempest has more overt magic (powers, magicians, witches, airy sprites, and so on), The Winter’s Tale hints at magic through the use of language. For instance, the Shepard mentions “fairy gold” (l 1616), while Mamillus attempts to tell his mother a tale of “goblins and sprites” (l 630). The play also contains an oracle in it and subtly hints at figures or inspirations of Greek mythology. Even the language that Paulina uses to re-animate Hermione in the final scene hints at a kind of magical ritual. However, all of this makes me wonder, why would Shakespeare put more magic in The Tempest and less in The Winter’s Tale? In my opinion, the title, The Winter’s Tale, has more of a magical feel to it; its title alone has more potential to tease and play with magical elements. It just seems odd to me that this play would lack more magic when the title is just so fitting. It is, after all, fairytale-esque like the Princess and The Frog title. Does anyone have any thoughts concerning Shakespeare’s reasoning for all this?

As for the themes, the themes of The Winter’s Tale are quite similar to those of The Tempest. Both these plays have romances, deal with the power of youth, and wrestle with the importance of forgiveness. In these plays we see how the younger characters are the ones to reconcile the differences between the old kings. In The Tempest, it is Miranda and Ferdinand, and in The Winter’s Tale, it’s Perdita and Florizel who are able to give hope to a better future, to make “old hearts fresh” (l 39). This renewing of relationships through youth also echoes the importance of time. Time, in short, helps when it comes to forgiveness and reconciliation. It is ultimately at the end of both plays where we see how time (in addition to the assistance of the younger characters) has generated growth in Prospero as well as in Leontes.

Moreover, it is time and forgiveness that are important themes in Shakespeare’s final plays. Hermione, for example, eventually forgives Leontes for all that he has done to her, and in The Tempest, Prospero forgives his brother Alonso for his betrayal. Both plays also deal with injustice. While Prospero wants justice, or rather, revenge for his brother’s treacherous act, Leontes wants his own sense of justice against Hermione and Polixenes for their supposed betrayal. In addition to the characters’ own sense of justice and feelings of injustice, both plays contain trickery by magic (Prospero conjuring up a realistic tempest, and Hermione playing a statue). Overall, magic is used in these plays in order to manipulate reality, trick the characters’ senses, and to drive the plot forward.