“For him, I partly know his mind”: The Curious Union of Paulina and Camillo in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale

Abstract

l og os 26:2 spr i ng 2023 The closing moments of The Winter’s Tale often challenge students, teachers, and critics alike. After revealing that Hermione and Perdita still live and that Leontes has reformed his ways, Paulina, the queen’s preserver, says that she, like “an old turtle[dove],”1 will spend her days mourning for her lost mate, Antigonus. Leontes then, amid the general rejoicing, says to Paulina that he has followed her marital advice, and that she therefore should follow his. He concludes: