The Winter’s Tale: A New Historical Perspective

Abstract

The paper, in its New Historical approach, explores the multi-dimensional “historicity” of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. The historicity of the play springs from the dramatist’s “relation” with “power” in society, which is evident in the choice of the theme, the deviations from its original source and the conformity with the contemporary notions of race and royalty. This paper also views the “historicity” as an artistic device through which Shakespeare facilitates the processes of “naturalization” and “appropriation” in the contemporary spectators. The Descriptive-analytical approach is followed in this paper.