The Winter's Tale

by

William Shakespeare

Autolycus Character Analysis

Read our modern English translation.
Autolycus is a trickster in Bohemia who robs the shepherd’s son, picks pockets at the sheep-shearing festival in Act 4, and tricks both the shepherd and his son to join Florizell’s boat to Sicilia. He is thoroughly (but playfully) dishonest, though he promises the shepherd and his son in Act 5 that he will reform and be an honest man. Autolycus never appears in the play after making this promise, so the sincerity of his promise is left ambiguous.

Autolycus Quotes in The Winter's Tale

The The Winter's Tale quotes below are all either spoken by Autolycus or refer to Autolycus. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 4, Scene 4 Quotes

Ha, ha! what a fool Honesty is! and Trust, his
sworn brother, a very simple gentleman!

Related Characters: Autolycus (speaker)
Page Number: 4.4.711-712
Explanation and Analysis:
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Autolycus Quotes in The Winter's Tale

The The Winter's Tale quotes below are all either spoken by Autolycus or refer to Autolycus. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 4, Scene 4 Quotes

Ha, ha! what a fool Honesty is! and Trust, his
sworn brother, a very simple gentleman!

Related Characters: Autolycus (speaker)
Page Number: 4.4.711-712
Explanation and Analysis:
LitCharts Logo

Unlock explanations and citation info for this and every other The Winter's Tale quote.

Plus so much more...