# Scene I explained — The Winter’s Tale

> Chapter companion for The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare.

## What happens

Time, as the Chorus, addresses the audience, announcing a leap of sixteen years. He explains his power to overturn custom and law, and sets the scene in Bohemia, introducing Florizel as the king's son and Perdita as a shepherd's daughter, now grown in grace.

## Themes in this chapter

### Time and Transformation

Time personified speaks of his power to slide over sixteen years, planting and overwhelming custom, emphasizing transformation and the passage of time.

## Character check-ins

### Florizel

Introduced as the son of the King of Bohemia, now grown.

### Perdita

Mentioned as a shepherd's daughter, now grown in grace.

## Key lines

> I, that please some, try all, both joy and terror / Of good and bad, that makes and unfolds error, / Now take upon me, in the name of Time, / To use my wings.

Time, who brings pleasure to some and tests everyone, who creates and reveals mistakes, now assumes the role of Time and uses my wings.

_Time introduces himself and his power over human affairs._

> I turn my glass and give my scene such growing / As you had slept between: Leontes leaving, / The effects of his fond jealousies so grieving / That he shuts up himself, imagine me, / Gentle spectators, that I now may be / In fair Bohemia;

I turn my hourglass and advance the scene as if you had slept through the interval: Leontes is left behind, grieving from his jealousies so much that he isolates himself, and now imagine, gentle audience, that I am in beautiful Bohemia.

_Time transitions the story from Sicilia to Bohemia, skipping sixteen years._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-i
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/chapters