Art and Nature in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale Essay -- Shakespeare

Art and Nature in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale In Shakespeare’s â€Å"The Winter’s Tale†, we see a jealous king convinced he is search of the truth. He will expose his wife and her alleged philandering, but his determination to prove this actually changes this search from one for truth to one for myths—creations, false truths. In essence. Leontes runs into the conflict of defining art versus nature, where art is the view of the world he constructs to prove his paranoia true. Nature itself can exist without art, but the art here is the mangled perception through which Leontes will seek to define Nature. In summation, â€Å"The Winter’s Tale† investigates the conflict between art and nature—creation versus enhancement—and seeks to find out if art can exist without any consideration to nature. The idea of altering perception is a fundamental one in â€Å"The Winter’s Tale†, and art is seen as the way to make this alteration occur. While it is clear to the reader from the very beginning that Hermione is in fact innocent, Shakespeare introduces the reader to Leontes’s persistence to clearly show the beginnings of the conflict brewing. Despite Hermione’s clear innocence, Leontes has been written as a character so belligerent to ever see what is universally accepted as true in nature. The result is a conflict clear to the reader—a conflict of nature on its own merit, a question of truth, versus art, where perception is inherently flawed. Shakespeare creates a truly paranoid, conflicted character in Leontes, which works to make his objectivity, his desire to make truths out of falsities, even more apparent. Leontes speaks to the audience passionately upon his discovery, but his passion sounds so melodramatic, especially when we as readers a.. . ...years later, it becomes clear that for all the emphasis put on art, on creation, and on mass production—nature is central to our human experience. We can symbolize this natural connection with art—but the art itself always harkens back to something that elicits an emotional response from the viewer. For Leontes, a statue of his presumably deceased wife, Hermione triggers a sorrowful reaction. Art indeed embellishes life as it does with flowers, but we are always working from some perspective, some emotion, before we are merely creating art. â€Å"The Winter’s Tale† takes on the challenge of investigating whether or not art can in fact breathe outside the womb of nature, and as we witness art break down, and nature hold the characters together, it becomes resoundingly clear that art seeks to react to nature, but that it cannot work without maintaining nature at its core. Art and Nature in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale Essay -- Shakespeare Art and Nature in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale In Shakespeare’s â€Å"The Winter’s Tale†, we see a jealous king convinced he is search of the truth. He will expose his wife and her alleged philandering, but his determination to prove this actually changes this search from one for truth to one for myths—creations, false truths. In essence. Leontes runs into the conflict of defining art versus nature, where art is the view of the world he constructs to prove his paranoia true. Nature itself can exist without art, but the art here is the mangled perception through which Leontes will seek to define Nature. In summation, â€Å"The Winter’s Tale† investigates the conflict between art and nature—creation versus enhancement—and seeks to find out if art can exist without any consideration to nature. The idea of altering perception is a fundamental one in â€Å"The Winter’s Tale†, and art is seen as the way to make this alteration occur. While it is clear to the reader from the very beginning that Hermione is in fact innocent, Shakespeare introduces the reader to Leontes’s persistence to clearly show the beginnings of the conflict brewing. Despite Hermione’s clear innocence, Leontes has been written as a character so belligerent to ever see what is universally accepted as true in nature. The result is a conflict clear to the reader—a conflict of nature on its own merit, a question of truth, versus art, where perception is inherently flawed. Shakespeare creates a truly paranoid, conflicted character in Leontes, which works to make his objectivity, his desire to make truths out of falsities, even more apparent. Leontes speaks to the audience passionately upon his discovery, but his passion sounds so melodramatic, especially when we as readers a.. . ...years later, it becomes clear that for all the emphasis put on art, on creation, and on mass production—nature is central to our human experience. We can symbolize this natural connection with art—but the art itself always harkens back to something that elicits an emotional response from the viewer. For Leontes, a statue of his presumably deceased wife, Hermione triggers a sorrowful reaction. Art indeed embellishes life as it does with flowers, but we are always working from some perspective, some emotion, before we are merely creating art. â€Å"The Winter’s Tale† takes on the challenge of investigating whether or not art can in fact breathe outside the womb of nature, and as we witness art break down, and nature hold the characters together, it becomes resoundingly clear that art seeks to react to nature, but that it cannot work without maintaining nature at its core.