Perdita

Perdita is one of the heroines in The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare. She is the daughter of Leonte, King of Sicilia, and his wife Hermione.

Perdita is born in prison, where her father has sent her mother because he wrongly believes she has been unfaithful to him. Paulina, a noblewoman of Sicilia, takes the baby to Leontes to try to convince him that it is his daughter, but he refuses to believe it. He thinks instead that she is the result of an affair between Hermione and Polixenes, King of Bohemia. He sends Antigonus to leave the infant Perdita on the seacoast of Bohemia. In a dream, Hermione appears to Antigonus and tells him to name her child Perdita, which means "lost" in Latin and , in Italian, "loss". He takes pity on her, but is suddenly pursued and eaten by a bear. Luckily, Perdita is rescued by a shepherd who takes her in and raises her.

Early in the play, Perdita is described as being a beauty of conception. Sixteen years later, Perdita has grown into a beautiful young woman, unaware of her royal heritage. Ironically, Prince Florizel, the prince of Bohemia, falls in love with her and plans to marry her. His father, however, disapproves of the marriage and threatens the couple, so they flee to Sicilia with the help of Camillo. Prince Florizel disguises himself as a merchant in order to be able to see Perdita. Later on in life, it is revealed that Perdita is the princess of Sicily thanks to Autolycus, a comical rogue or pickpocket. Perdita is reunited with her father and mother (who apparently dies of grief just after being vindicated by the Oracle of Delphos, but is restored to life at the when Perdita came back to the castle). She lived her life thinking she was one person and found out she was another. She only knew the life of a simple girl. Leontes and Polixines reconcile and both approve of Florizel and Perdita's marriage. It is assumed that Florizel and Perdita lived happily ever after.

One thing I would like to comment on Perdita is, she is a very cliche character in most play. A beautiful young lady, unaware of her blue blood, in love with a prince, who apparently is her unknown father rival, rejected to marry the prince by the King because of her heritage, finally knowing her origin, accepted, rejoice, happy ever after...... Even though her character is cliche and is seen all over (or can be predicted), readers never get bored over it. Maybe this is due to the fact that every one wants to have a happy ending. Let's image if she was adopted by the shepherd but the prince was not in love with her, or she was not beautiful? What would be the outcome of the play? What if she married another young shepherd and live happily ever after, unaware of her royal heritage, and live on in a normal common life? Is that not a happy ending too? Why must happy ending associate with being wealthy or being well known? It seems this would not make a great play and there for like all play, she would know her "real" identity in the end, and I would have to repeat the statement I proved above. So what is a play? Is it happy ever after? Is everyone's life "Perdita"? Can this kind of thing really happen in reality? This is just a thought that went through my mind when reading the play and I would like to share. Do comment what you think about the character or any other character you think makes you ponder.