Winter's Tales

About this episode

The episode explores winter-themed tales, including real-life events from Shakespeare's time and the myth of Demeter and Persephone, alongside Shakespeare's play The Winter's Tale.

From Frankenstein to The Shining, tales of extreme wintery conditions have always been a hit. In this episode, we talk about some of the real-life fun people had when things got very cold in Shakespeare's day—like going to frost fairs on the frozen Thames river—and we discuss some of the not-so-fun tragedies they endured. Finally, we turn to the story of Demeter and Persephone (a Greek myth that explained why we have winter) and to Shakespeare's late play The Winter's Tale , which harnesses the joys and tragedies that underlie all of these real and mythical tales of winter.

People in this episode

Hosts: Caroline Bicks, Michelle Ephraim

Topics covered

• winter tales
• Shakespeare
• Greek mythology
• frost fairs
• real-life tragedies
• literary analysis

Keywords

• winter
• Shakespeare
• frost fairs
• Demeter
• Persephone
• The Winter's Tale
• Frankenstein
• The Shining
• tragedies
• mythology

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Frankenstein, The Shining, Demeter and Persephone, The Winter's Tale

Places: Thames river

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