Unit 5 - Shakespeare and other pre-20th Century Texts
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CIE Past Paper (A Level - 24/25 (A+) - Level 6) English Literature Essay: The Winter's Tale by W. Shakespeare
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Unit 5 - Shakespeare and other pre-20th Century Texts
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The Winter\'s Tale
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The play 'The Winter's Tale' by William Shakespeare is a part of the CIE English Literature 2019/2020 syllabus: Paper 5 . The essay offers the perfect opport...
CIE (A Level) Complete Class Notes/ Notebook: The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare
CIE (A Level - 20/25 (A) - Level 6) English Literature Extract Essay: The Winter's Tale by W. Shakespeare
CIE (A Level - 23/25 (A+) - Level 6) English Literature Essay: The Winter's Tale by W. Shakespeare
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,- Extract: Paying careful attention to, language, tine and action, show what the
following passage contributes to your understanding of the role and
characterization of Paulina.
- GRADE: 23-24/25 (A* - Level/Band 6)
In William Shakespeare’s tragi-comedy, ‘The Winter’s Tale’ – originally
published in the First Folio of 1623 and performed in the Globe Theatre in 1611
– the role and characterization of Paulina is portrayed by the means of language,
action and tone. However, the question which remains open is that of how her
character contributes to the problem play’s movement and what contextual and
moral significance she holds in respect to the play’s chain of events?
In this extract, the focus is on Paulina’s volcanic outbursts towards Leontes due
to the imprisonment of Queen Hermione. Whilst Paulina subtly tries to tame
the Sicilian (Arcadian) King’s turbulent feelings of betrayal with the sight of his
newborn daughter, it is the passages language, action and tone which exhibit
her true strength as a woman and her female empowering morals.
In ‘TWT,’ names tend to serve either a practical purpose or a symbolic function.
Concerning Paulina, her name is the female version of ‘Paul.’ This may suggest
a subtle reference to eh epistle writer and martyr St. Paul – who’s epistles
appear in the New Testament. Similarly, to St. Paul, Paulina becomes a spiritual
guide in the latter half of the play (marked by “Exit pursued by a bear”), and also
represents the voice of chastity to an extra. As pointed out by the critic Levis:
her name’s Latin roots – origin from ‘Paulus’- translates to small; this exhibits
that Shakespeare doe not only focus on his characters intangible features but
also their physical appearance. This may suggest that Paulina is of small nature.
Nonetheless, it is Paulina’s big words and actions which contrast with her small
stature. When Paulina confidently states that she “come(s)/ From your Good
Queen,” her phrase inverted by Leontes’ next line, combines the rhetorical
symploce (repetition of a word or phrase written in the same line) and
epanalepsis (repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning and end of
the same line) which relentlessly reminds Leontes of what he does not want to
hear. Paulina, like Lear’s fool, is always there with just the right abrasive phrases
, to rub salt into the monarchical folly: “shee you killed,” a dramatically efficient
indicator of her sixteen years regimen with Leontes. This is especially
emphasized when she, in Act 5 Scene 3, warns him that “Until you see her die
(Hermione) again, for the/ You kill her double.” Due to Paulina’s fierce loyalty
towards Hermione, even more does she remind Leontes of his grievous
offensive. In Paulina’s mention of double killing, Shakespeare makes an
intertextual allusion to Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Eurydice’s double killing.
In terms of further language, Shakespeare characterizes Paulina through the use
of the constant repetition of “Good Queen” in reference to Queen Hermione.
This does not only portray her loyalty towards Hermione, but her belief that
she is no “adulteress.” Her fierce loyalty goes as far as driving her to speak up
in cases where even ‘men’ do not due to fear. Paulina exclaims to Leontes to
“Tak’st up the Princess by that forced baseness” emphasizes her disbelief and
fury towards the blinded King. This emotional effect being reinforced by the
sibilance which creates a hissing effect. It is worth noting that, just like Paulina
reminded Leontes of his “follies,” she repeats the idea of appellation (“forced
baseness”) being wrongly thrust upon the infant is “put upon’t.” Afterwards, it
is Paulina’s courage to face her fears the is so admired within the Elizabethan
audience. Her act of “(laying down the child)” is not only a clear sign of defiance
towards Leontes’ actions, but the visual impact on the audience as the baby’s
vulnerability is juxtaposed with Leontes’ savage threat. In contrast to Leontes,
where anadiplosis is used to represent his mental deterioration, Paulina’s
statement of “So I would you did” is used to convey her determination in
understanding and acting against Leontes’ actions. Her incompliance with
Leontes is underlined with reference to a “hand” which could possibly suggest
that the servants and/or lords, perhaps Antigonus himself, have to apparently
attempt to remove Paulina as she vigorously holds her ground.
The British playwright characterize Paulina as the most admired and original of
his characters. First, whilst not possessing a counter-part in Robert Greene’s
‘Pandosto,’ she is the central piece of Leontes and Hermione’s hiatus from the
play’s dramatic action. It is her character that helps the play reach its magical
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