The Representation of Witchcraft in the Female Characters of The Winter’s Tale

The aim of this thesis is to analyse the three female characters in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and their various associations with the early modern discourse of witchcraft. The first chapter presents a general overview of the play and frames it within its cultural background by describing the popular English beliefs surrounding the figure of the witch. The same chapter also includes a focus on Macbeth and the distinction between black and white magic. The second chapter takes into consideration each accusation of witchcraft held respectively against Hermione, Perdita and Paulina, and highlights how these assumptions and men’s use of the language of witchcraft are the result of the male anxiety of losing control over women. The third chapter investigates the scholarly debate regarding the ambiguous final scene of the play, known as the statue scene, and the truthfulness of Hermione’s miraculous resurrection from the dead. The thesis underlines how Shakespeare subverted common witchcraft beliefs by presenting the female characters and their connotations of witchcraft as essential for the kingdom’s survival.