The Royal Baby

Looking at the christening photos of Prince George made me think about the role of babies in Shakespeare. At first, all I could think of were the murdered babies and the babies never born in Macbeth, but I certainly didn't want to write about those. How macabre!

Then, the other day, I was at Warwick University, listening to a lecture from the brilliant Dr. Teresa Grant about the structure of Shakespeare's plays. Dr. Grant drew our attention to the moment in Act III Scene III of  The Winter's Tale when Antigonus enters with the baby and exits pursued by a bear. This is a memorable moment of spectacle, a moment of entrances and exits, and a moment of birth and death that changes the very genre of the play. This is when the tragedy becomes a comedy, and all because of a baby.

I hope you enjoy the following video about babies and Shakespeare.






P.S. Wasn't Catherine's suit amazing!

Image from thegloss.com

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