A Feminist Perspective of Paulina in The Winter's Tale Feminist criticism explores gender themes in literature, evaluates the value of female characters, promotes unknown female writers, and interprets the canon from a political point of view - charged perspective. Shakespeare has proven harder to classify than other white masters of the written word, precisely because of the humanity of his female characters. Critic Kathleen McLuskie urges feminists to “assert the power of resistance, subverting rather than co-opting the rule of the patriarchal Bard” (McLuskie 106). Yet many feminists find strength in Shakespeare. Irene Dash, for example, states that "Shakespeare's female characters bear witness to his genius… learn the meaning of self-sovereignty for a woman in a patriarchal society" (Dash 1). Paulina from The Winter's Tale provides support for Dash's thesis. With courage and passion, Paulina defends Hermione from chauvinistic paranoia and enshrines female virtue. Perhaps the best testimony to Paulina's power is the historical reaction of male critics. In 1733, the editor Lewis Theobald condemned Paulina as "too coarse and outspoken" for daring to call the king "decidedly a madman" (Dash 135). In 1863, the scholar Charles Cowden Clarke complained that Pauline was excessive: "...she makes the tattoo on his skull with astonishing liveliness and even after he is on the ground.... Paulina cannot give up the gratification of taking it fists in his babbling anguish” (Clarke 356). In 1969, Fitzroy Pyle recognized Paulina's "goodness" but applied the "militant" label (Pyle 41). With a similar sentiment but more blatantly hostile language, the fictional King Leontes abuses his opponent Paulina with sexist insults...... middle of paper……ti. Webster's first new intergalactic Wickedary in the English language. Boston: Beacon Press, 1987 Dash, Irene. Courtship, marriage and power: women in Shakespeare's plays. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981McLuskie, Kathleen. "The Patriarchal Bard: Feminist Criticism and Shakespeare." Political Shakespeare: New Essays on Cultural Materialism. Jonathan Dollimore and Alan Sinfield, editors. London: Cornell Univ. Press, 1985Neeley, Carol Thomas. "The Winter's Tale: Women and Problems" (1985). Reprinted in the classic Signet edition of The Winter's Tale. New York: Penguin, 1988. Pyle, Fitzroy. The Winter's Tale: A Comment on Structure. New York: Routledge & Paul, 1969. Schweickart, Patronage. "Read ourselves." Speaking of gender. Elaine Showalter, editor. New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall, 1989.