Persuasion in The Winter’s Tale and Cymbeline Sara Manlowe College

Both Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and Cymbeline are about persuasion in one form or another. Key features of the plot hinge on the characters’ varying level of success in convincing others to do or believe something. If Paulina had persuaded Leontes of Hermione’s innocence with the baby as her prop – if Hermione, during her trial, had convinced Leontes with her words – then Hermione would not have ‘died,’and the final magic of the play would have had to reside somewhere besides a statue brought to life. If Iachimo had not convinced Posthumus to take the bet against Imogen, Imogen might never have fled the court. Perhaps she never would have met Belarius or her brothers; perhaps the Queen would have had opportunity to ensure her poison’s success. It is no exaggeration to say that every single character in both of these plays would have ended differently if their persuasions had failed, or succeeded differently. Besides pinning the plot into place, characters dredging up every ounce of their persuasive ability reveals a great deal of that character’s thought process and understanding of the person they are attempting to convince. How their words work on their subject, in turn, reveals the mental workings of their subject....