The Winter's Tale
by William Shakespeare

The Winter's Tale: Style 1 key example

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Style
Explanation and Analysis:

The style of The Winter's Tale is stately and formal in the first three Acts, which take place in the Sicilian court and thus center on aristocratic characters speaking in verse. Since Leontes and Polixenes are state leaders, the conversations between them are particularly formal and diplomatic despite their close friendship. In Act 3, Scene 2, in which Hermione is put on trial—albeit a rigged one—with Leontes as the judge, the style becomes more legal as befits a courtroom.