1) Title: The Winter's Tale

2) Author: William Shakespeare

3) Date of Publication 1623

4) Genre Romance and Tragedy

5) Writing Techniques The Winter's Tale is written in both verse and prose

6) The Setting and How It Contributes to the Drama or Atmosphere the setting is very important in the play. It contributes to the drama because the King is to be obeyed in all things. The play takes place in the King's court and even though he is being completely unreasonable and jealous he is allowed to murder his own life for no real reason.

7) Central Conflict and How It Develops and Resolves. What is the climax? Related Minor Conflicts King Leontes is unreasonably jealous of his wife Hermione. He believes that she had an affair and is pregnant with the King of Bohemia’s child. He orders her to be killed but a servant saves her and hides her for many years until she reappears as a statue. The climax of the play is when the real Hermione comes out of the statue and is alive and reunited with her husband. There many minor conflicts. King Leontes has many people that surround him that try to give him advice and he doesn't believe them until it is too late.

 

8) Major Characters King Leontes, his wife Hermione, King Polixenes, Camillo, Paulina

9) Minor Characters Florizel, Perdita,

10) Themes the major themes include jealousy, madness and power

11) Symbols the weather in general is the biggest symbol in the play. The characters emotions are presented in the atmosphere. When it is sunny and warm at the characters are sunny and warm, when it is freezing cold and desolate so is the King.

12) Plot Overview, Chronologically, Including the Setting and Movement from Place to Place (Be Brief! Three to five sentences!) The play begins in King Leontes home in Sicily. All of the characters except for Perdita because she hasn't been born yet are there. The second half of the play takes place during the spring in Bohemia. The end of the play Hermione and King Polixenes returned to Sicily in the beginning of summer in Sicily.

13) What is Most Stunning about this Book The book is almost a sci-fi novel. Unbelievable things happen and the reader is simply supposed to accept them and move on and surprisingly it works. When Shakespeare has managed to make the story so interesting you want to continue even though it is almost silly.

14) A Quote of Less than Ten Words to Memorize “Apollo’s angry and the heavens themselves do strike at my injustice” Leontes speaking to Hermione at her trial.