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Act 3, Scene 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Winter's Tale, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Loyalty, Fidelity, and Honesty
Friendship and Love
Youth, Age, and Time
Seriousness, Levity, and Humor
Evidence, Truth, Persuasion, and Belief
Justice and Natural Order
Summary
Analysis
The allegorical figure of Father Time comes on stage, and addresses the audience. He tells the audience not to be distressed that he is now jumping sixteen years into the future. He says that Leontes grieves “the effects of his fond jealousies” and “shuts up himself.” He says that king Polixenes in Bohemia has a son named Florizell, and also tells the audience that Perdita has grown up as the shepherd’s daughter in Bohemia.
Both the allegorical Father Time character and the sixteen-year flash forward are remarkable, uncommon features for a Shakespearian play. They hint at the importance of the theme of time and aging in the play, and the play’s movement forward in time allows us to see how the characters change with age.
Themes
Literary Devices
