In reading The Winter’s Tale I immediately took notice of the similarities between Leontes and Othello, however, I feel like Leontes embodies both Othello and Iago in the sense that he himself is his own worst enemy. He has his wife, Hermione convince Polixenes to extend his stay, which he then feels has turned into flirting and his own thoughts consume his mind and drive him mad. My trouble thus far with Leontes as a character is I find that I find it hard to empathize with the possible idea that his wife has been having an affair because he puts her up to it.
LEONTES
Tongue-tied, our queen?
speak you.
HERMIONE
I had thought, sir, to have held my peace until
You have drawn oaths from him not to stay. You, sir,
Charge him too coldly. Tell him, you are sure
All in Bohemia’s well; this satisfaction
The by-gone day proclaim’d: say this to him,
He’s beat from his best ward.
LEONTES
Well said, Hermione.
Then, Leontes says a few lines down
LEONTES
Is he won yet?
HERMIONE
He’ll stay my lord.
LEONTES
At my request he would not.
Hermione, my dearest, thou never spokest
To better purpose. (1:1)
So, Leontes has blamed Hermione when he should in fact be blaming himself. Othello was coaxed into thinking his wife had been having an affair. Which, I can understand for Iago made some very convincing points and was extremely persistent. Leontes has become paranoid and perhaps, filled with jealous and now is unable to see clearly. He even questions if his son is legitimate, for Polixenes stay has been the same length as his wife’s current pregnancy.
I am going to shift gears and discuss the similarity between Othello and Winter’s Tale. Throughout my reading of William Shakespeare’s works I have noticed that his plays are often similar in the sense that there is conflict surrounding infidelity, typically of a woman. At first I enjoy it because it’s interesting, however, after the multiple stories that I have read he almost becomes too predictable. I remember one of my English Professors taking negatively about his work and that was the first time I had ever heard criticism from someone- other than my peers who dread reading his work due to the complex language. Her criticism was that the stories are all alike, in that there’s the same general conflict. Now, I understand that stories thrive when there is conflict- but he could be more original. This has become so evident while reading The Winter’s Tale. I feel like i’ve read it before and to be quite honest i’m not overly interested to hear how the story pans out. His work has become too predictable. If you were to remove the names from the characters I feel like you’d have almost the same exact story with a few modifications and changes.
I understand the situations are different and not nearly as sinister as the situation in Othello, however, Leontes basically insists that Hermione convince his friend, this is so similar, just as Iago convinces Othello of Desdemona’s alleged wrongdoings. Iago so masterfully manipulates Othello and plays on his weakness, which I feel Leontes will slowly develop into a manipulator as the play unfolds. Iago beautifully crafts his manipulation
IAGO
My lord, you know I love you.
OTHELLO
I think thou dost;
And, for I know thou’rt full of love and honesty,
And weigh’st thy words before thou givest them breath,
Therefore these stops of thine fright me the more:
For such things in a false disloyal knave
Are tricks of custom, but in a man that’s just
They are close delations, working from the heart
That passion cannot rule.
(3:3)
Now, I understand how that is quite a coincidence, but why now does Leontes feel there has been an affair? I find this puzzling, however, I am curious to see how the rest of the play unfolds.
After reading The Winter’s Tale I can definitely see how Shakespeare relies on certain plot motifs in his plays. The Winter’s Tale seems to correspond with Othello, Richard III, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, and Hamlet. I do see similarities in all these plays, but I think each play sends a different message about society. The plot and characters might overlap, but all of these plays do not end up being about one singular issue in society. All of these plays help to highlight different parts of humanity, each uniquely revealing the intricacies of our flaws, and they provide us with an opportunity to confront who we are as people.
I definitely agree with you that Shakespeare tends to revisit the same ideas in a lot of his plays, and sometimes they get tedious to read. I do think, though, that they are different enough that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and need to remind myself that we’ve been reading certain plays this semester by design, specifically because they have things in common (so the similarities in all of Shakespeare’s plays might not be as blatantly obvious as we might think they are by nature of this class). I also think that there are unique enough aspects in some of the plays that they can be distinguished from each other. A Midsummer Night’s Dream involved several different couples and the fairy world; A Winter’s Tale involves (later) things like Time appearing in an embodied form, and a bear mauling a man. We might just notice the similarities a lot more easily because Professor Mulready and the format of the class asks us to notice them and associate certain plays and ideas with each other to make it easier to wrap our heads around the texts and relate to them.
I can definitely sympathize with the idea that it gets somewhat exhausting to be confronted with so many misogynistic characters (just as it is with misogynistic people), but I do think that there’s merit in the multiple approaches to these kinds of conflicts. Like you said, there’s a similar misogynistic paranoia at work in “Othello,” but its consequences are largely personal and psychological–Iago’s manipulation only ends up affecting those around him. In a play like “The Winter’s Tale,” the political and social implications of that kind of behavior are explored through the issues of Hermione’s trial and slandered reputation–even just through the fact that the person leveling the charges against her is the king, let alone her husband (which again circles back to the incorporation of psychological drama). I guess what I’m getting at is that I feel like, while it isn’t exactly a surprise to learn that a conflict between a man and a woman is going to be the catalyst for a given play, the different contexts in which they’re situated create opportunities to look at a seemingly age-old problem through different lenses.