Re-reading Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale! The epic act 4 scene 4 continues on with more romantic poetry, but also a little darkness underneath.

Where were we? It’s springtime in Bohemia, and Polixenes the king, in disguise as a farmer, gets to know Perdita, the girl his son has fallen for. After all their wordplay about flowers, Perdita goes into a lengthy speech that’s about even more flowers! She’s talking about how the flowers of spring relate to various gods and goddesses of myth. Of particular interest is Prosperina, who was carried off to the underworld after stopping to pick flowers. Venus, Juno, and Phoebus are also mentioned. With a lot of resources, a stage production can get really fanciful with this, such as having actors in masks (or masques if you prefer) dancing around Perdita as she says this. A film adaptation can cut to images of the gods in action during the speech, especially if this is a far-out epic fantasy retelling of the play.

Perdita’s colorful speech ends in something of a dark note, describing primrose as “a malady most indecent to maids.” My books’ footnotes have a lot to say on this, alleging that primrose blooms and dies before spring, and/or that primrose can be poisonous. This is an interesting turn, in that it shows Perdita has a sad, dark side, and there’s more to her than just the prettiest girl in her village.

When Florizell, her lover and the king’s son, questions her on this, Perdita says she doesn’t imagine death like a corpse, but a bank of flowers to be alive and celebratory upon. She mentions “Whitsun pastorals,” a reference to a springtime festival. There’s a ton of info online about Whitsun’s history and its many meanings, for anyone who’s interested.

Florizell goes on for several lines about how brilliant he thinks Perdita is. What’s interesting here is that she refers to him as “Doricles.” Turns out Florizell is also in disguise, just as Polixenes and Camillo are. I went back and re-read act 4 scene 2, and if that dialogue established Florizell being in disguise, it’s awfully subtle. The audience needs to see this in action, by having him throw on his farmer rags over his fancy royal duds before the scene starts. This does give their romance an interesting complication, though. Florizell knows he’s really a prince in disguise as a farmer, while Perdita believes she’s a farm girl with no idea she’s the long-lost princess.

Perdita playfully dismisses all Florizell’s over-the-top praise, saying he’s wooing her the wrong way. He tells her she has no reason to fear, and he invites her to dance. Pan over to Polixenes and Camillo, also both in disguise as farmers, who have been watching the two young lovers. Polixenes can tell right away that the girl seems greater and too noble for a small farming town. Camillo seems to agree, saying that Perdita is a “queen of curds and cream.”

There’s more music and dancing, an opportunity for a production to stage a big number if possible. The shepherd, Perdita’s adopted father, tells Polixenes all about this “Doricles,” unaware that he’s speaking to the king about the king’s son. He tells her that he believes this Doricles is both wealthy and truthful, and genuinely in love with Perdita. Polixenes’ reaction to this isn’t in the text, but we know what’s coming. So he can respond with a look of disapproval, or at least skepticism.

But there’s more complications to come before we get to that big complication.

Next: Peddling with the peddler.

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