Florizel and Perdita's Relationship: Analyzing Act IV, Scene IV Jessica Amy Rose 11th Grade

Florizel and Perdita are depicted in The Winter’s Tale as the epitome of young love. Whilst the majority of the play is surrounded by heartache, pessimism and paranoia, Florizel and Perdita’s relationship serves as a reminder of hope and happiness as they are seen as a breath of fresh air against a backdrop of hate and jealousy. Within Shakespeare's play, it is clear to see that both characters deeply love each other as they openly talk about it together and the audience get to see how Florizel views Perdita through his endless and poetic compliments.

Whilst Perdita is dressed in ‘unusual weeds’, adorned with flowers and dressed as Queen of the Feast, Florizel, who is dressed as a young shepherd named Doricles, remarks that she looks like ‘no shepherdess, but Flora’. So although both of them are fully aware of the class difference and the implications a love like theirs could bring, Florizel tells her that she no longer looks like a shepherdess of a lower class but instead looks like a goddess. Interestingly, the goddess Flora, whom he refers to, in Roman mythology is the deity of flowers and the season of spring so not only is Shakespeare showing that in Florizel’s eyes Perdita is a goddess but he is also emphasising their...