Re-reading Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale! As the super-long act 4 scene 4 continues, the farce is over and all the secrets have been revealed. Time for the confrontation.

Polixenes has removed his disguise, revealing his kingly appearance to everyone at the festival, and to show his disapproval of his son’s romance with farm girl Perdita (with no one knowing Perdita is the long-lost princess of Sicilia). He goes on quite a tirade, full of venomous insults that an actor can really go nuts with. He makes accusations of witchcraft, he says hanging is too short a punishment for Florizell, and he says Florizell is now out of succession.

The big question is, where does this explosion of anger come from? Polixenes has up to this point been shown not be like his fellow king Leontes, who is the one full of suspicion and rage. But now we see Polixenes in a similar light, letting loose his anger over the romance (or perceived romance) that he does not approve of. It’s going to take a close re-reading of the play to see whether any of Polixenes’ scenes earlier in the play foreshadow this in any way.

Polixenes compares Florizell to Deucalion, a figure from ancient Greek mythology. Let’s get into it. Deucalion’s story is similar to the Biblical tale of Noah. There’s not a great flood, but a great deluge, and Deucalion survives by sealing himself inside a chest. Versions of the story vary, but the gist is that Deucalion repopulated the Earth by tossing stones over his shoulder, which transformed into new humans in his wake. Polixenes brings this up to tell Florizell he will be just as alone and isolated as Deucalion once was. (There’s also a character named Deucalion from the Teen Wolf TV series, but I don’t see much of a connection between him and either Greek myths or The Winter’s Tale.)

Polixenes leaves. It’s a lot of drama as Perdita wanted to be the one to tell the king, and she instead tells Florizell to get his own affairs in order. The shepherd has something of a breakdown, fearing that now he will be banished or even hanged for his role in this royal scandal. I suppose that if you’re playing The Winter’s Tale as a broad comedy, then the shepherd’s speech here could go huge and over-the-top for laughs, but I see this part of the scene as breaking the tone from all the singing and dancing earlier to now where things get real.

Camillo tells Florizell not to go after Polixenes. Florizell then has a lengthy speech about his willingness to forego succession to become king someday in favor of his love of Perdita. Shakespearian romance (and romance in general) tends to favor the female characters, but this speech is some great insight into Florizell’s character. He’s no lovesick teen in over his head like Romeo was, but instead he’s someone who truly believes he’s making the right decision.

Florizell and Perdita do not exit, but “walk aside” according to the stage directions. This gives Camillo a chance to talk to the audience. He says Florizell is unshakable in his decision, but Camillo sees an opportunity in this. He says that after all this time, he can return to his homeland of Sicilia. He also wants to reunite with Leontes, whom he “thirsts” for. That term takes on a whole new meaning in 2024. So Florizell thinks he’s said it all, but Camillo’s not done with him yet.

Next: The convincing.

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