“For from Him Dear Life Redeems You” (Paulina’s words to bring the statue of Hermione to life)

As we saw in the previous article on The Winter’s Tale, Shakespeare concealed a complete Catholic allegory within one of his final plays. The allegory remained hidden for over four hundred years after it was first performed (1610-11) — in part because one of the greatest masters of the English language desired to conceal it, and in part because few people suspected that Shakespeare would have been bold enough to write a Catholic allegory during the anti-Catholic reign of King James I.

As the previous article described, the key to understanding the allegory is to recognize that Shakespeare unambiguously portrays one of the lords of Sicilia, Camillo, as Pope Paul V (Camillo Borghese). Once we recognize that Camillo represents Pope Paul V, and diligently seek to understand that pope’s role in Shakespeare’s England, the historical and theological basis for the allegory readily unfolds. Most importantly, Pope Paul V (along with St. Robert Bellarmine) vigorously opposed the Oath of Allegiance to James I, which prompted James I to defend the Oath by attacking the Catholic Church. In those attacks, James I called the Church an adulterous queen and claimed that it falsely called itself the Mystical Body of Christ.

The tragic events of the play’s first three acts represent the plight of English Catholics at the time Shakespeare wrote the play. The two acts that follow represent the hope for a glorious restoration of the Catholic Faith in England

This imagery from the debate over the Oath provides the dramatic basis for the first three acts of The Winter’s Tale, which we can briefly summarize as follows:

• The King of Sicilia, Leontes, represents James I, who irrationally attacked the Catholic Church as an adulterous queen.
• The Queen of Sicilia, Hermione, represents the unjustly accused Catholic Church and the Mystical Body of Christ.
• Leontes demands that his subjects reject Hermione and calls them traitors for not sharing his mistaken opinion of her.
• Leontes compels Antigonus to take an oath to dispose of Perdita, the newborn daughter of Leontes and Hermione.
• Antigonus disposes of Perdita in Bohemia and then he is promptly eaten by a bear.

The tragic events of the play’s first three acts represent the plight of English Catholics at the time Shakespeare wrote the play. The two acts that follow represent the hope for a glorious restoration of the Catholic Faith in England, which we can illustrate by focusing on three broad aspects of the allegory: the difference between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church; the return of the Mass; and the reunion of Saints Peter and Paul.

The Catholic Church and Anglican Church

James I’s defense of the Oath shows that he sincerely believed he followed the “true Church.” Moreover, he believed that the Catholic Church was the “Mother Church,” and thus the true Church prior to falling into what he believed to be errors:

“I acknowledge the Roman Church to be our Mother Church, although defiled with some infirmities and corruptions . . . and as I am none enemy to the life of a sick man, because I would have his body purged of ill humors; no more am I enemy to their Church, because I would have them reform their errors.” (March 19, 1604 speech to Parliament)

Persecuted Catholics in England naturally disagreed with this, seeing the “Roman Church” as both the Mother Church and, perpetually, the true Church.

Shakespeare ingeniously portrayed the Catholic perspective through his treatment of the children of Leontes and Hermione: Mamillius and Perdita. Because Hermione represents the Catholic Church and Leontes represents the King of England, their figurative “progeny" would be the Catholic Church in England. The distinctions between the two children allegorically reflect the Catholic perspective on the differences between the Anglican Church (Mamillius) and the Catholic Church (Perdita):

• Leontes loves Mamillius and rejects Perdita.
• Leontes takes comfort when Mamillius says that he is like Leontes: “I am like you, they say” (1.2.208).
• Conversely, Leontes flies into a rage when Paulina suggests that Perdita resembles Leontes (2.3.96-110).
• Leontes banishes Perdita to Bohemia.
• And, in one of the play’s oddest details, Hermione nurses Perdita (3.2.98-100), but not Mamillius (2.1.57).

This last detail resembles the way in which James I discussed the differences between the Catholic and Anglican religions:

“I sucked the milk of God’s truth with the milk of my nurse . . . And again I must subdivide the [Catholic Laity] into two ranks, that is, either quiet and well minded men, peaceable Subjects, who either being old, have retained their first drunken in liquor upon a certain shamefastness to be thought curious or changeable: Or being young men, through evil education have never been nursed or brought up, but upon such venom in place of wholesome nutriment.” (March 19, 1604 speech to Parliament)

James I believed that Anglicanism was the “milk of God’s truth,” whereas Catholicism was “venom in place of wholesome nutriment.” Shakespeare dramatically presents the Catholic rebuttal to that position by having Mamillius (who was never nursed by Hermione) die, whereas Perdita (who was nursed by Hermione) lives despite being abandoned in Bohemia.

Within the allegory, Mamillius’s death illustrates the evil of the Anglican Church’s break with the Catholic Church: if, as James I believed, the Anglican Church was an offspring of the Catholic Church, it would die from having been cut off from the spiritual and doctrinal nourishment from the Mother Church.

Within the allegory, Mamillius’s death illustrates the evil of the Anglican Church’s break with the Catholic Church: if, as James I believed, the Anglican Church was an offspring of the Catholic Church, it would die from having been cut off from the spiritual and doctrinal nourishment from the Mother Church; and a rejection of the Mystical Body of Christ is a rejection of Christ, which also leads to spiritual death. Interestingly, just as the Catholic Church was the primary opponent of the Anglican Church, we see Hermione as the only character in the play who criticizes Mamillius: “Take the boy to you. He so troubles me,/ ‘Tis past enduring” (2.1.1-2).

As soon as Leontes learns that Mamillius has died, he recognizes his sin: “Apollo’s angry, and the heavens themselves/ Do strike at my injustice” (3.2.146-147). His repentance comes too late, though, as Hermione dies upon hearing the news of Mamillius’s death. The grief-stricken Leontes then embarks upon a path of penance that will last sixteen years:

            Prithee, bring me
To the dead bodies of my queen and son.
One grave shall be for both. Upon them shall
The causes of their death appear, unto
Our shame perpetual. Once a day I’ll visit
The chapel where they lie, and tears shed there
Shall be my recreation. So long as nature
Will bear up this exercise, so long
I daily vow to use it. Come and lead me
To these sorrows.
           (3.2.234-243)

While Leontes performs penance in Sicilia, Perdita “grows in grace” in Bohemia (4.1.24). Allegorically, this represents the fact that the Catholic Church in England (Perdita) was being preserved in Europe during the hostile reign of James I — for instance, St. Edmund Campion had been residing in Bohemia prior to his mission to England.

In the literal meaning of the play, Act IV consists primarily of Prince Florizel (son of Polixenes, with whom Leontes thought Hermione was unfaithful) courting Perdita, who appears to be a poor shepherdess. Interestingly, though, we have indications that the love between Perdita and Florizel is entirely chaste, as Florizel himself tells Perdita (comparing how mythical gods transformed themselves for love):

          Their transformations
Were never for a piece of beauty rarer,
Nor in a way so chaste, since my desires
Run not before mine honor, nor my lusts
Burn hotter than my faith.
          (4.4.31-35)

As we see in the last line above, Florizel links his devotion to Perdita to his faith, which he also does later in the scene when he assures Perdita that he will uphold her dignity: “It cannot fail but by/ The violation of my faith” (4.4.479-480). Thus, two of the eight uses of the word “faith” in the play relate to Florizel’s devotion to Perdita. Given the fact that Perdita represents the exiled Catholic Church in England, these details provide an initial indication that Florizel could allegorically represent a missionary priest.

Shakespeare gives us another subtle indication of Florizel’s priesthood when Florizel says “I bless the time/ When my good falcon made her flight across/ Thy father’s ground” (4.4.14-16). This statement fits into the allegory when we consider that Perdita’s father is Leontes (rather than the shepherd who adopted the abandoned Perdita), so the falcon flew across Sicilia, representing England.

When we consider that Camillo also has Florizel and Perdita disguise themselves for the journey, we have the perfect allegorical representation of missionary priests sent to England during the reign of James I: under the ultimate direction of the pope, Jesuit priests (like Fr. Gerard) would disguise themselves to bring the Catholic Faith to England.

Read in this way, the passage brings to mind Fr. John Gerard’s accounts of how he evaded detection on his mission to England in the late 1500s:

“Whenever I saw anybody in the fields I went up to him and asked my usual question about the falcon, concealing all the time my real purpose, which was to avoid the village and public roads and get away from the coast where I knew watchers guarded the thoroughfares and kept out strangers.” (Fr. John Gerard, S.J., Autobiography of a Hunted Priest, p. 11)

Fr. Gerard would pretend to be looking for his falcon when he encountered people in the fields who might otherwise question his activities. We can imagine him telling them his falcon had flown across their land, which is what Florizel tells Perdita.

Ultimately, Camillo advises Florizel to take Perdita to Sicilia and present himself and his beloved to Leontes, saying that Polixenes has sent them (even though Polixenes has no knowledge of their journey). When we consider that Camillo also has Florizel and Perdita disguise themselves for the journey, we have the perfect allegorical representation of missionary priests sent to England during the reign of James I: under the ultimate direction of the pope, Jesuit priests (like Fr. Gerard) would disguise themselves to bring the Catholic Faith to England.

Camillo’s plan works as intended, and Leontes rejoices to hear that “Polixenes” sent his son to Sicilia:

          You have a holy father
A graceful gentleman, against whose person,
So sacred as it is, I have done sin.
            (5.1.170-172)

By saying that Polixenes sent them, Florizel is obfuscating per Camillo’s instructions, which should alert us to the possibility that Shakespeare might be obfuscating as well. Of course, it was not Polixenes who sent Florizel and Perdita to Sicilia, but Camillo. Moreover, Polixenes shows himself to be an honest man, but scarcely “holy” and “sacred” as Leontes says. Camillo, on the other hand, certainly is holy. As such, the reference to “holy father” necessarily applies to Camillo, who represents the Holy Father, Pope Paul V.

The Mass

Shakespeare could not directly portray the Mass in a favorable light; and yet no picture of the restoration of the Catholic Church in England could be complete without somehow representing the Mass. As it turns out, Shakespeare does indeed represent the Mass in several ways, some of which directly refute the Anglican heresies regarding the Mass. Although the Mass takes place in the final scene, we already have a foreshadowing of it in the previous scene, when one of the minor characters (First Gentleman) reports that the play’s main characters have gone to Paulina’s house, where they “intend to sup” (5.2.104). They do not “sup” there in any sense other than by receiving Holy Communion.

In the final scene of The Winter’s Tale, Paulina leads Leontes, Polixenes, Florizel, Perdita, Camillo, and others to a chapel in her home to view a statue of Hermione. While viewing the statue in the chapel, the characters all express their amazement at how lifelike the statue appears. Paulina announces that she can make the statue move, but only on the condition that Leontes awakens his faith:

               Paulina

        It is required
You do awake your faith. Then all stand still.
On; those that think it is unlawful business
I am about, let them depart.

               Leontes

          Proceed.
No foot shall stir.
          (5.3.94-98)

As with many other instances in The Winter’s Tale, the literal meaning of this and what follows makes no sense: even if Paulina could make a statue come to life, why would her ability to do so depend on Leontes “awakening his faith”?

Paulina’s direction for Leontes to “awaken his faith” if he wants to witness what she proposes to do next resembles the ancient division between the Mass of the Catechumens and the Mass of the Faithful, which is still reflected in the Traditional Latin Mass (the Mass Shakespeare knew).

While the literal meaning offers no reasonable explanation, we can see this as the beginning of Shakespeare’s representation of the Mass. To begin with, we should recall that Paulina represents St. Paul — and thus a priest — despite the fact that she is a woman (which will be explained below). Paulina’s direction for Leontes to “awaken his faith” if he wants to witness what she proposes to do next resembles the ancient division between the Mass of the Catechumens and the Mass of the Faithful, which is still reflected in the Traditional Latin Mass (the Mass Shakespeare knew). Fr. Adrain Fortescue described the origin of this division in his The Mass: A Study of the Roman Liturgy:

“In the liturgy of the first three centuries, as soon as the catechumens, penitents, etc. had been dismissed, the ‘faithful’ (the normal baptized Christians, who could receive Holy Communion), remaining alone, began their part of the service by saying prayers together.” (p. 293)

So Paulina’s direction, and Leontes’s assent, signals that the scene will proceed with the Mass of the Faithful. In addition, we can see that Leontes has regained the moral authority over his subjects by saying that “no foot shall stir,” Allegorically, this represents the hope that James I or a successor would convert, and restore the Faith for all of England.

Immediately after Leontes “awakens his faith,” Paulina proceeds with one of the more cryptic speeches in the play:                    

Music, awake her; strike!
      [Music.]
‘Tis time. Descend. Be stone no more. Approach.
Strike all that look upon with marvel. Come,
I’ll fill your grave up. Stir, nay, come away,
Bequeath to death your numbness, for from him
Dear life redeems you.  – You perceive she stirs.
       (5.3.98-103)

The literal meaning of the play gives us no hope of understanding why Paulina’s formulaic directions — “Bequeath to death your numbness, for from him/ Dear life redeems you” — bring the statue to life. However, we can see a few ways in which Shakespeare allegorically represents the moment of Consecration with these words from Paulina.

The most obvious connection is the fact that Paulina speaks these words and the hitherto lifeless statue becomes the living Hermione, who represents the Mystical Body of Christ. Clearly Shakespeare had no intention to portray a new sacrament — rather, this symbolizes the miracle of Transubstantiation, which James I and his fellow Anglicans rejected.

Perhaps more importantly, the formula Paulina uses — For from Him Dear Life Redeems You — is a truly devout homage to the Blessed Sacrament. The “Him” is Jesus Christ; the “Dear Life” is His Precious Blood; and the “Redeems You” is the effect of Jesus’s Blood on those who cooperate with His grace. We can even see that Paulina’s words have a special connection to Our Lord’s words about the Blessed Sacrament:

“And then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will rise him up in the last day.” (John 6:54-55)

Finally, we can see a few important details in Leontes’s speech immediately following the miracle:

      Oh, she’s warm!
If this be magic, let it be an art
Lawful as eating.
       (5.3.109-11)

Leontes’s exclamation that Hermione is “warm” reflects the reality that, contrary to the heretical Anglican view, the bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood of Christ. And, of course, whereas the Catholic Mass was “unlawful” in England under James I, the allegorical restoration of the Catholic Faith demands that it become “lawful” again.

The Reunion of Saints Peter and Paul

Were it not for Paulina bringing Hermione’s statue to life, the most intriguing aspect of the final scene would almost certainly be the fact that Leontes uses the last speech in the play to direct the marriage of Camillo and Paulina. The two had not appeared together at any point prior to the final scene, and they never exchange a word in the play.

This is the spirit of St. Edmund Campion and all the English Martyrs who never abandoned the Faith, even when threatened with torture and gruesome death. By having Paulina rebuke Leontes, Shakespeare was showing that heretics cannot take refuge in St. Paul, whose every word supports the unadulterated Catholic Faith.

And yet their marriage makes perfect sense as the fitting ending to the allegory. Under James I, St. Peter was symbolically banished from England because the king rejected the successors of St. Peter and the Church they represent. Similarly, Camillo left Sicilia once Leontes began attacking Hermione. But first, Camillo rebuked Leontes, just as a pope would rebuke a king who attacked the Church:

I would not be a stander-by to hear
My sovereign mistress clouded so without
My present vengeance taken. ‘Shrew my heart,
You never spoke what did become you less
Than this, which to reiterate were sin
          (1.2.278-282)

Camillo calls it a sin for Leontes to speak ill of Hermione — we would scarcely think a lord of Sicilia would say this to his king, but it makes sense for the pope to tell this to a supposedly Christian king. In this way, Camillo falls into disfavor with Leontes, for much the same reason that the successor of St. Peter fell into disfavor with England’s Anglican monarchs.

Crucially, though, Leontes also hears rebukes from Paulina for his treatment of Hermione, including an exchange in which Leontes tells Paulina she is “worthy to be hanged” (2.3.109), and then tells her that he will have her “burnt” (2.3.114). Paulina’s reply to this threat is arguably the most edifying line in all of Shakespeare’s works:

         I care not.
It is an heretic that makes the fire,
Not she which burns in’t.
         (2.3.114-116)

This is the spirit of St. Edmund Campion and all the English Martyrs who never abandoned the Faith, even when threatened with torture and gruesome death. By having Paulina rebuke Leontes, Shakespeare was showing that heretics cannot take refuge in St. Paul, whose every word supports the unadulterated Catholic Faith.

Shakespeare also uses the relationship between Camillo and Paulina to rebuke James I’s apparent tendency to put St. Paul before St. Peter, such as in his defense of the Oath: “As for me, Paul and Peter I know, but these men I know not.” Shakespeare subtly corrects the order of the saints in two ways. First, the first character named in the play is Camillo (1.1.1), and the last character named in the play is Paulina (5.3.153).

More substantively, Shakespeare clearly deviates from reality by having the St. Paul figure represented by a woman. Obviously, he was not trying to foretell the Anglican practice of ordaining women to the priesthood, let alone suggest that the Catholic Church could ever ordain women. Rather, he was apparently thinking of St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

“Let women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord: Because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. He is the savior of His body.” (Ephesians 5:22-23)

Thus, by having Paulina become Camillo’s wife, Shakespeare was asserting the primacy of St. Peter and his successors.

Although many colleges no longer teach Shakespeare’s plays, the fact remains that he was arguably the greatest master of the English language to ever write. If we were to find a new play from him, the world would take notice. If the play happened to be a devout portrayal of the trials and hopes of persecuted Catholics, Catholics would rejoice. It is an even more extraordinary blessing that God allowed him to conceal the devout Catholic allegory within a play that was performed before James I’s court. Indeed, all things considered, the devout Catholic allegory within The Winter’s Tale has legitimate claims to being one of the greatest masterpieces in the English language.

May God grant England the grace to return to the Faith that gave us The Winter’s Tale. Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us!

On a personal note, I am forever grateful to my godfather, Dr. David Allen White, for introducing me to both Catholicism and The Winter’s Tale. He has guided the most significant aspects of this study of Shakespeare’s hidden Catholic allegory and deserves the entire praise for anything worthwhile in it. May God bless and reward him!

Latest from RTV — CHURCH in FLAMES: Traditional Catholics, Predator Priests & the Latin Mass