SHAKESPEARE ON DISK.

     THE WINTER'S TALE.

Copyright (c) 1990 Interconnection Publications Inc.


     DRAMATIS PERSONAE.

LEONTES.
          King of Sicilia.

CAMILLO.
          A lord of Sicilia.

POLIXENES.
          King of Bohemia.

HERMIONE.
          Queen to Leontes.

FLORIZEL.
          Prince of Bohemia.

PERDITA.
          Daughter of Leontes and Hermione.

OLD SHEPHERD.
          Reputed father of Perdita.

CLOWN.
          Son of the old shepherd.

AUTOLYCUS.
          A rogue.

ANTIGONUS.
          A lord of Sicilia.

PAULINA.
          Wife of Antigonus.

CLEOMENES.
          A lord of Sicilia.

MAMILLIUS.
          Young prince of Sicilia.

DION.
          A lord of Sicilia.

ARCHIDAMUS.
          A lord of Bohemia.

MOPSA.
          A shepherdess.

DORCAS.
          A shepherdess.

EMILIA.

          A lady attending on Hermione.

A MARINER.

GAOLER.

OTHER LORDS and GENTLEMEN, LADIES, ATTENDANTS, OFFICERS, 
SERVANTS, SHEPHERDS and SHEPHERDESSES.

TIME.
          As Chorus.


SYNOPSIS.

1/1  Sicilia. Ante-chamber in Leontes' palace.
     While making their courtesies, CAMILLO and ARCHIDAMUS 
discuss the friendship between Leontes and Polixenes.

1/2  A room of state in Leontes' palace.
     LEONTES, POLIXENES, HERMIONE, MAMILLIUS, CAMILLO, and 
ATTENDANTS enter; LEONTES fails to persuade POLIXENES to 
extend his visit, but HERMIONE is successful; LEONTES grows 
jealous and suspicious; POLIXENES, HERMIONE, and ATTENDANTS 
exit.
     LEONTES sends away MAMILLIUS and probes CAMILLO about 
the behavior of Polixenes and Hermione; CAMILLO is shocked 
by LEONTES' allegations; CAMILLO agrees to murder Polixenes, 
but after LEONTES exits he decides to flee the court.
     POLIXENES enters and questions CAMILLO about Leontes' 
mood; CAMILLO reveals all and convinces POLIXENES to escape 
Sicilia quickly, taking him with him.

2/1  Sicilia. Leontes' palace.
     HERMIONE sends MAMILLIUS to her LADIES, who play with 
him.
     LEONTES, ANTIGONUS, LORDS and GUARDS enter; LEONTES and 
the FIRST LORD discuss Camillo and Polixenes' flight.
     LEONTES roughly takes MAMILLIUS from HERMIONE; 
MAMILLIUS exits with some GUARDS; LEONTES accuses HERMIONE 
of carrying Polixenes' child; despite HERMIONE's avowal of 
innocence, LEONTES orders her to prison; HERMIONE and LADIES 
exit with some GUARDS.
     ANTIGONUS and the FIRST LORD uphold Hermione's honor; 
LEONTES tells them Cleomenes and Dion have been sent to 
consult the oracle.

2/2  A prison.
     PAULINA sends out an ATTENDANT, who re-enters with the 
GAOLER; the GAOLER refuses PAULINA's request to see 
Hermione; the ATTENDANTS exit, followed by the GAOLER, who 
re-enters with EMILIA.
     EMILIA tells PAULINA Hermione has borne a daughter; 
PAULINA tells EMILIA to ask HERMIONE to let her bring the 
baby to Leontes.

2/3  Leontes' palace.
     LEONTES raves jealously to ANTIGONUS, LORDS, and 
ATTENDANTS.
     PAULINA enters with a CHILD; LEONTES rages at her, the 
CHILD, and ANTIGONUS; PAULINA exits, leaving the CHILD.
     LEONTES orders the CHILD burned, then tells ANTIGONUS 
to take it out of Sicilia and leave it at a deserted place; 
ANTIGONUS exits with the CHILD.
     A SERVANT enters with news of the arrival of Cleomenes 
and Dion.

3/1  Sicilia. A street in some town.
     CLEOMENES and DION discuss their visit to the oracle.

3/2  A court of justice.
     LEONTES tells LORDS and OFFICERS that Hermione will 
have a fair trial.
     HERMIONE enters, guarded, with PAULINA and LADIES; the 
FIRST OFFICER reads the indictment; HERMIONE pleads 
innocence, but LEONTES says she is lying.
     Some OFFICERS exit, sent for the oracle by the FIRST 
LORD; HERMIONE speaks of her father; the OFFICERS re-enter 
with CLEOMENES and DION; after CLEOMENES and DION attest the 
oracle is genuine, the FIRST OFFICER reads it; the oracle 
upholds HERMIONE and threatens LEONTES with being without 
heir; LEONTES calls the oracle a lie; an ATTENDANT enters 
with news of Mamillius' death; HERMIONE faints, and is taken 
out by PAULINA and LADIES; LEONTES abjures his jealousy.
     PAULINA enters with news of Hermione's death, and rails 
at LEONTES; he accepts her taunts and vows to do daily 
penance.

3/3  Bohemia. A desert country near the sea.
     ANTIGONUS, with the CHILD, speaks to a MARINER, who 
exits, dismissed; ANTIGONUS recounts a dream, then 
sorrowfully abandons the CHILD, leaving a scroll and a 
bundle beside her; as a storm begins, there are sounds of a 
hunt, and ANTIGONUS exits, pursued by a bear.
     The SHEPHERD enters, seeking lost sheep, and finds the 
CHILD; the CLOWN calls, then enters, and describes the wreck 
of the Sicilian ship and Antigonus' destruction by the bear.
     The SHEPHERD and the CLOWN find gold wrapped with the 
CHILD; they exit, with the CHILD, to bury whatever remains 
of Antigonus.

4/Prologue.
     TIME, as a CHORUS, briefly describes sixteen 
intervening years.

4/1  Bohemia. Polixenes' palace.
     POLIXENES refuses CAMILLO's request to return to 
Sicilia.
     POLIXENES speaks to CAMILLO about Florizel, and they 
arrange to go to the Shepherd's house in disguise.

4/2  A road near the Shepherd's cottage.
     AUTOLYCUS enters, singing; he describes himself; the 
CLOWN enters, with a shopping list for a feast; AUTOLYCUS, 
pretending to be a robbery victim, picks the CLOWN's pocket; 
the CLOWN exits; AUTOLYCUS exults and sings.

4/3  Before the Shepherd's cottage.
     FLORIZEL, in rustic dress, vows constancy to PERDITA, 
who worries about Polixenes' reaction to their love; 
FLORIZEL urges her to enjoy the feast.
     The SHEPHERD, the CLOWN, MOPSA, DORCAS, and other 
SHEPHERDS and SHEPHERDESSES enter, as well as POLIXENES and 
CAMILLO, disguised; urged by the SHEPHERD, PERDITA greets 
her guests one by one, offering each a different kind of 
flower.
     FLORIZEL speaks adoringly to PERDITA, who blushes; 
POLIXENES and CAMILLO comment admiringly on PERDITA; after a 
dance of SHEPHERDS and SHEPHERDESSES, POLIXENES questions 
the SHEPHERD about PERDITA's suitor; the SHEPHERD tells them 
of "Doricles."
     A SERVANT enters and says a peddler has come; he 
describes to the CLOWN the peddler's ballad repertory and 
his array of goods, then exits.
     AUTOLYCUS enters, singing; under his spell, the CLOWN 
promises to buy gifts for MOPSA and DORCAS; AUTOLYCUS, 
MOPSA, and DORCAS sing; the CLOWN exits with MOPSA and 
DORCAS to learn the song; AUTOLYCUS sings, then exits.
     A SERVANT enters, announcing more dancers; urged by 
POLIXENES, the SHEPHERD allows them in; the SERVANT exits; 
twelve men, as satyrs, dance.
     With a word to CAMILLO, POLIXENES presses FLORIZEL 
about his intentions toward PERDITA; the lovers pledge their 
troth; POLIXENES, seconded by the SHEPHERD, asks that 
FLORIZEL's father be invited; FLORIZEL refuses.
     POLIXENES, revealing himself, threatens to disown 
FLORIZEL unless he leaves PERDITA; following angry words to 
the SHEPHERD and PERDITA, POLIXENES exits.
     PERDITA urges FLORIZEL to leave her; the SHEPHERD, 
blaming FLORIZEL and PERDITA, bemoans his state, then exits.
     FLORIZEL tells CAMILLO he will be true to PERDITA and 
will take her away on a ship; CAMILLO assents to FLORIZEL's 
plans, and convinces him to go to Sicilia; CAMILLO promises 
to prepare FLORIZEL and PERDITA for Leontes' court; they 
withdraw.
     AUTOLYCUS enters and describes his pick-pocketing 
windfall.
     CAMILLO, FLORIZEL, and PERDITA come forward; CAMILLO 
pays AUTOLYCUS to exchange clothes with FLORIZEL, and helps 
PERDITA disguise herself; in an aside, CAMILLO reveals his 
plans to inform Polixenes, then exits with FLORIZEL and 
PERDITA.
     AUTOLYCUS decides to keep to himself what he knows.
     The SHEPHERD and the CLOWN enter; the CLOWN convinces 
the SHEPHERD that revealing Perdita's unknown origins will 
curb Polixenes' wrath against them; AUTOLYCUS, pretending to 
be a courtier, plays on their fears; they pay him to be 
their spokesman to Polixenes who, AUTOLYCUS says, is aboard 
ship.

5/1  Sicilia. Leontes' palace.
     CLEOMENES, PAULINA, and DION urge LEONTES to end his 
penitence; PAULINA counters the others' suggestion that 
LEONTES re-marry; LEONTES promises not to marry without her 
consent.
     A GENTLEMAN enters with news of Florizel and Perdita's 
arrival; he describes them, then exits with CLEOMENES; 
PAULINA mentions Mamillius, to LEONTES' anguish; CLEOMENES 
re-enters with FLORIZEL, PERDITA, and others.
     Greeted by LEONTES, FLORIZEL pretends he is his 
father's envoy and PERDITA a Libyan princess.
     A LORD enters bearing the truth about the young couple 
and news of the arrival of Polixenes, whose retinue includes 
PERDITA's family and Camillo.
     At FLORIZEL's plea, LEONTES agrees to support the 
lovers.

5/2  Before Leontes' palace.
     AUTOLYCUS and THREE GENTLEMEN, who enter separately, 
discuss the events at the palace as the truth gradually 
unfolded; the THIRD GENTLEMAN says the royal families have 
gone to see Paulina's statue of Hermione; the GENTLEMEN 
exit.
     AUTOLYCUS muses on his role in events; the SHEPHERD and 
the CLOWN enter, boasting of having been made gentlemen.

5/3  A chapel in Paulina's house.
     LEONTES and PAULINA speak as they, POLIXENES, FLORIZEL, 
PERDITA, CAMILLO, LORDS, and ATTENDANTS prepare to view the 
statue; PAULINA draws aside the curtains, revealing 
HERMIONE; to the others amazement, PAULINA teasingly reveals 
that the statue is alive.
     HERMIONE and LEONTES embrace; PAULINA introduces 
PERDITA to HERMIONE; LEONTES rounds off the happy ending by 
arranging a marriage between PAULINA and CAMILLO.