Through expert guidance on understanding, interpreting, and writing
about Shakespeare's language, this book makes The Winter's Tale
accessible and exciting for students. It demonstrates that careful
attention to Shakespeare's complex dramatic language can clarify the
structure and concerns of the play, as well as provide deep and
satisfying engagement with the social, political and ethical questions
Shakespeare raises. Each chapter features a 'Writing Matters' section
designed to connect analysis of Shakespeare's language to students'
development of their own writing strategies. The book examines topics in
the play such as tragicomic genre; women's assertion of social and
political agency; obedience and resistance to rulers; the virtues and
risks of following festivity, and disputes over the proper forms of
religious devotion.