Resumo de Winter's Tale - William Shakespeare

In the palace of Leontes, King of Sicilia, the
Bohemian king, Polixenes has been the guest of Leontes, his Queen Hermione
and son Mamillius.

Polixenes wishes to return to Bohemia, but Leontes asks Queen Hermione to
persuade him to stay. Polixenes agrees but seeing his wife with his best
friend is overpowered by a fit of jealousy.

He orders Camillo (who is Polixenes' cup-bearer) to poison him. Camillo pleads the queen's innocence in
vain, then warns Polixenes and they both leave Sicilia.

Leontes decides that Hermione has helped them both escape and accuses her while she is with Mamillius. Hermione is pregnant
and doubting the paternity of the child, Leonities removes his son fand
has her arrested.

Hermione pleads her case and his ministers plead for their Queen but
jealousy makes Leontes a tyrant and decides anyone pleading for his wife is
equally guilty.
He despatches Cleomenes and Dion to the temple of Apollo at Delphos to
consult the oracle for the truth.While in prison, Hermione delivers a baby girl. Paulina, the wife of
Antogonus, offers to present the child to the King, convinced that when he sees
his daughter he will relent. The king
is unmoved and orders the baby to be burned.

The lords plead for the newborn, so Leontes orders Antigonus to take her to a remote spot outside the kingdom and leave it there.

Queen Hermione is put on
trial. She answers the charges bravely,
declaring that having lost her husband?s favour, and having been separated from
her children, she has no desire to live.
She declares she prefers
to be judged by the great Apollo. The oracle is read out and says Hermione is a chaste woman and Leontes, a jealous tyrant.

The oracle declares the king shall have no heir if "that which is lost
be not found". Leontes dismisses the oracle as false, but as soon as the
words are out, a servant comes to report that, unable to bear his mother?s disgrace Prince Mamillius dies. Hermione collapses and is taken out of the room.

The death of his son brings Leontes to his senses and he decides to beg Hermione for forgiveness, but
Paulina announces the queen is dead. Grief stricken, Leontes
promises to visit their graves to weep every day.

Antigonus arrives in Bohemia with the baby whom he calls Perdita, (the lost one) and leaves her along
with some identifying articles and a bag of gold. As he leaves he is killed by a bear and the ship he arrived in is
wrecked in a storm, killing the crew.

A shepherd and his son, a clown, find the baby and the gold, thinking she is
a changeling, they take her home.
Perdita grows up into a beautiful maiden and Prince Florizel, the son of
Polixenes, falls in love with her, much to the annoyance of Polixenes and
Camillo, who visit the shepherd's cottage in disguise.

The sheep-shearing festival is in full swing and Perdita welcomes everyone
with flowers. Polixenes discovers his son is
passing himself off as a shepherd and calling himself Doricles to court
Perdita.
The king asks Florizel why he did not buy Perdita a gift
from a peddlar and is told she cares only for his love, not for trifles.

Florizel and Perdita are about to be betrothed when Polixenes asks the young
man if he has a father and why he is not there to witness the engagement.
Florizel says he doesn?t want his father to know. Polixenes removes his disguise, objects to
the betrothal and shouts at his son, warning Perdita and the shepherd not to
encourage Florizel.

Florizel assures Perdita that nothing can alter his feelings and he
tells Camillo he is going to run away with Perdita. Camillo advises him to
make for Sicilia to visit the court of Leontes, king of Bohemia. Camillo has
decided to inform Polixenes of Florizel's escape and go to Sicilia with him.

Frightened by the king?s anger, the shepherd and the clown propose to
confess to the king that Perdita is not the shepherd's child, and give him the
bundle that was found withe baby.

Autolycus schemes to get them on
board the ship in which Florizel and Perdita are sailing to Sicilia.

In Sicilia, Leontes is still in deep remorse and the lords urge him to
remarry because he needs an heir. Paulina insists that Queen Hermione was
unique and the king should not marry until she can find him someone like her.

Leontes hears of the arrival of the Bohemian Prince and Princess, and that
Polixenes wants the prince arrested. However, the bundle is examined and it is
revealed that Perdita is Leontes' long lost daughter. Leontes and Polixenes are
reconciled and Leontes is torn between grief and joy at finding his daughter
alive but his wife is still lost to him.

Paulina takes them all to her chapel to show them a statue of
Hermoine. Leonites is struck by the likeness, grief stricken all over
again, but ithe statue is real as Hermione has been hidden by
Paulina for sixteen years.

Hermione embraces her husband and
daughter. In gratitude, Leonites urges
the loyal Paulina to marry Camillo and the play ends.

This play is classified as a comedy!
A Shakespearean mix of misunderstanding, jealousy,
switched identities, disguise and ultimate reconciliation. You have to look
past the events and concentrate on the lyricism of the dialogue. But no wonder 16th century
audiences threw rotten fruit and vegetables at the cast!

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