The Winter's Tale

I thought instead of talking about The Broken Heart, I would take this blog post to discuss the Winter's Tale - the individual reading of mine. The Winter's Tale consisted of some very interesting characters - some of Shakespeare's most memorable. Leontes, though an interest character, is a very unrealistic character. Though a king, Shakespeare did not construct him to be a very strong authority figure. Instead, he gave into emotions, rather than logic and reasoning. This can be related to Richard III in that these high authority figures are driven by emotions and desires rather than what will better their citizens and kingdom.  Leontes is also very irrational figure, threatening to kill his best friend due to a stretched assumption.  What is most interesting about this character is how Leontes is a king, a figure who was supposed to embody masculinity at the time, yet he served the more bodily elements, than the ones of the mind, which was not as accepted for men of the time. Men were supposed to be of the mind, and women were of the body - perhaps this is a commentary on Shakespeare's part, either critiquing the tight social norms of the time, or opening others minds to the possibilities of being able to be either bodily or of the mind.