The Bear and Shakespeare
Exit pursued by a bear
The mystery of the bear is one of the most intriguing aspects of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. Why did he include such a bizarre and seemingly random stage direction? There are several possible explanations, but none of them are definitive.
One explanation is that Shakespeare wanted to create a dramatic contrast between the tragic and comic parts of the play. The Winter’s Tale is divided into two halves: the first half is a dark and tragic story of jealousy, betrayal, and death; the second half is a light and joyful story of reunion, forgiveness, and resurrection. The bear scene marks the transition between these two halves and serves as a shocking and unexpected way of ending the first half.
By having Antigonus exit pursued by a bear, Shakespeare creates a sense of closure for his character, who has fulfilled his role in the plot by leaving the baby Perdita on the coast of Bohemia. The bear also symbolizes the wild and unpredictable nature of fate, which plays a major role in the play.
Another explanation is that Shakespeare wanted to appeal to the popular taste of his audience, who enjoyed seeing spectacles and animals on stage. As mentioned in the results, the Globe Theatre was next to a bear-baiting arena, where bears were chained to posts and attacked by dogs for entertainment.
It is possible that Shakespeare used a real bear from the arena, or an actor in a bearskin, to create a realistic and thrilling effect.
Although scholars now agree that real bears weren’t used in early productions of The Winter’s Tale, the audience’s knowledge of bear baiting certainly required companies to make a conscientious effort at creating a convincing illusion of the animal. We know that Shakespeare’s competitors, the Lord Admiral’s Men, owned bearskins and may have used these to disguise actors as bears. But beyond this, no evidence survives on how Shakespeare intended Antigonus to meet his end.
Exit, pursued by a bear
The audience would have been familiar with bear-baiting and may have found it amusing or exciting to see a bear on stage. Shakespeare may have also wanted to compete with other playwrights who used animals in their plays, such as Ben Jonson, who had a lion in Sejanus His Fall.
A third explanation is that Shakespeare wanted to make a reference to classical mythology or literature, which he often did in his plays.