role of the fairytale in the final scenes of Shakespeare s The Winter s Tale
After a preliminary reading of the final scenes of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, one may be quick to argue that a wife’s re-animation, a long-lost daughter’s return, all culminating in a happy marriage are completely unrealistic events. However, the wife and son’s death at the hands of grief, the banishment of a so-called bastard child to the wilderness to be raised by shepherd’s and another unfortunate death by the jaws of a bear are some of the ‘unbelievable’ events that lead up to the climax of The Winter’s Tale. ... This work has all the makings of a really effective fairytale. Therefore, the question of whether or not the final scenes are ‘believable’ is a rather complicated one. In the context of the larger work, these scenes are not completely ‘un’-believable, but in the context of real life, they are basically impossible. These final scenes serve to provide the reader with the ultimate ‘fairy-tale’ ending, leaving one satisfied and content, with order restored to a fictional world after some rather tumultuous happenings. In order to effectively interpret the final scenes, one must examine the principal events that take place in those scenes, their purpose and their elements of ‘believability’ or ‘un-believability’. Those events are the return of Perdita to her father’s kingdom, Hermione’s resurrection from a marble statue and finally culminating with the marriage of Perdita and Camillo.