Le conte d'hiver

The play opens with a king's sudden, unfounded jealousy that destroys his marriage and causes their infant daughter to be abandoned; an intermission of sixteen years follows, during which the child is raised as a shepherdess. Scenes alternate between courtly tragedy and rural comedy as the grown shepherdess falls in love with a prince, a roguish peddler supplies comic relief, and Time is invoked to bridge the lapse. The eventual recognition of identities leads to forgiveness, a miraculous reunion staged around a crafted statue, and a resolution that balances themes of jealousy, repentance, restoration, and the restorative power of mercy and art.